At Stocksfield Avenue Primary School, we are committed to providing a purposeful and empowering geography curriculum which provokes curiosity and allows pupils to investigate and wonder at the world in which they live in. Geography surrounds us and forms parts of our everyday life and through our geography curriculum we hope to broaden our pupil’s horizons by helping them to understand the diverse community they live in, their interaction with the environment and the relationships between nations. We aim for pupils to build a deep understanding of the interlinked relationship between human and physical geography and to recognise how this has shaped the world that we live in today.  Our curriculum is designed to support pupils in recognising what it means to be a geographer and is progressively sequenced to develop their skills and knowledge. Pupils are provided with quality resources from organisations such as the Geographical Society and are encouraged to read and critically analyse the sources of information to draw conclusions. Teachers plan for high quality discussions and debates and are committed to teaching key vocabulary in all lessons.  Pupils are encouraged to use stem sentences to articulate their learning and understanding.  In addition, we have developed a reading spine consisting of fiction and non-fiction texts to support pupils learning and interest.    

Underpinning our geography curriculum at Stocksfield Avenue Primary School are the following key concepts:  

Place and space – We aim to provide pupils with the skills they will need to independently navigate new places and spaces. Pupils will learn how to use maps, atlases and globes to give a sense of place and location when compared to other places. They will learn how to use grid references and keys to understand what is being shown and create maps and routes for journeys they may take.   

Scale and connection – Pupils will learn how the world is interconnected and how no place stands alone. They will use a range of sources to help them appreciate how the world and individual country’s economies are interconnected through trade and tourism. By zooming in and out on locations and comparing sizes, distances and time taken to travel there, pupils will gain an understanding of how close or faraway places are as well as their size.   

Physical and human geography – Pupils will develop an understanding of the interlinked relationship between human and physical geography.  Their learning is sequenced in a logical manner, extending the depth of their understanding and knowledge as they progress through school.  They will learn about the impacts of rainforests, mountain rangers, volcanoes, earthquakes, biomes and vegetation belts. Pupils learn how land features influence settlements and reflect upon how natural resources have impacted the landscape of human geography today. The analyse population densities and draw comparisons between different communities within the UK as well as different countries around the world.  Pupils study the distribution of natural resources and consider how sustainable our local area is.  

Environment and sustainability –Through this concept, pupils will examine the cause and effect of changing human and physical geography. They will consider consumer habits and the choices made by themselves and those in power about sustainability and the impact this has upon the environment. Pupils will be able to form judgements on choices that have already been made and determine their effect on the planet; this will help pupils to consider their choices in the future and how they can have a significant impact upon the geography of an area in both the short term and the long term.   

Culture and diversity – We passionately believe in teaching respect for ethnicity and diversity through knowing more about other cultures and people, and therefore this forms an essential part of the geography curriculum at Stocksfield Avenue Primary School. Pupils will learn about different cultures and will apply their knowledge of culture and diversity to explore regional inequality and how parts of a location may by thriving while others are relatively poor.