Geography
Intent
At Alkerden, we believe Geography is essential in helping learners understand their place in the world -locally, nationally and globally. Our curriculum, is designed to inspire curiosity, deepen understanding and equip our learners with the knowledge and skills to engage thoughtfully with the world around them.
Our Geography curriculum aims to:
Inspire curiosity and fascination
We aim to spark a lifelong interest in the natural world, diverse places, environments and cultures. Through engaging and meaningful learning experiences, learners develop a sense of wonder about the Earth and its people.
Develop strong locational and place knowledge
Learners build a secure understanding of where places are and what they are like. This includes:
- Locational knowledge (continents, countries, regions)
- Place knowledge (characteristics of different locations)
- Physical geography (landforms, climate, water systems, natural features)
- Human geography (settlements, land use, culture, trade and resources)
Understand key geographical processes
Learners explore the dynamic processes that shape our planet, including:
- Physical processes such as weather, climate, rivers, mountains and the water cycle
- Human processes such as urbanisation, migration, trade and resource use
Pupils learn how these processes interact and influence both environments and human life.
Build essential geographical skills
Our curriculum equips pupils with the tools to think and work as geographers. This includes:
- Map reading and spatial awareness
- Using atlases, globes and digital mapping tools
- Fieldwork and first-hand observation
- Data collection, analysis and interpretation
- Communicating geographical understanding through a range of formats (e.g. diagrams, maps, reports)
Promote respect, diversity and global citizenship
We foster an understanding of different landscapes, environments and ways of life. Learners develop empathy, respect for diversity and an awareness of global issues, encouraging them to become responsible and active global citizens who care for the planet.
Encourage enquiry and critical thinking
Through exploration, questioning and investigation, learners are encouraged to think deeply about geographical issues. They develop the ability to ask questions, analyse information, reflect on their learning and form informed viewpoints.
Through our Geography curriculum, we aim to nurture learners who are not only knowledgeable about the world, but also thoughtful, responsible and globally aware, equipped with the skills and understanding to make sense of an ever-changing world.
Implementation
At Alkerden, Geography is implemented through a carefully sequenced, knowledge-rich curriculum, underpinned by the Kapow Primary scheme. This ensures clear progression in both substantive knowledge (what pupils know) and disciplinary knowledge (how pupils think as geographers). Geography is taught across all year groups from Early Years through to Year 6, with learning planned progressively so that knowledge and skills build over time.
The curriculum is organised into key strands—locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography, and geographical skills and fieldwork—which are revisited and developed across each year group. This structured approach enables learners to deepen their understanding and make meaningful connections, particularly in key concepts such as climate, settlement and land use.
A strong emphasis is placed on developing secure, core knowledge. Learners learn the location of key places and geographical features, understand the characteristics of different regions and environments and explore the processes that shape the Earth and how they interact. Each unit identifies essential knowledge and vocabulary, supporting pupils in building a coherent and connected understanding of the world.
Geographical skills are explicitly taught and progressively developed. Learners engage in map work using atlases, globes and digital tools, and learn to interpret a range of sources including charts, graphs, aerial photographs and diagrams. They are taught to use compass directions, symbols, keys and grid references and to communicate their understanding through discussion, writing and visual representations. Opportunities for fieldwork and first-hand investigation are embedded wherever possible, allowing learners to observe, collect data, analyse findings and draw conclusions about both their local area and wider environments.
Learning is driven by enquiry-based approaches, with lessons structured around key questions that encourage learners to investigate real-world issues, analyse information and justify their thinking. This fosters curiosity, critical thinking and a deeper understanding of geographical concepts.
Teaching is inclusive and adaptive to meet the needs of all learners. Tasks are scaffolded to support those who need additional guidance, while opportunities for challenge are provided through deeper enquiry, extended tasks and more complex studies. Subject-specific vocabulary is explicitly taught and regularly revisited, enabling learners to communicate confidently and accurately as geographers.
Cross-curricular links further enrich learning, particularly with science, history, art and global awareness themes, helping learners to see the relevance and application of geography in different contexts. As learners progress, their learning expands from their immediate environment to the United Kingdom, Europe and the wider world, developing an understanding of continents, countries, climates, ecosystems, settlements and cultural diversity.
From the earliest stages, learners are encouraged to observe their surroundings, explore their local area and begin to ask geographical questions, laying strong foundations for future learning. Assessment is ongoing, with formative strategies used to check understanding within lessons and summative assessments at the end of units to evaluate progress and inform teaching.
Consistency across the school ensures clear expectations, coherent progression and high-quality teaching. Through this structured and engaging approach, Geography at Alkerden builds knowledge, develops skills and fosters curiosity, enabling learners to become thoughtful, informed and globally aware individuals.
Impact
By the time learners leave Alkerden CE Academy Primary Phase, they have a secure understanding of local, national and global geography. They can describe and compare places and understand the key physical and human processes that shape environments and communities, recognising the interconnections between people and the planet.
Learners are confident in geographical skills, including using maps, atlases and digital tools, interpreting data, and carrying out fieldwork. They can observe, analyse and communicate their findings effectively, thinking and working as geographers.
Learners develop respect for cultural and environmental diversity and think critically about global issues such as sustainability, resources and human impact. They form informed views and show empathy towards different places and communities.
As a result, learners see themselves as responsible global citizens. They leave Alkerden curious, reflective and well-prepared for the next stage of their education, with the knowledge, skills and understanding to engage confidently with Geography and the wider world.
Geography Across the Stages
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
Learners begin by exploring their immediate surroundings, including their home, school and local area, in learning units such as Exploring maps, Outdoor adventures and Around the world.
They observe features such as plants, weather, seasons, land and water, and start to compare their environment with other places through stories, images and discussion. Through play, exploration and talk within Understanding the World, learners develop spatial awareness, begin to use simple maps and positional language and build early geographical vocabulary.
This provides the foundation for later learning in Geography, where knowledge and skills are developed progressively across locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography and fieldwork.
Key Stage 1 (Years 1-2)
In Key Stage 1, Geography builds on the foundations established in EYFS. Learners develop their understanding of the local area and begin to explore the wider world through topics such as Our local area, The UK, Continents and oceans and Hot and cold places.
Learners develop locational and place knowledge by identifying the countries of the UK, the continents and oceans of the world and comparing their local area with contrasting locations. They begin to understand basic human and physical features, such as weather, seasons, landscapes and how people live in different places.
Geographical skills are introduced and developed through simple map work, including using atlases, globes and aerial photographs. Learners learn to use basic symbols, keys and directional language and begin to carry out simple fieldwork in the local area through observation and data collection.
Through enquiry-based learning, learners ask questions, explore differences and similarities between places, and begin to use geographical vocabulary to describe their findings. This supports their growing awareness of the world and lays the groundwork for more in-depth geographical understanding in Key Stage 2.
Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6)
In Key Stage 2, Geography builds on prior learning enabling pupils to develop a deeper and more connected understanding of the world. Learners study a wider range of places, including regions of the UK, Europe and the Americas and explore topics such as Rivers, Mountains, Climate zones, Biomes and Settlements.
Learners strengthen their locational and place knowledge by identifying key countries, cities and physical features and by comparing regions to understand similarities and differences. They develop a more secure understanding of human and physical geography, including processes such as the water cycle, climate patterns, land use, trade and natural resources and how these interact to shape environments.
Geographical skills are further developed through more advanced map work, including the use of four and six-figure grid references, contour lines, and digital mapping tools. Learners interpret a wider range of data sources, such as graphs, charts and satellite images, and carry out more detailed fieldwork, collecting, analysing and presenting data.
Learning remains enquiry-based, encouraging Learners to ask questions, investigate issues and form reasoned conclusions. They use increasingly precise geographical vocabulary to explain their understanding and communicate ideas clearly.
Through this, Learners develop a more critical awareness of global issues such as sustainability, environmental change and human impact, preparing them for further study in secondary education and enabling them to engage thoughtfully with the world around them.
Inclusion & Support
At Alkerden we recognise that every learner is unique. To support this, we:
-
Adapt tasks, provide scaffolding and use multiple forms of representation (visual, verbal, practical, databased) so geography is accessible to all learners.
-
Offer challenge and enrichment for those with a strong interest in geography through extended projects, deeper enquiry, creative tasks, global research, and opportunities for fieldwork.
-
Use local surroundings as a resource, our locality becomes a living classroom, enabling learners to explore, observe and understand real-world geography.
-
Encourage use of digital mapping and resources where possible, to support learners in developing modern geographical skills and understanding global connectivity.