Geography at Fordbridge

At Fordbridge, our vision for Geography is that our children learn about the shape, space and scale of the world around them. Through learning about diverse places, people, resources and the environment, our children will develop a rich knowledge and understanding through creative, engaging and enquiry-led lessons. To help our children to become life-long geographers, they will learn about:

• Locations including where places are and what they are like
• Physical features of places including landscapes, climates and the physical processes that have shaped them
• Human features including how people use the land, the plants and the animals in different ways
• Using different techniques to experience places including map work; collecting, analysing and communicating their findings

We draw upon the rich opportunities that our local area can offer including fieldwork activities where children use maps to find and locate areas, landmarks and what makes places special. These practical experiences help children to make sense of their local area and their role in making a positive contribution to it. Our carefully planned trips, excursions and visits help the children to make sense of the wider environment including rural locations, city centres and areas of outstanding natural beauty. Learning in school through engaging lessons and rich hub activities then support children in linking these geographical themes together and presenting their ideas in different ways.

Our curriculum, which has been expertly designed by the Geographical Association, supports the children in developing their positional and locational knowledge of local, national and international places including other continents. For example:

• Year 1 children learn about London through Paddington Bear
• Year 2 children explore the rich diversity of Asia through China 
• Year 3 children further develop their knowledge and understanding of their local area through changes that it is going through
• Year 4 look at tourism, landscapes and diversity through studying Mexico
• Year 5 investigate how rising sea levels impact coastal areas through Fairbourne
• Year 6 explore different continents and their industries through Fair Trade

This learning is enhanced through a range of high-quality resources and tools including a range of maps and mapwork, atlases, globes, online digital mapping tools, aerial photographs, data and VR experiences to gain a deeper understanding of shape, space and scale.

Each history topic begins with a hook, a ‘wow’ moment to support the children in understanding why they are learning about a particular period. Knowledge organisers showcase locations, key events and vocabulary, significant human and physical processes in an engaging and child-friendly way.