Geography

Geography at Keys Meadow

The geography curriculum at Keys Meadow has been carefully designed to ensure that it reflects our school mission statement of ‘working together to ensure that all of our children can lift off and soar.’ As one of the subjects that forms the ‘Our World’ school driver, we want our pupils to be inspired by the world around them and aspire to become global citizens of the future. We strive to maximise our children’s level of engagement and inspiration with the subject in a number of ways: providing purposeful links with other curriculum areas (e.g. comparing London and New Delhi in Year 2 to link with their Pattan’s Pumpkin reading text); developing our knowledge of climate change and analysing the advantages and disadvantages of using renewable energy; examining real-world case studies alongside theoretical knowledge (e.g. the Christchurch, NZ earthquake) and introducing pupils to some of the most awe-inspiring sights on the planet (e.g. the Grand Canyon during our rivers topic in Year 6). 

The aims of our geography curriculum are to:

• Empower children to understand and appreciate their place in the world.
• Instil a passion and curiosity in our pupils to find out more about the world and the people who live in it.
• For pupils to initially understand the human and physical aspects of their local area before broadening their knowledge to include the wider world. 
• To develop an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like.
• To use an extensive base of geographical vocabulary when talking about locations around the world.
• Apply an analytical approach when investigating geographical questions.

Through repeatable objectives (organised into ‘milestones’ of two academic years each), we introduce our pupils to the geographical skills outlined in the EYFS and National Curriculum so that they can be developed and consolidated. Our choice of core texts in the EYFS draws upon the cultures of our children and families.  Each ‘milestone’ builds on the previous one to ensure that pupils are able to refine their geographical skills and deepen their understanding in order to make sustained progress. 

Overview of geographical units studied from Years 1 – 6

Every year group has a progression map that explicitly details the skills, knowledge and vocabulary to be taught as part of the topic. They also show content that is new learning, and content that is being revisited to ensure progression across the curriculum.

Here is an example of a progression map:

Year 2 Geography progression map