Geography at Sawley Junior School

At Sawley Junior School, our Geography Curriculum develops children’s curiosity about the world and their understanding of the people, places and environments within it. Through the study of local, national and global geography, children learn how the world is shaped by physical processes and human activity, and how places are connected.

Our curriculum encourages children to think like geographers by asking questions, exploring similarities and differences, investigating patterns and using geographical evidence to understand the world around them.

Key areas of geographical learning include:

• Locational knowledge – knowing where places are in the world and understanding their geographical position.
• Place knowledge – understanding the similarities and differences between places, including our local area and locations around the world.
• Human and physical geography – exploring natural features and processes, settlements, land use, trade and how people interact with their environment.
• Geographical skills and fieldwork – developing the skills to use maps, atlases, globes and digital mapping, alongside collecting, recording and interpreting geographical information.

Skills and knowledge are taught progressively throughout Key Stage 2, allowing children to revisit prior learning, make connections and develop a deeper understanding of geographical concepts.

 

Our Intent

We aim to:

• Develop children’s knowledge of the world, including its countries, continents, oceans, physical features and human characteristics.
• Build an understanding of how physical and human processes shape places, landscapes and environments.
• Encourage children to compare and contrast locations, recognising similarities, differences and geographical patterns.
• Develop geographical skills, including map reading, using atlases and digital mapping, interpreting geographical information and undertaking fieldwork.
• Inspire curiosity about the world and encourage children to ask questions, investigate geographical issues and explain their findings.
• Develop an understanding of how people interact with their environments and how geographical processes and human activity affect the world.
• Prepare children to become informed, thoughtful global citizens who appreciate the diversity of places and people around them.

Our curriculum follows the aims of the National Curriculum for Geography, equipping pupils with the knowledge and skills to understand the world at local, national and global scales.

 

How We Teach Geography

Our Geography Curriculum is organised around a progressive sequence of topics from Year 3 to Year 6. Each year group explores a range of places, environments and geographical themes, building upon knowledge and skills taught previously.

Our curriculum:

• Develops locational, place, human and physical geographical knowledge.
• Encourages children to compare places and identify connections between people and environments.
• Builds geographical vocabulary and the ability to explain geographical processes.
• Develops practical skills through the use of maps, atlases, globes, digital mapping and fieldwork.
• Encourages enquiry, observation, questioning and the interpretation of geographical information.
• Helps children make connections between their local area and the wider world.

Learning is designed to help children understand not only where places are, but also why places are the way they are and how they change over time.

 

Our Approach

At Sawley Junior School, Geography is taught through engaging, knowledge-rich units that encourage children to explore and investigate the world.

• Learning builds progressively: Children revisit geographical knowledge and skills throughout Key Stage 2, developing greater depth and making connections between topics.
• Local and global perspectives: Children explore their local area alongside contrasting locations around the world, developing an understanding of different environments and ways of life.
• Enquiry and investigation: Children are encouraged to ask geographical questions, identify patterns, compare evidence and explain what they have discovered.
• Practical geographical skills: Children develop their ability to use maps, atlases, globes and digital mapping, as well as collect, record and present geographical information.
• Understanding our changing world: Children explore natural processes, human activity, environmental challenges and the ways in which people and places are interconnected.

Through this approach, we aim to develop confident, curious geographers who can apply their knowledge and skills to understand the world around them.

 

Building Knowledge Year by Year

Our Geography Curriculum is progressive, with each year group exploring different geographical themes and locations. Children develop their knowledge of the world while building upon the skills and understanding gained in previous years.

Year 3

• Autumn: How does where we live in the UK affect how we live and what we do?
• Spring: Nottingham and Naples – How is our local area the same as or different from Naples?
• Summer: Why does Guatemala’s rainforest matter to the world?

Year 4

• Autumn: Earthquakes and volcanoes – What is beneath our feet and how does it shape our world?
• Spring: USA land use – How do people change the land around us?
• Summer: What are rivers and how do they shape where people live?

Year 5

• Autumn: What are biomes and why are they so important to the world?
• Spring: How does geography shape the lives of people in China?
• Summer: What is life like in the Arctic, Antarctic and Tropics, and how are they different?

Year 6

• Autumn: What is life like in Kenya?
• Spring-Summer: How does global trade connect us?

Through these units, children develop an increasingly detailed understanding of the physical and human features of our planet, the relationships between people and places, and the ways in which geography influences our lives.