Thurnham CE Infant School Geography Learning Journey…

Children’s learning journey begins in EYFS, where they will learn about the world around them through the Understanding the World area. This is split into three separate strands: Past and Present, People, culture and communities and The Natural World.

Past and Present

Children will talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society. Daily Speaking and Listening activities will support children with this and each term, children will have a different topic focus, where they have time to prepare a short presentation and present it to the class. Children will also be expected to know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences. During the course of the year, we will have six main topics: It’s good to be me, A splash of colour, Under the sea, Spring time and seasons, Dinosaurs and In the garden. All of these topics enable children to learn about the past and now, for example: During the All about me topic in Term 1, children will think back to when they were a baby and look at how they have changed throughout the years. During our Term 5 Dinosaurs topic, children will learn about the different periods e.g. Jurassic, Cretaceous, Mesozoic and Triassic. Children will also learn about the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.

People, Culture and Communities

Children will describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps. Children will be supported to achieve this through: carefully selected enhancement activities that encourage discussion about natural materials e.g. exploring ice/seeds and planting. Daily topic sessions and our Term 6 trip to Shorne Woods Country Park also support children with this. Children will also be expected to know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country. Our weekly RE sessions facilitate this, in particular our Term 5 ‘World Faiths’ topic. Children will also learn about festivals such as Diwali during our ‘A Splash of Colour’ topic in term 1. Finally, children will be expected to explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries. They will be encouraged to discuss this through our Speaking and Listening sessions, in particular our ‘Holidays’ topic. They will also share their adventures abroad with Paddington Bear.

The Natural World

Children will explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants. They will have the opportunity to explore various enhancement activities carefully set up to support them with this. These may include: investigating seeds, planting activities, small world animal set ups, exploring flowers and plants. Our Term 6 trip to Shorne Woods also supports children with this.

Recovery - Positive relationships with parents are invaluable, and we plan to spend more time inviting family members into our class to talk to the children about their job roles in society.

Year 1

As children progress towards Year One, they begin to follow the National Curriculum Goals for Geography. In Term 1, children will learn to use basic geographical vocabulary.  They will use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment. Children will also identify seasonal weather patterns in the UK. In Term 2, children will learn to identify the four countries of the UK (saints). They will explore how Christmas is celebrated around the world. Children will also begin to locate and identify characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the UK and its surrounding seas.  They will use world maps atlases and globes to identify the UK and its countries as well as the countries continents and oceans. In Term 3, children will carry out fieldwork during their trip to Leeds Castle. They will use aerial photographs to recognise landmarks and discuss basic human and physical features. Children will use simple compass directions and locational and directional language to describe the location of features and routes a map.  They will learn about Seasonal weather patterns in the UK. Children will also carry out simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds.

In Term 4, Children will learn to locate the different countries in the world that animals come from.  They will explore the country - Burkina Faso. In Term 5, children will go on a trip to The Green. They will learn to create a simple map and use compass directions to describe the location of features and routes on a map. Children will continue to identify seasonal weather patterns in the UK. They will compare two contrasting countries: England and Pakistan. Children will learn to draw a birds eye view of Roseacre field.

In Term 6, children will learn about Geographical features of the seaside during their school trip. They will learn to create bird’s eye view plans. Children will explore adventures with Barnaby Bear in Poole. They will identify Lyme Regis on a map of the UK.

Year 2

As children move onto Year 2, they will continue to follow the National Curriculum for Geography. In Term 1, children will learn about continents and oceans visited in the Snail and the Whale story. They will learn about human/physical features the snail and the whale saw on their journey. There will be cross curricular links to English here. Children will use globes and google earth to show the continents and oceans. Children will also be given a blank map which they will add to throughout the course of the year. In Term 2, children will be learning about Guy Fawkes in History. This knowledge will be transferred to Geography, where children will use google earth to locate places in the story. Children will also use Google Earth to discuss where Walter Tull grew up (another Historical link). They will locate France on a map and learn about where the trenches were. In Term 3, children will have cross curricular links between English and History where they will learn about pirates. Children will label geographical features on a treasure island. They will use Google Earth to discuss and locate places associated with Captain Blackbeard. Children will also learn about the equator and hot and cold places. In Term 4, children will use google earth to show locations associated with space. They will revisit the names of continents and oceans. In Terms 5/6, children will learn about habitats and rainforests. They will have their trip to The Woodland Trust and there will be lots of cross curricular links to English.