Geography

At St Mary’s, geography helps children understand their place within Chipping and an increasingly interconnected world. It develops their knowledge of places, people, environments and the physical and human processes that shape our planet.

Our geography curriculum reflects our mission:

Rooted in Love • Faith in Action • Learning for Life

Geography brings our curriculum golden threads to life:

Belonging: children develop a secure understanding of Chipping, Lancashire, the United Kingdom and their place within the wider world.
Independence and Curiosity: children ask geographical questions, use maps and data, undertake fieldwork and investigate how places and environments work.
Responsibility: children consider environmental change, sustainability and how they can care responsibly for our common home.

We want children to be curious about the world, respectful of its people and hopeful about its future. Our teaching follows the current statutory National Curriculum for Geography.

Our Approach to Geography

We want children to know important geographical information and understand how geographers investigate and explain the world.

Our teaching therefore develops two connected forms of knowledge:

Substantive knowledge: knowledge of locations, places, environments and the physical and human processes that shape them.
Disciplinary knowledge: knowledge of how geographers ask questions, use maps, undertake fieldwork, interpret data and reach evidence-based conclusions.

Children need both. Locational and place knowledge provides the foundation upon which meaningful geographical thinking can develop.

Our curriculum helps children to:

Know places and processes → Think geographically → Investigate and explain

Substantive Knowledge

Substantive knowledge is what children learn about locations, places, environments and processes.

It includes knowledge of:

Chipping and the local area;
the countries and regions of the United Kingdom;
continents, oceans, countries and cities;
climate and weather;
settlements and land use;
rivers, mountains and coasts;
volcanoes and earthquakes;
biomes and vegetation;
trade and natural resources;
environmental change; and
connections between people and places.

Across our curriculum, children repeatedly encounter important geographical concepts, including:

place;
location;
scale;
space and pattern;
settlement;
physical and human processes;
environment;
interconnection;
change; and
responsibility.

Revisiting these concepts in different contexts helps children connect new knowledge with what they have learned previously.

Disciplinary Knowledge

Disciplinary knowledge helps children understand how geographers investigate and explain the world.

Children progressively learn to think through the following geographical lenses:

Place and location: Where is it, what is it like and what makes it distinctive?
Scale: Is this local, regional, national or global, and how are these scales connected?
Space and pattern: How are features distributed and what patterns can we identify?
Process and change: Which physical and human processes shape places over time?
Interconnection: How are people, places, environments and resources connected?
Maps and spatial skills: Which map, scale, symbol, direction or grid reference will help?
Fieldwork and data: What should we observe or measure, and how can we record it fairly?
Enquiry and judgement: What does the evidence show, what are its limitations and what conclusion can we reach?

Children move progressively from observation and description towards explanation, comparison, evaluation and responsible decision-making.

Curriculum Organisation

Geography is organised through carefully chosen enquiry questions. Each unit begins with an answerable geographical question rather than simply a topic title.

Every geography unit identifies:

a clear enquiry question;
the precise location and geographical scale;
essential knowledge and vocabulary;
recurring geographical concepts;
a principal disciplinary focus;
appropriate maps, images and data;
purposeful fieldwork where appropriate;
expectations for each year group; and
an outcome that answers the enquiry geographically.

History and geography may alternate across different half-terms. This provides sufficient time for children to explore each subject in depth while making meaningful connections between people, places, environments and change.

Vocabulary and Rich Texts

Geographical vocabulary is explicitly introduced, explained and revisited.

Children learn to use precise words to name, locate, describe, compare and explain places and processes. Teachers help children move beyond general terms such as “nice,” “hot” or “different” towards accurate geographical language.

Rich fiction, non-fiction, maps, photographs, video, data and first-hand accounts are used to:

build background knowledge;
introduce geographical vocabulary;
stimulate curiosity;
represent varied experiences;
explore environmental issues; and
help children understand connections between people and places.

Children learn to consider who created a representation, which scale it shows and whether it provides a complete or partial picture of a place.

Geography Across the Curriculum

Geography makes meaningful connections with other subjects while retaining its distinct disciplinary identity.

Children may apply their learning through:

reading texts about places and environments;
writing explanations and supported arguments;
examining how places have changed historically;
investigating habitats, climate and physical processes in science;
interpreting tables, graphs and statistics;
using digital mapping and data;
exploring environmental responsibility through religious education and Catholic Social Teaching;
designing responses to local environmental issues; and
creating artwork inspired by landscapes and places.

These connections deepen children’s understanding while geography lessons remain focused on location, place, scale, processes, maps, fieldwork and geographical enquiry.

Knowing That Children Are Succeeding

The impact of our geography curriculum is evident when children:

have secure and increasingly connected locational knowledge;
describe places using accurate geographical vocabulary;
explain how physical and human processes shape environments;
move confidently between local, regional, national and global scales;
use maps, atlases, globes and digital mapping effectively;
recognise spatial patterns and distributions;
plan and undertake purposeful fieldwork;
collect, present and interpret geographical data;
make meaningful comparisons without relying on stereotypes;
explain connections between people, places, resources and environments;
use evidence to reach supported geographical conclusions; and
make informed and responsible decisions about environmental change.

We want children to leave St Mary’s with a secure understanding of their place in the world, curiosity about its diversity and the knowledge and confidence to care for our common home.

Assessment

Assessment is woven throughout each geographical enquiry.

Before a unit, teachers check children’s relevant locational knowledge, vocabulary, map skills and understanding of geographical processes.

During teaching, they use questioning, retrieval, mapping, observation, discussion, fieldwork and data interpretation to identify understanding and adapt future lessons.

At the end of a unit, children answer the central enquiry question through an appropriate outcome. Teachers assess:

substantive knowledge of locations, places and processes;
spatial thinking and map use;
fieldwork knowledge and skills;
explanation of physical and human processes;
understanding of interconnection and change;
use of evidence and data; and
the quality of geographical conclusions.

The same enquiry may be shared across a mixed-age class, but assessment expectations are matched to each year group.

Knowledge of locations and recurring concepts is revisited cumulatively so that children build an increasingly secure understanding of the world.

Supporting Geography at Home

Families can help children develop geographical curiosity by exploring the places and environments around them.

You can support your child by:

looking at maps, atlases and globes together;
identifying places visited by family and friends;
following routes during journeys;
discussing the weather and seasonal change;
visiting local rivers, coasts, hills and settlements;
observing human and physical features;
comparing old and current maps or aerial images;
talking about where food and everyday products come from;
noticing environmental changes;
watching age-appropriate geographical programmes;
discussing responsible ways to care for the environment; and
encouraging children to ask questions about places.

Helpful questions include:

Where is this place?
What is it like?
What makes it distinctive?
Is this happening locally, nationally or globally?
What patterns can you see?
How are people and the environment connected?
What evidence supports that conclusion?
How could this place change in the future?

Useful resources include:

Geography Curriculum Documents

Please use the links below to explore how geographical knowledge and thinking develop progressively through our school:

Geography Progression: Substantive and Disciplinary Knowledge
Geography Curriculum Overview 2026–27
Proposed Geography Overview 2027–29
National Curriculum for Geography

Our current geography curriculum has been designed against the statutory National Curriculum. It will be reviewed when the final revised National Curriculum is published, ahead of its planned implementation from September 2028.

Geography Progression docx