Geography

Geography is a fascinating subject which incorporates learning not just about the physical aspects of the world, but also about its people and cultures, enabling our Trust's Curriculum Drivers of Connection, Diversity, Sustainability and Spirituality to be incorporated into teaching and learning with ease. At Combe Down, we find that our pupils are fascinated by learning more about the world and enjoy deepening their understanding of both human and physical geography and how they are interlinked.

We are always seeking exciting and innovative ways to bring our curriculum to life, and geography lessons are no exception. Where possible, we seek to get outside the classroom to carry out activities such as map-making, traffic surveys, comparing our local area to other parts of the world and exploring our environment. Our annual Environment Week has a strong geographical focus, with links to areas such as climate, land use and renewable energy. In 2023, each class focused on a specific endangered animal, finding out as much information as possible about it and culminating in raising money to sponsor their animal from WWF. We also invited a VIrtual Reality company into school to provide workshops for all Key Stage 2 year groups in 2023-24, giving pupils access to fascinating and exciting insights into areas such as the rainforest, volcanoes and exploring the landscape of Ancient Greece.

All classrooms in the school are equipped with their own globe and access to age-appropriate maps of the UK and the world which are accessed and referred to throughout the curriculum, making links during other curriculum subjects where appropriate.

We follow our Trust's Curriculum Spine (based on the National Curriculum) to ensure progression and the provision of a broad and balanced geography curriculum. Geography is taught discreetly, but may be linked to other areas of the curriculum where appropriate, such as English. Across both Key Stages, Geography teaching and learning is focused around four key areas:

• Locational knowledge e.g. using maps to locate specific places
• Place knowledge e.g. studying human and physical geography to identify similarities and differences between particular places
• Human and physical geography e.g. settlements and trade (human) and rivers and mountains (physical)
• Geographical skills and fieldwork e.g. using compasses and grid references, creating maps and graphs

Below is an overview of the areas of study covered by each year group (knowledge organisers are provided for use in school and at home at the start of the unit):

Curriculum Lead for Geography: Francesca Biffen