Geography

At Charlton we believe that geography should stimulate an interest in and a sense of wonder about places around the world. We want to help the children make sense of a complex and constantly changing world by sharing and listening to each other’s ideas. The children will explore diverse places, how landscapes are formed and in what way people and their environment can interact successfully together. The children will learn to forgive nature for its sometimes harmful processes and consider the impact this has on the landscape and people. We will remind children that we must be patient with nature and that worldly processes cannot be rushed or relied on.

We will look at how a diverse range of economies, societies and environments are interconnected. We will encourage pupils to build on their own experiences of investigating places both locally and on a more global scale.

Geography prepares young people with the knowledge, skills and understanding to make sense of their world and to face the challenges that will come their way in the future. We hope that through thoughtful consideration, our children will have a good understanding about the world around us.

We want our children to be keen to enquire, research and find answers about the fascinating and powerful world they live in.

The Geography curriculum offers a logical sequence of geographical topics to support progression and curriculum coverage. As a school we use Oddizzi’s Schemes of Work to support our Geography planning. 

The Geography curriculum followed at Charlton is a comprehensive curriculum coverage and addresses topics in great depth. It involves three Geography-led topics each year. Skills and knowledge acquired in the first two Geography topics feed into a place-based study in the third topic.

Our aim with the Geography curriculum is for pupils to accumulate knowledge as they progress. For example, in Year 1’s local area study, children learn basic geographical concepts, knowledge, vocabulary and skills through the concrete experience of a familiar place. This then allows them to make meaningful comparisons with the Zambian locality of Mugumareno Village in Year 2. During Key Stage 2, this knowledge of places feeds into regional studies from the Americas, Europe and the UK. Knowledge becomes both broader and deeper as pupils progress and become familiar with an ever-wider range of places. This growing knowledge is also fed by the development of locational knowledge, geographical skills and a growing understanding of human and physical processes.

Progression Narrative

The curriculum assures full National Curriculum (England) coverage, and goes into depth in relation to locational knowledge and geographical processes. Core skills, knowledge, vocabulary and concepts acquired in the first two topics of a year are applied towards the end of the year in the context of a place-based study.

We aim for there to be opportunities for pupils to carry out fieldwork at least once each year. This should have a strong emphasis on geographical concepts and skills, especially map work and data collection/presentation. Opportunities should still also be taken wherever possible to reinforce geographical knowledge and vocabulary, including locational knowledge (e.g. where countries are).

The Pathway we use at Charlton helps meet the requirements of the intent, implementation and impact framework. 

•  Intent. They help assure curriculum breadth, coverage, content and a structure that enables clear progression in knowledge and skills.  (Ofsted Handbook, 157: “It is clear what end points the curriculum is building towards, and what pupils will need to be able to know and do at those end points … The school’s curriculum is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before, and towards those defined end points.”)

•  Implementation. The teaching activities in the Oddizzi Schemes will help assure lively, effective and appropriate learning based on the structured Pathways.

•   Impact. Oddizzi’s assessment frameworks will help demonstrate that teaching has resulted in clear and appropriate outcomes.

Knowledge and Skills acquired in each year group

Year 1

By the end of Year 1, children should know:

• basic vocabulary and concepts about weather and the climate;
• the main nations and features of the UK, including their locations and related key vocabulary;

• the location and features of the local area.

By the end of Year 1, children should be able to:

• create a simple weather chart;
• annotate a simple map of the UK with some of its key features;
• look at simple maps and aerial views of the local area, discussing and asking questions about its main features and the way symbols have been used;
• work together to create a simple map of the local area;
• observe, record, discuss and ask questions about the main features of the local area, based on direct experience;
• make connections between their investigation of the local area and what they have learned about weather, climate and the UK;
• use appropriate vocabulary when describing local features and those of the UK, including for seasons and local weather.

Year 2

By the end of Year 2, children should know:

• the names and locations of the world’s continents and oceans, and some information about each of them;
• where the world’s main hot and cold regions are, and some information about what they are like;
• the location and features of a contrasting locality in Zambia, comparing and contrasting it with their local area and situating it within the African continent;
• how their location within hot and cold regions might affect everyday life differently in the UK and Zambia. 

By the end of Year 2, children should be able to:

• use globes and atlases – and annotate maps – to identify continents and oceans, including the location of the UK, Europe, Zambia and Africa;
• use globes and atlases – and annotate maps – to identify the world’s hot and cold regions, locating the UK and Zambia within them;
• look at simple maps and aerial views of a contrasting locality in Zambia, discussing and asking questions about its main features and comparing these with the UK;
• use appropriate vocabulary for continents and oceans, for hot and cold regions and when describing and comparing a contrasting locality in Zambia with their local area;
• make use of the four main compass points when describing the location of these key locations and regions.
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Year 3

By the end of Year 3, children should know:

• where the world’s main climate zones are (building on their prior understanding of hot and cold regions);
• the location and main human and physical features of North and South America;
• the location and human/physical features of Rio de Janeiro and South-East Brazil, as a region in The Americas, comparing and contrasting this region with places previously studied;
• how their location within different climate zones might affect everyday life differently in South-East Brazil and places previously studied;
• the location of South-East Brazil and Rio de Janeiro within the South American continent;
• about processes of settlement, trade, tourism and culture in South-East Brazil and Rio de Janeiro.

By the end of Year 3, children should be able to:

• use globes and atlases to identify climate zones and consider their impact on different parts of the Americas, including South-East Brazil;
• use globes, atlases and maps to identify the main human and physical features of North and South America;
• interpret maps and aerial views of the Americas, South-East Brazil and Rio de Janeiro at a variety of scales, discussing and asking questions about their main features, and comparing these with places previously studied;
• use appropriate vocabulary when describing the Americas, South-East Brazil and Rio de Janeiro and comparing them with other places; when describing climate zones and human processes; and when describing place locations and map features (e.g. the Equator, the tropics, the world’s hemispheres).

Year 4

By the end of Year 4, children should know:

• the key elements and features of a river;
• the key elements of the water cycle;
• the names of – and key information on – the world’s main rivers;
• basic ideas about flood management;
• the key elements of a rainforest biome, how these contrast with other biomes and the main location of the world’s rainforests (including the Congo);
• the location and principal features of the Amazon, situating it within the globe and the South American continent and comparing and contrasting it with South-East Brazil;
• how physical processes involving rivers, the water cycle and rainforests distinctively apply to the Amazon;
• how some human beings have adapted to life in the rainforest and the Amazon.

By the end of Year 4, children should be able to:

• interpret and explain key information on rivers;
• evaluate a range of possible flood prevention measures;
• use globes, atlases and maps to locate the world’s principal rivers, rainforests (and other biomes), including the Amazon;
• interpret a range of maps and aerial views of the Amazon and apply this information to their understanding of it;
• use appropriate vocabulary when describing the Amazon; rainforest and other biomes; rivers and river features; and place locations.

Year 5

By the end of Year 5, children should know:

• the names and locations of the world’s principal mountains, volcanoes and areas at risk from earthquakes;
• the main features and types of mountains;
• how some people have adapted to life in mountainous areas;
• the main features and causes of volcanoes and earthquakes;

• the location and principal features of the region around Athens, when seen at a range of scales, from the global to the immediately local;
• ways in which human processes (such as tourism and migration) operate within the Mediterranean, Greece and Athens;
• ways in which the location and physical geography of the region impact on (and are impacted by) human activity – this includes the key role of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as core knowledge about mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc;
• how people can respond to a natural disaster, such as an earthquake;
• ways in which the location and distinctive features of Greece and the Athens region (including everyday life) compare and contrast with those of other places studied;
• about place-specific patterns of continuity and change (including different perspectives on issues in the news, as well as ways in which modern-day Greece compares and contrasts with its past).

By the end of Year 5, children should be able to:

• interpret a range of maps and aerial views of Athens, Greece and the Mediterranean region and apply this information to their understanding of it (e.g. when arguing the case for tourism in the Mediterranean);
• look critically at a topical issue in this region, raising questions about it, considering the reliability of sources and exploring and evaluating a range of viewpoints;
• use globes and atlases to identify the location of Greece and the Mediterranean;
• use and apply appropriate vocabulary when describing the location and distinctive features of mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, the Mediterranean, Greece and Athens.

Year 6

By the end of Year 6, children should know:

• the location and principal features of the UK and their local region when seen at a range of scales, from the global to the immediately local;

• ways in which human processes (such as economic and political processes, the distribution of energy, land use, settlement and change) operate within the UK and their local region;
• ways in which the location and physical geography of the UK and their local region impact on (and are impacted by) human activity in the region;
• ways in which the location and distinctive features of the UK and their local region compare and contrast with those of other places studied.

By the end of Year 6, children should be able to:

• interpret a range of maps of the UK and the local region and apply this information to their understanding of it;
• use maps and supporting information to route-plan a tourist trip around the capital cities of the UK;
• use fieldwork to collect and critically evaluate data from a range of viewpoints about the local region, how it meets people’s needs, and how it might change;
• use and annotate Ordnance Survey maps, including the use of grid references, in order to present arguments about change in the local region;
• use appropriate vocabulary when describing key information about the UK and the local region to external audiences.

In addition, children should have had the opportunity, in every year group, to further develop and secure their locational and place knowledge and geographical vocabulary.  They should have had the opportunity to further develop, use and apply their skills of enquiry and fieldwork (including the use of data and map work), and to do so with a greater degree of confidence and independence. They should have continued to make regular use of globes and atlases, including considering some of the key questions and choices involved in their construction and creation. This should have taken place through opportunities within other subjects, via ‘geography in the news’ and/or through additional dedicated fieldwork days that include a degree of independent investigation.