Our approach to our curriculum at Mendell is based upon: Consistency    Insistency    Ambition

Geography is the study of places and relationships between people and their environments

Mendell’s vision for Geography is that children go beyond being interested and engaged in geography lessons, so they are actively excited about the subject. Our Geography curriculum inspires children to look closely at the world around them and develop the skills necessary to be able to interpret what they see.  We want the children to enjoy geography because it is fun, creative and relevant to our children’s lives and experiences. 

Early Years and Geography

Our curriculum starts from EYFS and is progressive throughout Early Years, KS1, lower KS2, upper KS2 and beyond, which provides a secure foundation for learners across the school. Our Nursery class focus on the Prime Areas and start learning the skills of thinking, talking and exploring like a geographer by analysing our school and the local area. Further information for how this is built upon and is progressive can be seen on our progression map. EYFS classes are also included on the Geography long term plan.

Continuous Provision activities are set up to provide an enriched learning environment for children to independently apply the skills and knowledge they learn to better understand the world and develop the ‘Characteristics Of an Effective Learner’. Practitioners within the environment provide regular speaking and listening and role play opportunities for example creating maps of the outdoor area in the Foundation Stage and then using them to describe how to locate ‘hidden treasure’ at a given location.

Vocabulary and language development is key within our setting and our well-trained practitioners ask the children questions, role play with the children and model the vocabulary they want the children to understand and use throughout the day. Regular discussions about previous learning take place to help the children know more and remember more in all areas of ‘Development Matters 2020’.

The Geography curriculum has been planned to:

• Allow application of learning across the subject for example: In Year 2 we study weather patterns and temperature variations and in Year 5 we study climate zones and land use.  Then in Year 6 children study the ‘Frozen Kingdoms’ of the Arctic and Antarctic drawing on their prior learning from Year 2 and Year 5 to be able to act as geographers to make theories and predictions before investigating further.

To see how these are built up and are progressive year on year, please see our Geography long term plan and Geography progression map:

• Allow overlearning of key concepts in other subjects. for example: rocks and relics are taught as part of our Geography (Yr3 Aut) and Science (Yr3 Sum) curriculums. These are planned in at different times to allow overlearning and application of learning in other subjects.

To see this clearly, please see our whole school long term plan:

• Opportunities to revisit learning. Essential core Geography knowledge has been identified and is revisited during ‘Flash Back Friday’ sessions. These are keeping skills session where we revisit core knowledge from across a range of subjects to commit to long term memory.

 Please see Geography Memory Flash Points:

• Reflect National Association guidance. Mendell Primary has written the geography curriculum using resources from the Geography Association. The Geography Association is the leading subject association for teachers of geography whose mission is to ‘further geographical knowledge and understanding through education’. They providing advice, support and training for those involved in teaching geography and work closely with awarding bodies, Ofsted and other regulators, advising on the curriculum and lobbying on behalf of the subject.

 For further information, please see examples of our Geography Medium terms plans:

For further information, please contact our Geography lead Mr Cowley via the school office.

The lead governor for geography is Rev Jenny Gillies.