Geography

Intent

At Kielder Primary School and Nursery, Geography is taught to help pupils make sense of the world around them, from their immediate local area to distant regions across the globe. Our curriculum is designed to develop knowledgeable, curious and thoughtful geographers who can understand places, environments and the relationships between people and the planet.

We aim to give pupils a strong and connected understanding of both physical and human geography, alongside the geographical skills needed to investigate, interpret and explain patterns and processes. Geography at Kielder is ambitious, carefully sequenced and designed to broaden pupils’ horizons, build cultural understanding and deepen their awareness of global issues.

A distinctive strength of our Geography curriculum is its clear progression in knowledge, skills and vocabulary, from EYFS and KS1 through to upper KS2. Pupils are supported to develop increasingly sophisticated map skills, fieldwork techniques and geographical reasoning, enabling them to explain how and why places are similar or different.

Our Geography curriculum also plays an important role in developing pupils’ cultural capital. Through studying a wide range of places — including the local area, the UK, Europe and beyond — pupils gain insight into different ways of life, global connections and environmental challenges. This is particularly powerful in our rural context, where Geography helps pupils connect their local experiences to the wider world.

Geography aligns closely with our Thrive and Excel @ Kielder Framework by developing pupils’ communication, curiosity, resilience, reflection and responsible citizenship. Pupils are encouraged to ask questions, analyse evidence, reflect on global issues and consider how people can make a positive difference to places and environments.

Implementation

Our Geography curriculum is delivered through carefully sequenced units across KS1 and KS2, ensuring full coverage of the National Curriculum and clear progression in geographical knowledge, skills and vocabulary.

Each unit sets out:

• Core geographical knowledge that all pupils are expected to learn and remember.

• Key vocabulary, including Tier 2 disciplinary vocabulary (e.g. location, place, human, physical, climate, region, fieldwork, data) and Tier 3 topic-specific vocabulary linked to each unit (e.g. tectonic, rainforest, erosion, trade).

• Progressive ‘I can’ statements that show increasing accuracy, independence and depth in geographical thinking across year groups.

• Planned opportunities for geographical enquiry and fieldwork, enabling pupils to apply skills in meaningful contexts.

This structure is clearly evidenced in both the KS1 and KS2 Geography curriculum documents, which set out coherent progression in knowledge, skills and vocabulary across all cycles.

Curriculum Structure, Sequencing and Mixed-Age Design

Geography is carefully mapped across KS1 and KS2 to ensure that pupils revisit and build on key ideas such as place, environment, climate, settlement and sustainability. Knowledge is deliberately sequenced so that pupils make meaningful connections between topics and develop an increasingly secure mental map of the world.

In our mixed-age classes, progression is secured through:

• Clear year-group-specific expectations within the same unit.

• Progressive ‘I can’ statements that show increasing complexity in skills such as map use, data interpretation and evaluative thinking.

• Long-term curriculum mapping that ensures pupils encounter and revisit key geographical concepts in a logical and cumulative order.

This ensures that learning is matched to pupils’ stage of development rather than simply their chronological age, and that individual pupils build securely on prior learning across curriculum cycles.

Knowledge, Skills and Vocabulary Progression

A defining feature of Geography at Kielder is the explicit and structured progression in how pupils use geographical language and skills.

Across KS1 and KS2, pupils develop:

• Increasingly secure map and atlas skills, including grid references, compass use, scale and interpretation of different types of maps.

• Strong understanding of physical geography (e.g. rivers, mountains, climate, biomes, tectonic processes).

• Growing knowledge of human geography (e.g. settlement, land use, trade, resources, sustainability).

• Progressive use of Tier 2 disciplinary vocabulary to explain how geography works (e.g. region, distribution, climate, fieldwork, data).

• Confident use of Tier 3 topic-specific vocabulary to explain particular places, processes and case studies.

Progression frameworks clearly show how pupils move from recognising and describing in KS1, to explaining, analysing, justifying and evaluating using precise geographical language in upper KS2. This ensures that pupils do not simply learn about places, but learn to think, talk and reason like geographers.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching and learning in Geography at our school is enquiry-based, practical and closely connected to real places and real issues. Lessons are structured to build curiosity, explicitly teach key knowledge and skills, and provide regular opportunities for pupils to apply learning through maps, data, discussion and investigation.

Teachers model geographical thinking, supporting pupils to interpret maps, analyse information and explain patterns and processes. Pupils are encouraged to ask questions, explore evidence and reflect on how people and environments are connected. This develops confidence, resilience and critical thinking in line with the TEK Framework.

Local geography and fieldwork are a particular strength. Pupils regularly investigate their school grounds, local area and wider Northumberland region, including Kielder and the Borderlands. This allows pupils to apply geographical skills in meaningful contexts and make strong links between classroom learning and the real world.

In mixed-age classes, teaching is carefully adapted to ensure appropriate challenge and support, enabling all pupils to make strong progress from their individual starting points.

Assessment, Proof of Progress (POP) and Inclusion

Assessment in Geography focuses on both knowledge and geographical skill development. This includes:

• Ongoing formative assessment through questioning, discussion and review of work.

• End-of-unit Proof of Progress (POP) tasks, which provide evidence of what pupils know, can do and can explain geographically.

• Use of maps, fieldwork outcomes and written explanations to show progression in geographical thinking and application.

POP tasks are used to identify strengths, gaps and next steps, allowing teachers to revisit key concepts and vocabulary, adapt teaching and provide appropriate support or challenge.

SEND pupils are supported through careful scaffolding, adapted resources and pre-teaching of vocabulary, ensuring access to the same ambitious curriculum and enabling all pupils to succeed.

Impact

The impact of our Geography curriculum is seen in pupils who:

• Develop a secure and connected understanding of places, environments and geographical processes.

• Use geographical vocabulary accurately and confidently when speaking and writing.

• Apply map, fieldwork and enquiry skills with increasing independence.

• Can explain similarities, differences and patterns across places and regions.

• Show curiosity about the world and confidence in exploring global issues.

• Make meaningful links between local geography and global contexts.

• Demonstrate reflective and responsible attitudes towards people, places and the environment.

Assessment information, POP tasks, pupils’ work, fieldwork evidence, discussions and lesson observations demonstrate that learning builds securely over time and that pupils are developing both strong substantive knowledge and increasingly secure disciplinary understanding in Geography.

Through our Geography curriculum, pupils leave Kielder Primary School and Nursery as informed, thoughtful and curious geographers. They demonstrate the TEK Framework competencies of communication, curiosity, resilience, reflection and responsible citizenship, and are well prepared for the demands of Geography at Key Stage 3 and for understanding their place in an interconnected world.