At Kidsgrove Primary School, geography inspires children to be curious about the world around them. We want our pupils to understand their place in the world, develop a fascination for different environments and cultures, and recognise how landscapes and communities change over time. Through exploring both the local area and global environments, children build a rich understanding of the Earth and the people who live on it.

As pupils move through school, they develop a deepening understanding of key physical and human processes. This growing knowledge helps them explain how natural and human features interact, how environments are shaped, and how people influence the planet.

How We Teach Geography

Geography is taught through the Opening Worlds curriculum in Key Stage 2, with our Key Stage 1 curriculum closely linked to ensure smooth progression. This approach provides a rigorous, knowledge-rich foundation and gives children the secure subject understanding they need to make meaningful connections.

Enquiry-led learning

Each lesson begins with a clear enquiry question to stimulate curiosity and encourage discussion. These questions help pupils draw on prior knowledge and guide them through the key ideas within each topic.

Knowledge-rich content

Opening Worlds provides rich, carefully sequenced units supported by high-quality texts, explicit vocabulary teaching and frequent opportunities for recall. This ensures children develop both core knowledge and wider contextual understanding ("hinterland knowledge") that helps the learning stick.

Story-rich teaching

Lessons incorporate storytelling and vivid descriptions of places, landscapes and cultures. This brings geography to life and helps children build strong mental models of the world.

Strong progression across the school

Geographical ideas, vocabulary and skills are introduced in small steps, revisited regularly and built on year by year. This allows children to develop:

  • locational knowledge

  • place knowledge

  • understanding of physical and human processes

  • the ability to make comparisons and explain change

Developing geographical skills

Children learn to:

  • read and interpret maps, atlases and globes

  • use symbols, keys and grid references

  • analyse diagrams, photos and satellite images

  • gather and interpret fieldwork data

These skills are embedded across units and grow progressively in complexity.

Fieldwork and real-world learning

We use our local area to provide purposeful fieldwork opportunities. Pupils investigate human and physical features, observe change, collect data and apply classroom learning to real places.

What Your Child Will Learn

Through geography at Kidsgrove, children will develop:

  • A secure understanding of the world and how environments are shaped

  • Knowledge of places, continents, countries, oceans and key landmarks

  • Understanding of physical processes (weather, rivers, mountains, climate)

  • Knowledge of human processes (settlement, trade, population, land use)

  • Insight into how physical and human processes interact

  • A strong grasp of geographical vocabulary

  • The ability to analyse a wide range of sources including maps, globes, aerial photos, diagrams and data sets

  • Fieldwork skills that deepen understanding of geographical processes

Opening Worlds

Opening Worlds offers a consistent, ambitious and rigorous approach to humanities. Using knowledge-rich texts, structured vocabulary instruction and high-quality storytelling, the programme ensures children:

  • build powerful geographical knowledge

  • understand concepts in depth

  • make connections across units, subjects and years

  • develop strong recall through regular revisiting

  • feel confident applying their knowledge in new contexts

 

759 KB