Swaffield School

Geography

 

Geography is about understanding the world by: comparing locations; investigating; researching different sources; writing and talking about places; asking and answering questions.

In Years 1 and 2, children will begin to develop a geographical vocabulary by learning about where they live, as well as one other small area of the United Kingdom and a small area in a contrasting non-European country. They will learn about weather patterns in the United Kingdom and hot and cold areas of the world. They will use ICT, world maps, atlases and globes, simple compass directions, aerial photographs and plans, as well as simple fieldwork and observational skills. Schools have flexibility to choose the areas they teach and there is considerable variation between schools in their approaches.

In Years 3 to 6, the Geography curriculum retains some flexibility, and builds and expands on previous knowledge. There are three focus areas:
• Locational knowledge
• Place knowledge
• Human and physical geography

Locational knowledge examines latitude, longitude and time zones. Children will use maps to focus on Europe, North and South America, concentrating on regions, key physical / human characteristics, countries, and major cities. They will also work on locating the counties and cities of the United Kingdom, and start to explore their human and physical characteristics.

Children also examine geographical similarities and differences by comparing the geography of a region of the United Kingdom with a region in a European country, and with a region in either North or South America. This is part of the place knowledge aspect of the curriculum.

For human and physical geography, children will be taught to describe and understand key aspects of geography, for example: climate zones, rivers, mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, the water cycle, types of settlement, economic activity and the distribution of natural resources.

Visit our Curriculum page which gives details of Swaffield's 2023/2024 curriculum for each year group.

Progression

See the progression of knowledge and skills by year group here:

geography overview 23 24 v3.pdf

 

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