Geography
Intent
At St Martin’s, we aim to inspire a lifelong curiosity about the world through a rich and meaningful Geography curriculum. We want our pupils to think, question, and explore like geographers—developing a deep understanding of the Earth’s places, people, environments, and the interconnections between them.
Our curriculum follows the EYFS Framework and National Curriculum and is designed to equip pupils with the geographical knowledge and skills they need to understand how geography shapes our world and how they, as responsible global citizens, can make a positive impact.
We want pupils to:
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Understand their local area, their place in the world, and the links between local and global issues.
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Develop core geographical knowledge, including locational and place knowledge, and understanding of human and physical processes.
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Engage in fieldwork, map work, and enquiry-based learning to explore real-world issues such as climate change, population movement, sustainability, and land use.
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Explore powerful concepts such as ecosystems, settlement, and interdependence to build layered understanding across their primary years.
Implementation
Our Geography curriculum is taught through a bespoke, enquiry-led approach in KS1, and builds on this foundation using the Reach Geography scheme in KS2. Across the school, each Geography unit is built around six key enquiry questions, enabling pupils to explore concepts in depth and from multiple perspectives.
Curriculum Design
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EYFS & KS1: Pupils begin with a clear focus on developing the child's sense of place, first looking at the immediate area around school and home, before setting that in a national and global context. The children have the opportunity to compare and contrast localities, developing their geographical enquiry and fieldwork skills in the process
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KS2: We use the Reach scheme to provide a coherent, progressive curriculum that explores diverse global locations and issues. This ensures comprehensive coverage of the National Curriculum and supports deeper understanding of global patterns, climate, ecosystems, and human geography.
At St Martins, we study Geography through the substantive concepts below:
We have identified 6 key Geographical themes which the children will revisit during their time at St Martins in order to help the children understand how we can think like geographers and these are laid out in all our medium term plans in order to ensure the children have a solid understanding of the concepts and are able to compare and contrast them across the units.
Assessment and Inclusion
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Ongoing assessment through pupil voice, quizzes, and retrieval tasks ensures knowledge is retained and misconceptions are addressed.
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All lessons are carefully adapted to support learners with SEND
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Knowledge organisers are used to support vocabulary development and core knowledge retention.
Impact
By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils at St Martin’s:
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Have a secure understanding of key geographical concepts and vocabulary.
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Can confidently describe and compare physical and human features of places at local, national, and global levels.
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Use maps, atlases, and digital tools to locate and analyse geographical features.
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Apply fieldwork skills to investigate and interpret their surroundings.
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Think critically about global issues such as climate change, migration, and sustainability.
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Understand the role they play as informed and responsible global citizens.
Pupils leave St Martin’s with the knowledge, skills, and curiosity to explore the world around them—ready to continue their geographical learning in secondary school and beyond.
