Vision 

At St Mark’s, our vision is to inspire children to develop a curiosity about the world around them and the diverse people and places within it. Through the children’s work in Geography, they will enjoy learning about the human and physical processes that make up the Earth. The children are encouraged to be passionate about our world and develop a voice in how we and others can take care of our environment for future generations to come.

At St Mark’s, the Geography curriculum has been constructed from the National Curriculum and the EYFS Statutory Framework and these are used as a basis of our curriculum planning. However, we believe at St Mark’s it is crucial for children to be taught about their local area including their role in a seaside town. Our curriculum is split into the following four strands:  

• My place, Your place, Our place (Place Knowledge) 

• Where’s where in the world? (Locational Knowledge) 

• Human and Physical Features 

• I am a Geographer (Skills needed to become a Geographer) 

Throughout our four strands of learning, the children are explicitly taught keywords to match their current topic which are built upon every year. The curriculum is designed in a way that shows clear progression in the children’s learning and each year builds upon the children’s prior knowledge.  

We believe it is important in Geography for children to have real-life experiences from fieldwork within school grounds to school trips outside the local community. We want our children to have the opportunity to explore the countryside so they can develop their navigation skills in the real word and take these beyond St Marks. Children are encouraged to ask and answer geographical questions, which are developed through a school wide, subject wide oracy programme. We offer the children the opportunity to recognise and use a variety of data such as maps, graphs, statistics, pictures and aerial photographs.  

Geography is implemented into our curriculum through our cross curricular project approach. Where possible, Geography knowledge and skills we be linked to the current class topic. Some topics may have a heavier focus on Geography than others and it is only linked if it is appropriate and meaningful. Teachers ensure that they cover their year group geography objectives throughout the year with the use of a knowledge and skills progression document. Topics are begun by children raising enquiry questions so learning can be tailored towards children’s interests.  

At St Mark’s the children in the EYFS follow the BWMAT Long Term Curriculum Progressions which is underpinned by the Birth to 5 Matters document and the curriculum set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.  The provision of Geography is assured through the area of learning of ’Understanding the World’ and assessed against the Early Learning Goal (ELG). Where possible the learning is linked to the 4 key strands that run through the rest of the school but this is not essential. 

At St Mark’s, we ensure that all children have the opportunity to take part in Geography and that lessons are adapted accordingly to meet the needs of all the children in the class, including those with SEND.   

How is our curriculum unique to St Mark’s? 

At St Mark’s, we ensure our Geography curriculum is tailored to our locality and the area we live in. We are located within a seaside town with little diversity, so we ensure that in every year group children make comparisons of our local area to an area within the seven continents. This is designed so by the end of St Mark’s children have compared Worle/Weston Super Mare to an area in all seven continents to understand the key human and physical differences. 

In the future, we hope to connect with more culturally diverse schools to explore more diverse places than where we are located. Children should be able to connect with other children of a similar age in a different continent to us to share similarities, differences and experiences. 

What does it mean to be a Geographer? 

Being a Geographer allows us to understand the world we live in and helps us to make correct choices for generations to come. We learn how our actions can affect the natural world and discover patterns and relationships between places and the people that live within them. You will be able to navigate your way by using your map work skills and knowledge of what our planet Earth needs to be sustainable. Being a Geographer, may lead you to becoming an architect or a teacher. You may even work in transport or tourism! 

At the end of Year 6 our children will be able to: 

• Understand the importance of looking after our planet Earth and how their actions contribute towards its future.  

• Have a secure knowledge and an understanding of how the world is constructed from small villages through to the continents and oceans. 

• Share what human and physical processes are and how they are connected across the seven continents.  

• Understand the local geographical characteristics and be able to explain how these contrast to other areas of the world. 

• Have a secure knowledge of diverse places and cultures that are different to their own. 

• Have the skills needed to be able to read, interpret, discover and analyse different types of data including maps, grids, photographs, aerial photographs and statistics.