“I Looked at books, I looked at maps, I looked at atlases, I enjoyed that. But the thing that inspired me the most of all was being taken from school into the local area to look at nature, to look at the way the land looked, to understand the geography, to walk up little hills and streams and see how the ecological system worked, look at the environment” – Michael Palin
Geography-Curriculum-Overview-for-Parents
🌍 Geography Curriculum at Tebay Primary School
At Tebay Primary School, we are committed to delivering a high-quality Geography curriculum that inspires pupils’ curiosity and fascination about the world and its people. Our curriculum is underpinned by the Kapow Primary mixed-age planning, ensuring a carefully sequenced and ambitious programme of study that meets the needs of all learners.
📚 Our Curriculum Structure
Geography is taught in three mixed-age phases, allowing for progression and depth over time:
- Phase 1: Years 1 and 2
- Phase 2: Years 3 and 4
- Phase 3: Years 5 and 6
Each phase follows a two-year rolling programme, ensuring full coverage of the National Curriculum and enabling pupils to revisit and build upon prior learning.
🧠 Implementation: How We Teach Geography
To ensure that children know more and remember more, each Geography lesson follows a consistent and research-informed structure:
- 🔁 Recall & Retrieve
Lessons begin with a short activity to revisit and reinforce prior learning, helping children make connections and strengthen memory.
- 🗣️ Vocabulary Introduction
Key geographical vocabulary is explicitly taught and revisited regularly, enabling children to articulate their understanding with confidence and precision.
- 🌐 Teaching of Core Knowledge
Teachers deliver engaging, knowledge-rich content using a range of high-quality resources, including maps, globes, digital tools, and fieldwork. Lessons are designed to be inclusive, interactive, and to promote critical thinking.
- ✍️ Linked Task
Children apply their learning through purposeful tasks such as map work, investigations, discussions, and written reflections. These tasks are designed to deepen understanding and develop key geographical skills.
- ✅ Knowledge Stamp
Each lesson concludes with a ‘knowledge stamp’ – a short activity or reflection that consolidates the key learning and allows children to demonstrate their understanding.
🎯 Impact: What Our Pupils Gain
By the end of their time at Tebay Primary School, our pupils will:
- Have a secure understanding of key geographical concepts, vocabulary, and skills.
- Be able to make connections between their local environment and the wider world.
- Demonstrate curiosity about the world and a respect for different cultures and environments.
- Be equipped with the knowledge and skills to make sense of the world around them and to become responsible global citizens.
Our Geography curriculum is regularly reviewed and adapted to ensure it remains ambitious and inclusive.
🐣 Geography in the Early Years (EYFS)
In the Early Years Foundation Stage, Geography is introduced through the Understanding the World strand of the EYFS Framework, using the Kapow Primary EYFS scheme. Children explore their immediate environment and begin to develop an awareness of the wider world through hands-on experiences, stories, and play-based learning. They are encouraged to observe seasonal changes, talk about different places, and consider similarities and differences in environments, cultures, and communities. These early experiences lay the foundation for geographical thinking and curiosity, preparing children for more structured learning in Key Stage 1 and beyond.
