Geography
Intent
At St Anne’s Fulshaw, our geography curriculum is designed to inspire curiosity and deepen pupils’ understanding of the world and its people. We aim to develop geographers who possess secure locational and contextual knowledge of globally significant places and understand the physical and human processes that shape them.
Through carefully sequenced learning, pupils build a strong sense of place, space and scale beginning with their local area and expanding to the United Kingdom, Europe and the wider world. They develop an understanding of the interdependence of human and physical geography and how these interactions create change over time.
We equip pupils with the skills to collect, analyse and interpret geographical information, including maps, data and fieldwork evidence. Our intention is that children think critically, ask meaningful questions and develop informed perspectives about environmental sustainability and global responsibility.
By the end of primary school, pupils leave with secure geographical knowledge, rich vocabulary and the curiosity and confidence to engage thoughtfully with an increasingly interconnected world.
Implementation
At St Anne’s Fulshaw, geography is delivered through a carefully sequenced and progressive curriculum from EYFS to Year 6. In Key Stages 1 and 2, geography is taught through a structured two-year rolling programme (Year A and Year B), ensuring full coverage of the National Curriculum. Geography units alternate half-termly with history to allow pupils to study each subject in depth and develop secure disciplinary understanding.
Learning is structured to build both substantive knowledge (places, processes, environmental features) and disciplinary skills (fieldwork, mapping, data analysis and geographical enquiry). Teachers begin each unit by identifying pupils’ prior knowledge and misconceptions to ensure teaching is responsive and builds progressively over time.
Fieldwork, map work and the use of digital mapping technology, including Digimap, are integral to the curriculum. Pupils regularly interpret and create maps, analyse data and investigate their local area, developing confidence in applying geographical skills in meaningful contexts.
Planning is supported by Kapow to ensure progression in knowledge and skills across year groups, while allowing teachers professional flexibility to adapt learning to their cohort. Knowledge organisers are provided at the start of each unit to support retrieval and vocabulary development; these are used as learning tools rather than assessment checklists.
Assessment is ongoing and informs teaching. Insight Tracking is used to record pupils’ knowledge and skills throughout each unit and at its conclusion, ensuring clear progression and identification of next steps. Staff are supported through access to high-quality professional resources, including the Geographical Association and Kapow, to maintain subject knowledge and consistency of approach.
Impact
The learning we provide our pupils, will have covered the four aspects identified in the National Curriculum statements for each key stage (locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography, geographical skills and fieldwork).
The impact of our geography curriculum is measured in a range of ways: questioning during lesson time, marking work, listening to child-led discussion, asking children across the school about their learning, book scrutiny, looking at videos/images of their learning and assessment.
The curriculum designed will result in excellent progress over time across the key early years and the two key stages relative to each individual child’s starting point. They will therefore be expected to leave St Anne’s Fulshaw ready to embark on their next stage of geographical learning, securely equipped with key knowledge, skills and confidence.