Geography

At St Patrick’s we believe that Geography is a pivotal part of the curriculum that allows us to think about the world around us, how it is changing and how we, as humans, affect the environment around us. Our aim is to fulfil the requirements of the National curriculum for Geography by providing a broad, balanced, inspiring and differentiated curriculum. Geography is, by nature an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. We aspire to establish a sense of curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives; to promote children’s interest and understanding about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in Geography, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Each year group will be assigned a continent to explore in further detail to broaden their knowledge on the world around us. At the beginning of each topic, children are able to convey what they know already as well as what they would like to find out. In Key Stage 1, the Geography curriculum at St Patrick’s is designed outwardly, giving children a firm grasp of key geographical features of their immediate environment – school and its locality within the United Kingdom. As the children progress to Key Stage 2, they will explore their locality in greater detail and will have the opportunity to compare and contrast various other towns within the UK, as well exploring Europe. Following on from this the children will develop their understanding of the world around them and focus on Geographical representations. We use various sources to encourage the children to become Geographers by getting them to develop their geographical skills of enquiry and investigation, fieldwork, map work and in order to interpret and communicate geographical information.

At St Patrick’s we hope to inspire our children to become Geographers by extending their experiences and awareness beyond the personal to the wider world. In addition to this, we strive to develop their geographical skills of enquiry, map work, fieldwork as well as using a variety of equipment. As the children progress through the school they will acquire and effectively use essential vocabulary as well as developing key skills. We encourage our children to explore, ask questions and undertake new experiences both now and in the future.