‘Geography is a living, breathing subject, constantly adapting itself to change. It is dynamic and relevant. For me, geography is a great adventure with a purpose.’ Michael Palin

Intent

At St Catherine’s, we believe that it is vital that pupils understand where they are in the world. Through our carefully planned lessons and locality week, children develop a better understanding of themselves and their local community, as well as the community beyond. The school intake is extremely diverse and each culture is celebrated and included. Valuable skills, such as the use of globes, atlases and fieldwork, help pupils to learn more about the world we live in, as well as develop skills to prepare them for their lives beyond the school walls.

Generating a love for Geography

We build the foundations for Geography in the Early Years, when children develop their ‘Understanding of the World.’ All year groups participate in a fun and engaging locality week every year, which allows them to learn more about Littlehampton and our local area. This also gives us the opportunity to leave the school premises and explore places nearby.

In classes, we use creative activities and quizzes to help inspire our pupils. We aim for the ‘awe’ factor when learning about new places and both physical and human features.

Children learn a range of skills, such as fieldwork and mapwork, that they can use and apply in their lives.

Some of our Topics are Geography-focused, allowing us to use quality texts to inspire our reading and writing around the subject as well as Art.

Knowledge and Skills

For each topic, pupils have a Knowledge Mat detailing all the key information for that topic. These are used to build connections with prior learning and support recall. We use our Geography Progression of Skills document to ensure pupils are developing their skills further year-on-year. 

Geography at home

Out and About

When out and about, talk to your children about the geographical features they see. This could be human features such as buildings and statues or physical features such as rivers and hills.

Mapwork

When going on a journey, share the road map or map app/Satnav with your child. Show them what the journey will be like and share with them what they might see on the way.

You could also use an OS (Ordnance Survey) map to plan a walk or day out with your child.

Use an atlas or Google Earth at home to explore other countries and cities your child might be interested in. You could even find countries that have been mentioned on a television programme, in a film, in a game or in a book.

Geocaching

Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunt using a GPS-enabled device (such as your mobile phone or a tablet). Follow the coordinates to find a geocache/container hidden at the location. These can be found all over the world. Visit https://www.geocaching.com for more information.

Holidays

If you’re lucky enough to be going on holiday in the UK or abroad, holidays are a great opportunity to explore the local area somewhere new. Research the location with your child before you go and ask them to help plan some things to do in the area.

Useful Links

BBC Bitesize https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z2f3cdm

Geocaching https://www.geocaching.com/play

National Geographic Kids https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/

Google Earth https://earth.google.com/web/

Ordnance Survey - Mapzone https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/