Geography

Geography at East Stour Primary School

At East Stour, our Geography curriculum seeks to inspire children’s curiosity and fascination about the world; to promote their interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. 

Throughout their Geography learning journey, children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. The children will be given the opportunity to develop their fieldwork skills by participating in investigations and enquiries about the local area - supporting their understanding of who they are, their cultural heritage and what makes our local area unique and special. Furthermore, our curriculum aims to enable children to develop knowledge and skills that are not only beneficial in a Geographical sense but are also transferable to other curriculum areas.

At East Stour we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the school, building on previous knowledge and skills year on year (please see our Geography progression document). Geography is taught for 3 terms out of 6 a year - with a focus on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. Some of the many Geography topics our children get to enjoy are: Rivers, Rainforests, Renewable Electricity, Mountains and Volcanoes, North and South America, and Natural Disasters. To see the topics being taught each year, please look at the Geography - summary of coverage.

At East Stour, vocabulary has become a key focus across the whole of our curriculum, including Geography. Through our planning and implementation, we aim to develop and enhance the children’s subject vocabulary through highlighting and learning the definitions of keywords that link to each topic and each lesson. 

In term 2, Year 2 explored compass directions, directional and locational language to describe the features on a map of our school. They then used this information to devise their own map of the school alongside a simple key.

Above is a sample of work from Year 2’s Mapping our doorstep topic.

Finally, each year we celebrate Earth Day where we take a moment to appreciate the planet we call home. Across the school, the children will explore different key issues such as climate change, carbon footprint, deforestation and other environmental impacts. Below are some photos of the Earth Day activities classes have participated in.