Geography 

At Shirehampton Primary School, we want Geography to inspire children's curiosity and fascination about the world around them.

Through our Geography curriculum, children develop their knowledge of places, people and environments, while exploring the physical and human processes that shape our world. We want children to understand their own locality as well as developing an increasingly broad understanding of the UK and the wider world. This reflects the vision in your existing handbook.

Our Vision for Geography

We want our children to become curious and knowledgeable geographers who are interested in the world and the people who live within it.

Our curriculum helps children develop their understanding of diverse places and cultures and challenges stereotypes about different countries and communities.

As children move through the school, they build their knowledge of location and place, human and physical geography, geographical skills and fieldwork, making connections between what they have previously learned and new areas of study.

What Children Learn

Geographical learning begins in the Early Years through Understanding the World, where children explore their immediate environment, observe the natural world and begin to recognise similarities and differences between places and communities. 

From Year 1 onwards, children progressively develop their knowledge and understanding of:

• The UK and their local area

• Continents, oceans and countries of the world

• Human and physical features

• Weather and climate

• Rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes

• Settlements and land use

• Natural resources and the environment

• Similarities and differences between places

• Maps, atlases, globes and digital mapping

• Compass directions and grid references

• Fieldwork and geographical enquiry

The curriculum broadens from children's immediate surroundings to the UK, Europe and the wider world as they progress through school. 

Geographical Skills & Fieldwork

Geography at Shirehampton is about more than learning facts about places. Children learn to think and work as geographers.

They develop practical geographical skills including using maps, atlases and globes; interpreting aerial photographs; using compass directions and grid references; creating maps; and using digital mapping.

Fieldwork provides opportunities for children to observe, investigate and record features of their environment first-hand. As they progress through school, children use increasingly sophisticated methods to collect, record and present geographical information. 

Supporting All Learners

At Shirehampton, we want every child to participate successfully in Geography.

Teachers adapt teaching and resources where appropriate to remove barriers to learning while maintaining high expectations for all pupils. This may include the use of visual resources, maps and photographs, pre-teaching of vocabulary, practical experiences, additional modelling or adapted recording methods.

Geography Curriculum & Progression

Our curriculum documents provide further information about what children learn and how geographical knowledge and skills develop as they move through the school.

📄 Geography Curriculum Progression

📄 Geography & History Curriculum Handbook