EYFS

Through offering an enabling learning environment, providing continuous access to the outdoors and carefully planning adult-led and independent continuous provision opportunities, pupils work towards the following Early Learning Goal:

Children find out about similarities and differences in places, objects, materials and living things. They are encouraged to talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes.

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Year 1

Our School Grounds

Children explore our school grounds and identify features within the school grounds.  They explore views from different perspectives in order to help them understand that locations can be viewed from above.  This helps them to understand the crucial map skill; that is how a map depicts an aerial or bird’s eye view.  Children find out about symbols in a map key and construct basic maps and plans.  Throughout their learning they continually develop their geographical vocabulary.

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United Kingdom - Countries & ​Capital Cities

Children focus on the United Kingdom so that they can name and locate the four main countries on a map, as well as recall their capital cities.  Using large scale maps, aerial photos, photographs and video clips, children study a location in the United Kingdom - they point out features on maps such as buildings, roads and fields. They continue to develop their geographical vocabulary.

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Year 2

Local Area Study – Cuerden Valley

Children study our local area of Leyland; focusing on the types of homes, roads and footpaths found here.  Using Digimaps, children suggest possible routes and learn how features, such as roads, are depicted on OS maps. Children use fieldwork techniques, such as observation and identification keys, to study the key human and physical features the local environment.  Children use digital cameras to record their findings. 

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Wider World Study – Africa

Children name and locate the world’s seven continents and five oceans, using songs as an aid to help them retain key facts.  Using globes and maps, they identify the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles and use a range of maps and globes.  Using secondary sources and Google Earth, children find out about a town in Africa and are encouraged to ask questions such as: ‘what is it like to live in that place?’  They compare and contrast the geographical features and lifestyle with that of their own.  We are very fortunate that one of our governors has spent a great deal of time in Africa, while he was the director of Safe Child Africa – our children are able to ask him questions, listen to his first-hand experiences and find out about their rights as children.  This really brings the topic to life.

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Year 3

Mountains, Volcanoes and Earthquakes

Children learn to interpret relief maps, contour maps and facilities on Google Earth in order to find out about mountains in the United Kingdom.  They find out how mountains are formed and why volcanoes and earthquakes occur.  Using atlases, children investigate patterns in the location of volcanoes and also find out about the distribution of important minerals.  Children also practise using four figure grid references.

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Counties and Cities of England

Children use maps and atlases to learn about what a county and a city is – they find out and locate different counties and cities within the United Kingdom.  Using Digimaps and aerial photos, the children compare and contrast the distribution of physical and human features in town and cities.  From undertaking a survey of the local area, children present their findings about the types of buildings found here, such as residential, commercial and industrial.

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Year 4

Countries of Europe​

Children name and locate countries within Europe using activities such as jigsaws and map games.  They search for patterns in air travel, using live-feed apps, and suggest which places may be cities, based on their business.  Using secondary sources, such as travel brochures, travel review sites and weather apps, children compare and contrast locations in Europe.  They find out how tourist locations are depicted on OS maps and through role-play and debating sessions, consider the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in an area.

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Waterways

Using Google Earth and Digimaps, children name and locate rivers within the United Kingdom and find out how water is represented on OS maps.  They use atlases to locate famous rivers around the world and practise using scales.  Children find out about the water cycle and collect and present data about rainfall.  They learn about the journey and features of a river from source to mouth, using geographical vocabulary, such as, ‘tributary.’  They also find out about the importance of waterways, for example in crop irrigation and energy generation.  From secondary sources, such as news reports and articles, children observe the dangers of water and look for patterns on maps, finding out about flood zones.

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Year 5

South America

Children name and locate South American countries on a map.  They study the Amazon Rainforest and surrounding area in detail, learning about its unique and important features and the impact of human activity.  Using atlases, children investigate and find out about land use and resource distribution in relation to food and farming.  Using live-feed apps, children look for patterns in sea transportation and suggest possible explanations.  Through role-play and discussion, they find out about trade links and Fair Trade.

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The Hemispheres

Using globes and interactive maps, children locate the position of the Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere and the equator.  They establish patterns between the hemisphere, climate and vegetation belts and collect their own weather data in the local area, such as temperature and wind direction, presenting this in different ways.  Children also learn about lines of latitude and longitude and carry out calculations relating to time zones.

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Year 6

European Country Study - Spain

Using maps and secondary sources, children study the physical and human features of Spain, some of the well-known locations of Spain and specifically, the region of Galicia.  They make good links with their pen pals in Galicia, asking questions about what life is like there so they can compare and contrast the geography and customs with their own home place.

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Local Area Study - Leyland

Using Digimaps, local news/events and fieldwork, such as talking to locals, litter counting or traffic sampling, the children identify an issue in their local area and decide on possible methods to address it.

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