Geography

Subject Leader: Mrs Bennett

At CMFS we intend to inspire children’s curiosity and fascination about the world as well as their own place in it. We also aim to develop their citizenship by understanding how and why we need to look after the world.  We strive to enable children to develop investigative skills as well as knowledge that is transferable to other curriculum areas and which can and are used to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Geography is underpinned by the Early Years foundational knowledge. Local community events play a core role in developing children’s sense of space, place and time, plus maximising our school grounds. We are fortunate to have extensive school grounds including a huge school playing field, outdoor classroom, Forest School and an all-weather games area (MUGA).

Our Geography curriculum is based on the CUSP curriculum. The curriculum is designed to ensure that teaching equips pupils to understand more about our world, beginning with our own locality and then moving further afield. Our curriculum emphasizes cumulative knowledge across spaces, places, scale, and human and physical processes, ensuring that learning is interconnected and relational. Pupils engage in high-volume and deliberate practice to strengthen their ability to retrieve and apply substantive and disciplinary knowledge, making conscious connections and deepening their understanding.

We realise the importance of children developing the skills of a geographer and fully immerse them in all areas of the subject, and the vocabulary associated with it. Vocabulary is systematically developed from Year 1 to Year 6, with a focus on both high-frequency and subject-specific terms. Our local area is utilised to supplement our curriculum, with opportunities for learning outside the classroom. School trips and fieldwork are provided to give first hand experiences, which enhance children’s understanding of the world beyond their locality.