Geography
At The Olive School, Birmingham, our children will develop a deep knowledge of both the physical and human geography of the local environment, the UK and the wider world. It is essential that our children develop a meaningful understanding of place, including the positioning of Birmingham and the UK within the wider world. We will deliver a curriculum that:
- Inspires a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people
- Equips children with an understanding of diverse places, people, resources and environments around them and the wider world
- Allows children to build on prior learning about physical and human processes and the formation and use of landscapes and environments
- Develops an understanding that the Earth’s physical features are interconnected and change over time
- Encourages exploration of their own environment and supports children to make connections between their local surroundings and that of contrasting settlements
- Systematically develops essential map skills on a variety of scales
Learning begins in Reception and Year 1, where children learn the component location knowledge of Birmingham and the UK, such as the names of the countries, cities and key human features. In Year 6, this culminates in the development of rich geography schema, encompassing, for example, a deep understanding of The Americas, biomes how the UK has changed over time.
Our children use a range of maps and atlases so that geography map and fieldwork skills are systematically developed. Our geography progression map details the careful long-term curriculum sequencing of these essential skills. For example, in Key Stage 1, our children learn to locate and compare the position of major cities and seas on a UK map using the four basic compass directions. This culminates in Upper Key Stage 2 with children using the eight points of a compass and six figure grid references to locate a range of human and physical features studied, such as settlement locations and river features.
Essential geographical concepts such as the features of rivers, earthquakes and factors effecting settlement location are taught by focussing on specific locations and regions. This allows invaluable comparisons to be made between the UK and other areas of the world.
Our knowledge-rich geography curriculum is taught according to the following whole school long term plan for geography:
| Autumn Term | Spring Term | Summer Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 |
The Local Area Whats in my locality? |
The UK Where would I like to live in the UK? |
The Seven Continents How are places around the world different? |
| Year 2 |
The School Setting Where would I take a tourist? |
Contrasting Locality Would you like to live in a Kenyan village? |
The UK and Weather Why is the weather different across the UK? |
| Year 3 |
Settlements & Populations Why do we live where we live? |
The Local Area Whats in my local area? |
Mountains and Volcanoes Would you live near a volcano? |
| Year 4 |
Our European Neighbours Can you take us around Europe? |
Climates How does climate vary and are we affecting it? |
Earthquakes and Tsunamis Should we live in earthquake zones? |
| Year 5 |
Trade and Resources How does trade connect us? |
Our Changing Country How has our country changed? |
Rivers How does water move around the world? |
| Year 6 |
Biomes What is our relationship with the physical world? |
North America Can you take us on a journey of North America? |
South America Can you take us on a journey of South America? |
The four main strands in the National Curriculum for geography are ‘skills and fieldwork’, ‘locational knowledge’, ‘human and physical geography’ and ‘place knowledge’. These are carefully mapped out in our geography progression map, accessible below.
Our children are given motivating and inspiring out-of-class opportunities and special experiences to embed essential learning. This enrichment is an essential element of our geography curriculum offer. For example:
- Year 1 children investigate the geographical features of the local area and have a trip to the park to consider seasonal changes.
- Year 3 children visit the local area thinking carefully about the landscape
- Year 5 undertake an in-depth study of River Cole
Related documentation: