Geography
Implementation
Our Geography curriculum meets the requirements of the national curriculum and has been further developed in school to meet the needs of our children. Our termly themes are focussed on a history or geography topic allowing the learning in these areas to be linked to other subject areas but still to be taught as discrete subjects. To support the teaching we focus on the skills they need to use and apply the knowledge they secure. Our curriculum is designed using Curriculum Maestro - for further information see on main curriculum page.
The topics the children learn have been identified through national curriculum requirements and we also seek to create aspirations through learning practical hands on field work skills, engage them with local study in balance with exploring new places and developing a locational understanding of the world, introduce new places and different people. We aim to use child friendly topics to develop curiosity to explore. We further enhance an deepen the children's learning with memorable experiences and school visits and residentials.
Impact
At Wilbury we aim to have pupils who are confident and able to talk about what they have learnt in geography using subject specific vocabulary. We want our children to enjoy geography and are able to recall their learning over time. Children's work should demonstrate that geography is taught at an age appropriate standard across each year group with opportunities for children of all abilities to engage; that what they produce is of good quality and demonstrates pupils are acquiring knowledge, skills and vocabulary in an appropriate sequence
Year 3
Curriculum Maestro topic
Autumn - One Planet, Our World
In the One Planet, Our World project, your child will use maps to locate countries and read four-figure grid references. They will sort and classify human and physical features, and begin to use the eight points of a compass to locate geographical features on a map. Your child will study data to find out about life in three settlements. They will learn about the layers of Earth and study plate tectonics. They will name and describe the five major climate zones on Earth and begin to use longitude and latitude to locate places on a world map. Your child will locate and name countries and capital cities in Europe before studying significant human and physical features in the United Kingdom. They will learn about significant UK counties and cities and carry out fieldwork to study the effect of weather on the local environment. Your child will learn the five main types of land use and carry out an enquiry to discover more about local land use.
Spring - Rocks, Relics and Rumbles
In the Rocks, Relics and Rumbles project, your child will learn about the different layers of the Earth, including plate tectonics and their potential effects on the Earth's surface. They will investigate different types of rock to learn about their uses and properties. They will also investigate soil and fossils, including learning about the work of Mary Anning. They will have the opportunity to use maps to learn about the lines of latitude and longitude and a compass to learn about the cardinal and intercardinal points. They will also learn about volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis and the long and short-term consequences that these can have.
Year 4
Curriculum Maestro topics
Autumn - Interconnecting World
In the Interconnected World project, your child will use compasses to plot points on a map. They will revise four-figure grid references before learning about six-figure grid references to accurately pinpoint features on a map. They will identify the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and understand the characteristics of a tropical climate. Your child will learn about the countries, climates and culture of North and South America. They will identify significant physical features in the United Kingdom and use their map reading skills to learn about the National Rail network. They will extend this learning, by exploring the development of the canal network in the past and how the use of canals has changed over time. The class will conduct an enquiry to prove a hypothesis and use maps and surveys to gather information and draw conclusions.
Spring - Misty Mountain, Winding River
In the Misty Mountain, Winding River project, your child will learn about the characteristics and physical processes of rivers, including how they shape the landscape over time, their significance around the world and the impact of flooding. They will learn how to use the eight points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and a key to locate and plot geographical places and features on a map, as well as how contour lines are used to show the topography of an area. They will have the opportunity to learn about the stages of the water cycle and about mountains and their different formations, studying mountain ranges in the United Kingdom and around the world. They will also learn about habitats and how human and natural influences can have an impact on the environment.
Year 5
Curriculum Maestro topics
Autumn - Our World
During the Investigating Our World project, your child will study Ordnance Survey maps to write a description of the local area. They will learn about contour lines and revise six-figure grid references to locate features on maps. Your child will learn about the Prime, or Greenwich, Meridian and find out that Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT, is taken from the Prime Meridian. They will know that the Earth is split into 24 time zones and calculate the time in places worldwide. Your child will learn about climate zones, vegetation belts and biomes. They will find out that the climate and vegetation in an area determine the animals that live there. Your child will learn about the human geography of the continents and locate capital cities around the world. They will identify relative locations and use the scale bars on maps to find the distance between places. They will study the motorway network across the United Kingdom, learning how they connect towns, cities and transport links across the country. Your child will explore a settlement hierarchy diagram and learn about the relative size, significance and populations of settlements. At the end of the project, they will carry out a fieldwork enquiry to discover which settlement types are in their local area.
Spring - Sow, Grow and Farm
In the Sow, Grow and Farm project, your child will learn about allotments in the United Kingdom and how the government encouraged people to have them to support food rationing during the Second World War. They will learn about food webs and animal life cycles, including how living things are dependent on one another within a habitat. They will investigate the different ways that plants reproduce and will dissect flowering plants to identify the different structures. They will have the opportunity to learn about farming in the United Kingdom and the techniques used in modern farming, including the challenges that farmers face. They will learn about the benefits of eating seasonally and about the pros and cons of importing food. They will also learn about world farming and how the different climate zones affect where different foods can be grown.
Year 6
Curriculum Maestro topics
Autumn - Our Changing World
During the Our Changing World project, your child will revise the features of the Earth and learn more about time zones. They will recall how to use lines of latitude and longitude to pinpoint places on a world map and learn about map scale. They will measure distances on a map and revisit grid references, contour lines and map symbols. Your child will learn about global warming and climate change and discover how climate change and extreme weather affect people worldwide. They will learn about global trade and find out about the export of manufactured goods, food or natural resources. Your child will analyse recent road traffic accident figures and carry out fieldwork to find out about the safety of a local road. They will study patterns of human settlements and carry out a fieldwork investigation to describe local settlement patterns.
Spring - Frozen Kingdoms
In the Frozen Kingdoms project, your child will learn about the regions of the Arctic and Antarctic. They will learn about the similarities and differences between these two regions, including the climate, landscape and natural resources. They will learn how to use grid references, lines of latitude and longitude, contour lines and symbols to identify the geographical locations of the Arctic and Antarctic, and how these, along with the tilt of the Earth, affect day length and warmth. They will investigate polar oceans to learn how they differ from other oceans on Earth and how climate change increases Earth's temperature and leads to rising sea levels. They will learn about the indigenous people of the Arctic, including how their lives have changed over time, and about the positives and negatives of tourism in Antarctica. They will also learn about classifying animals, animal adaptations and evolution, and polar exploration and discovery.