St Mary's C.E. (VA) Primary School Wakefield

Geography at our school

We hope you enjoy finding out more about our Geography curriculum including what we learn about and how we work like geographers.

Geography and our school's vision

Founded in hope St. Mary’s CE (VA) Primary School is a place where all can find their voice, grow in wisdom and live well in community and service.

Geography plays a fundamental role in living out our school vision.

Growing in wisdom:

Through our geography curriculum children will flourish in geographical understanding and skills. They will develop their understanding of global issues, fostering critical thinking and empathy.

Finding our voice:

During our geography curriculum children will have opportunities to develop their vocabulary, grow in self confidence and be able to communicate effectively about the world around them.

Living in Community and service:

Through our geography curriculum children will learn about different cultures and they will make global and national links. Children will explore different parts of the world around them including their local community.

At St Mary’s, we believe that Geography helps to sustain the awe and wonder of the natural and human aspects of the world. Children are encouraged to develop a great understanding and knowledge of the world and their place in it. The geography curriculum at St Mary’s enables children to develop knowledge and skills to support their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Geography is, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of key concepts, knowledge and skills. Through our carefully chosen and logically sequenced curriculum, children will encounter real world issues and be able to delve deeper into the world around them. We aim to inspire our children with curiosity and fascination about the world and its people. Our vision is that our pupils will leave with an increased confidence and understanding Geographical knowledge and vocabulary, as well as the skills to explore the world and live-in community and service.

The Primary National Curriculum is used to plan St Mary’s School Geography curriculum and is well-sequenced and knowledge is valued and specified. Substantive and disciplinary knowledge are intertwined and revisited to ensure that children have a firm understanding of key concepts:

What we teach and how we teach it

Geography - what we teach and how we teach it

Our EYFS geographers

Within the EYFS geography is largely covered within the Understanding the world area of learning.

The educational programme for this ‘involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community..’ We do this by ensuring we provide repeated opportunities to visit local places such as Thornes Park and Eastmoor community gardens., comparing the similarities and differences between the seasons. We will foster an understanding of our diverse world as we explore where we live and compare this to other places/countries.