Geography
The rationale for Geography at Coxheath Primary School is based on the only safe assumption a teacher can make: that the pupil might go on to study the subject at university, require particular subject knowledge in their future career or need particular subject knowledge or skills to enable them to be active members of society. As a result, the curriculum has been designed for that purpose.
The geography curriculum incorporates fundamental geographical knowledge and skills allowing pupils to build on a firm foundation in future years. The geographical journey begins in EYFS focusing on their immediate surroundings before progressing to look at their local village and town in Year 1. They will also be introduced to the concept of weather which will be further developed at the end of the Key stage in the Weather unit which also introduces fieldwork. Pupils will be introduced to different types of maps and the continents and oceans of the world, gaining knowledge which will be used throughout their primary school journey. This will be built upon again in the Hot and Cold places unit. The final unit of the key stage progresses from looking at where they live to focus on developing their understanding of the four countries of the UK.
Moving into KS2, pupils are introduced to settlements, tectonic processes, and hydrological and climatic processes introduce Year 3 pupils to concepts, vocabulary and knowledge that builds on prior knowledge as well as laying important foundations of much of their future geographical learning. When pupils study Migration in Year 4, they will utilise their knowledge of settlement types to deepen their understanding of migration patterns. This knowledge and understanding support their comprehension of why communities develop around areas of rich natural resources, and how slums develop. The Natural Resources unit then feeds into the Year 5 unit on Energy and Sustainability, by supporting pupils’ understanding of where energy comes from and how greater sustainability can be achieved. The Year 6 units on Population and Globalisation draw on themes that have been explored throughout KS2, so pupils are really able to approach these complex topics with great depth and breadth of knowledge.
The Rivers unit in Year 4 follows on from the Water, Weather and Climate unit and pupils then continue to build on this knowledge of physical processes through the Biomes unit. The local Fieldwork unit is in Year 6, so that pupils are exposed to geographical research in KS2. This is a crucial part of a child’s geographical education and we have intentionally incorporated this unit at the end of KS2 to capitalise on their greater maturity and geographical knowledge.