‘Geography is the tapestry that weaves the world together’

The National Geographic society

At St Chad’s, our vision of ‘Learning to Love, Loving to Learn’ is at the heart of everything we do. We strive to instil in our children a ‘curiosity’ and ‘fascination’ about the world and endeavour to equip them with the skills necessary to become skilled geographers. Our 5Cs of community, creativity, curiosity, communication and collaboration ensure that our Geography curriculum provides children with a rich knowledge about why places are changing and to better imagine, predict and work towards, likely and preferred futures for our world. Children will be immersed in the Physical and Human processes that change/ and influence our natural world and learn about their interdependence.

Geographers make sense of the world around them by viewing it through a geographical lens. They synthesise information from different sources and use their geographical skills to enquire about and interpret what they find. At St Chad’s, our curriculum has been sequenced to enable pupils to gradually widen their sense of scale from their immediate geography to the global.

Our Physical World

At St Chad’s, we aim to ensure that all pupils develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine. We aim to inspire our pupils to become considerate, pro-active advocates for all members of our global community. A key part of this is children understanding the physical similarities and differences between locations and the benefits and challenges these create. The pupils explore how what might seem like in hospitable places have been adapted by communities and how the physical attributes of the location have changed and formed. A close study of physical geography such as climates zones, biomes and vegetation belts underpins the pupils understanding of all aspects of geographical study. In order to understand themselves, pupils need to have a solid grasp of space, place and scale to understand where they fit in the world.

Our Global community

With a focus on community, children explore ‘human influence’ on our natural world e.g. trade, and migration and how communities work on a local and global scale to create a sustainable environment for future generations and we inspire our children to do the same. Through our links with History, we explore the different features and human needs of many locations in the world and look at the role global and technological advances play in addressing the gaps created by the physical attributes of an area E.g. natural disaster zones and climate and how we all have a part to play in improving the lives of individuals all over the world.

Thinking Geographically

At St Chad’s we believe it is vital that our children are competent in the geographical skills needed to collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes. Practical opportunities are essential in pupils developing their language and oracy as they provide ample chance for pupils to discuss what they observe and use key vocabulary in context. Through local area study, the children get to know their own context in greater detail and apply through geographical skills.