At Clifton, we want our children to be curious, confident and knowledgeable about the world around them. Geography helps children to understand the places and environments in which people live, how these places are connected and how they change over time.

From Nursery to Year 6, children develop their understanding of the world through stories, exploration, maps, fieldwork, investigation and discussion. We encourage children to ask questions, explore different places and develop an understanding of their place within the wider world.

Our Geography Curriculum

From Reception to Year 6, we use the Kapow Primary Geography curriculum, which provides a carefully sequenced programme of learning aligned with the National Curriculum. Knowledge, vocabulary and geographical skills are developed progressively, allowing children to revisit and deepen their understanding as they move through the school.

Our curriculum develops four key areas:

• Locational knowledge – learning to name and locate places, continents, countries and geographical features using maps, atlases and globes.
• Place knowledge – understanding the characteristics of different places and comparing places locally, nationally and around the world.
• Human and physical geography – understanding natural features and processes, as well as how people use, change and interact with their environment.
• Geographical skills and fieldwork – developing skills in map reading, data collection, observation, measurement and geographical enquiry.

The curriculum follows a spiral approach, with important knowledge, vocabulary and skills revisited throughout children's time at Clifton. This enables children to make connections between their learning and develop increasing depth and independence.

Thinking Like Geographers

Geography is not just about knowing where places are. Children learn to ask geographical questions, observe and investigate places, collect and interpret information, use maps and data, identify patterns and explain how places and environments are connected.

Fieldwork provides children with opportunities to apply their geographical knowledge and skills to the world around them. Children investigate their local environment and use what they observe and discover to develop their understanding.

Children also explore how people interact with the environment and consider issues such as sustainability, resources, climate and the ways in which places change.

Geography in Early Years

In Nursery and Reception, children begin to develop an understanding of the world around them through exploration, play, stories and practical experiences. Through Understanding the World, children explore their local environment, notice similarities and differences between places, talk about the weather and seasons and begin to develop an understanding of the wider world.

These early experiences provide the foundations for the more structured geographical learning children encounter as they move through school.

Supporting Every Child

We want every child to develop a love of exploring the world and an understanding of the diverse places, people and environments within it. Our curriculum provides opportunities for children to explore their local area as well as places further afield, helping them to make meaningful comparisons and connections.

Teachers use questioning, discussion, retrieval activities, practical work and children's work to check understanding and identify misconceptions. This helps us build on children's prior knowledge and support them to make meaningful connections between different areas of Geography. Ofsted's geography subject report highlights the importance of carefully sequencing what pupils learn so that they can build their geographical knowledge and understanding over time.

Our aim is that, by the time children leave Clifton, they have developed a secure understanding of the world, strong geographical knowledge and vocabulary, and the skills and curiosity to investigate places, environments and the ways in which people and the natural world interact.