'The study of geography is about more than just memorising places on a map. It's about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exist across continents."
Barack Obama
Intent
At Bramingham, our geography curriculum aims to build children’s confidence in exploring the world through the overarching skills of: fieldwork, map skills, interpreting information and communication. It aims to develop curious, knowledgeable geographers, who can observe their surroundings, ask thoughtful questions and explain their findings clearly. Through structured fieldwork, children learn to investigate real environments, collect data and notice patterns. Strong map skills help them read symbols, follow routes and understand scale and direction. By interpreting information from photos, graphs and digital sources, they learn to compare places and draw meaningful conclusions. Finally, confident communication enables children to present ideas using geographical vocabulary, diagrams and simple reports.
Implementation
Our geography curriculum is driven by a core enquiry question, introduced at the start of the topic. This question provides the narrative thread for all learning: every lesson looks at a smaller guiding-question that contributes new knowledge or skills that help pupils build towards answering the enquiry in a final, evaluative outcome in the last lesson. To support coherence and progression, every topic is underpinned by a knowledge organiser. These organisers identify the core knowledge, key vocabulary, and disciplinary skills pupils must master with in that topic.
Pupils take part in meaningful local studies and fieldwork activities that deepen their understanding of their immediate environment. Alongside this, they explore the wider world through a range of carefully chosen case studies that highlight diverse aspects of both human and physical geography. By comparing new places with what they already know, children develop curiosity, broaden their perspectives, and gain a richer understanding of life beyond their home city of Luton.
Our lesson structure is designed to ensure that learning is remembered and that children have ample opportunities to ‘think like a geographer’. Our lessons encourage curiosity and exploration. Talk for learning is actively taught and scaffolded to promote vocabulary and clear communication of ideas.
At Bramingham, we have broken core geography skills into 4 categories. Each skill area contributes to developing the essential tools needed to become a confident geographer. With fieldwork and exploration at the heart of our approach, children are repeatedly exposed to key geographical techniques and have regular opportunities to build on what they have learned before.
- Fieldwork
- Map-work
- Interpreting Information
- Communication
