‘’In our changing world, nothing changes more than Geography.’’ Pearl S. Buck
At St Peters, we know that Geography is more than just finding places on a map. Geography helps us to explore and understand space and place. It allows us to recognise differences in culture, economies, political systems, landscapes and environments around the world and explore the links between them.
The world around us is constantly evolving and studying Geography gives us the understanding and tools to understand why it is happening and what positive impact we can have both now and in the future.
At St Peter’s, we teach Geography every other half term. The units we teach allow children to explore the highest mountains and the deepest oceans. It sees them navigate through deserts and jungles. It allows them to learn about trade, climate change and sustainability. Links are made where possible to other curriculum areas such as Writing and Reading to allow key concepts and vocabulary to be embedded.
As children move through the school, they build on their pre-existing understanding of concepts and build links between different Geographical concepts. Care has been taken to ensure that content is appropriate, challenging and focusses on a progression of skills, vocabulary, knowledge and understanding to ensure that they leave Primary School with not only a well-rounded understanding of the Geography curriculum but also have the skills and passion that allow them to become lifelong Geographers.
Intent
We believe that at the core of teaching Geography is the ability to give pupils the feeling of identity and humanity.
Through learning Geography, all pupils at St Peters will develop their understanding of their place in the world, learn how they interact with the world and the impact that they make around them. 
We aim to facilitate our pupils to become Geographers at an age-appropriate level through the use of enquiry. Our enquiries focus on people, places and processes progressively at a local, national and global level; building a pupil’s sense of spatial awareness beginning with their immediate surroundings in EYFS. 
Our pupils are taught about the importance of sustainability and how human actions and interactions make an impact locally, nationally and globally. 
Implementation
Staff at St Peters teach the aims and subject content of the National Curriculum 2014. Geography is taught discretely once per week in alternate terms (a total of 3 enquiries per academic year). To support our young Geographers, we use ‘The Connected Curriculum’ by David Weatherly. This ensures coverage and progression in all skills and knowledge relating to Geography. We plan an opportunity within each session to revisit geographical knowledge, skills and understanding that may need further consolidation or to use new knowledge to enforce prior skills.
In every Geography lesson, it is made explicit to pupils that they are being taught Geography. Specifically named Geography knowledge, skills and understanding are also referred to throughout the enquiries: locational knowledge, place knowledge, human features, physical features, map skills, compass skills and fieldwork skills. It is expected that the pupils will become familiar with these terms as they progress through the school.
In addition to this, staff understand that the pupils will progress through transferable learning skills in order to develop as Geographers. For example, pupils in Year 1 will be expected to identify, locate and name. Year 2 will describe and begin to explain. A Geographer in Year 6 will compare, contrast and give reasons in their lessons. These are the specific skills that the teachers will assess.
Through the use of the Geography Progression Document, teachers can become familiar with previous and subsequent year groups’ content in order to link learning, close gaps and build on previous knowledge. This document assigns age appropriate vocabulary to be taught explicitly in Geography lessons. There are four specific words that are highlight as they either link to other Geography units or are high mileage words that are transferrable across other curriculum areas.
Due to the predicted numbers on roll, we use a rolling programme of planning- this is due to potentially needing to have mixed age classes in the future. When planning each enquiry, teaching staff ensure that the outcome for each year group is pedagogically appropriate, taking all of the above into consideration.
Field Trips are used to enhance cultural capital, particularly of the local area.
There is a named Leader of Geography at St Peters. The Lead, supported by the Senior Leadership Team, regularly monitors, evaluates and reviews the Geography provision. This regular review aims to celebrate and share good practice, contributing to the ongoing improvement of the subject across the school.
Impact
Pupils have a growing knowledge and understanding of their place in the world, how they interact with the world and the impact that they make around them. Our pupils are confident Geographers, with the ability to discuss their learning from past and current topics, as well as explain their next steps.
Our pupils gain an increasingly complex range of critical thinking skills that transfer across the curriculum.
Every pupil is challenged to achieve their Geographical potential through carefully planned, motivating enquiries.