Giffard Park Primary School

Geography

At Giffard Park Primary School our children explore a wide range of topics covering a broad range of  geographical locations. Within these topics our children learn key skills which they will build upon each year in order to grow into confident and independent geographers.   

We offer wider opportunities to further geography learning, through hook days and educational visits both inside and outside the classroom.

Foundation

The Natural World

We explore the world around us using our senses to find out what we can see, hear, feel and smell.

The Postman’s walk

We go on a local walk around the area and use simple maps of the locality.

Compare the local area with Peru

We find out about the features of our local area, including the canal and then compare this with an area in Peru.

Dinosaurs

We use a world map to discover the countries that a range of different dinosaurs came from.

Year 1

Weather and Seasons

We find out about the weather and the seasons we experience in the UK. We carry out fieldwork related to seasonal changes within the school grounds and local area. We explore the seasonal changes that take place in Autumn.

Local Area

We find out about human and physical features. We visit the canal next to school and discuss why it is a human feature. We look at aerial photographs and maps showing our route and create our own simple map as part of our fieldwork.

Continents and Oceans

We will learn the names of the seven continents and five oceans of the world. We will explore some of the features of the different continents.

Year 2

Past and Present

In Year 2 children develop their understanding of the local area and find out about how some features have changed over time. They use aerial photos and maps to identify human and physical features in the local area. They learn the four main compass points.

All Around the UK and All About India

The children use maps, atlases and globes to find continents, countries, seas, and oceans. They also use them to identify capital cities both in the United Kingdom and India. They learn about the similarities and differences of the human and physical geography of the United Kingdom and India. Children use compass directions and locational language to describe where places are situated on the maps.

Travel and Transport

During this topic children will review their learning about the U.K . including the countries and capital cities. They will make links to locations and means of transport, including canals. They will find out about the location of hot and cold areas of the world including the Equator and North and South Poles.

Year 3 

What a Wonderful World 

In geography, the children use atlases to identify the countries in Europe and capital cities in the world. They carry out compass reading of cardinal and intercardinal points and learn about map symbols. They learn about hemispheres, the equator and tropics. The children build on their knowledge of human and physical features of different countries. They enjoy carrying out water cycle experiments. 

Year 4 

Radical Rainforest

In summer in Year 4, we learn about water and its importance in our everyday lives. We explore the water cycle and learn how water is processed to make it safe to drink and how once washed down the drain, the water is made safe to return back to the rivers. Children are intrigued by extreme weather and find out why flooding occurs, the impact it has on people as well as the environment.  We include a local study about canals, where we learn about the uses of canals and even had a canal boat trip down the Grand Union Canal.

Wonderful Water

In summer in Year 4, we learn about water and its importance in our everyday lives. We explore the water cycle and learn how water is processed to make it safe to drink and how once washed down the drain, the water is made safe to return back to the rivers. Children are intrigued by extreme weather and find out why flooding occurs, the impact it has on people as well as the environment.  We include a local study about canals, where we learn about the uses of canals and even had a canal boat trip down the Grand Union Canal.

Year 5  

Egypt

During the Autumn term, Year 5 explores the Ancient Egyptians. Throughout the second half term we move towards learning about the Egyptians from a geographical view point, where we study the River Nile and the importance it held in Ancient Egyptian times. Whilst also comparing human and physical geography features seen in Egypt and the United Kingdom.

Natural Disasters

During the spring term we explore our geography topic on 'Natural Disasters'. We use the story book 'Escape from Pompeii' to learn all about Volcanoes and Earthquakes. We explore the key terms and vocabulary and use these to create detailed diagrams and reports on different natural disasters. We learn about the causes of different natural disasters and the impact after they occur. 

Year 6  

The Frozen Kingdom

 In Year 6 we carry out a comparison between locations outside of Europe, looking at the key land features, human geography and adaptations that animals have made in order to survive. We then compare this with our own locality to build up an understanding of climate zones, tourism and how/why cultures and countries have adopted some traditions.  

Our Changing World

Our geography topic explores the key physical and human features of the environment, with a focus on coastal areas, weather, land borders and landscape changes. The children explore how a place can change over time and the world in the past and in the future.

Progression evident in locations, detail included in labelling/ key, vocabulary

Year 1- map of local area, simple key

Year 2 more detailed map of local area- also map of U.K./ world with continents and oceans

Year 3 Focus on Europe . There is also a map of Spain

Year 6  vocabulary included on world map includes continents, oceans, U.K, equator, tropics