Our Geography curriculum is designed so that every pupil at Bishops Lydeard Church School builds secure, cumulative knowledge and disciplinary skills which they can retrieve and use across year groups. We use a carefully sequenced progression rooted in the National Curriculum so coverage and taught contact time systematically develop locational knowledge, place knowledge, human and physical geography, and geographical skills (fieldwork, mapping, data interpretation). Each unit identifies the prior knowledge pupils need and the future learning it prepares them for, with explicit retrieval practice and spaced revisiting built into medium-term plans so that children learn and remember more. Lessons link substantive knowledge (facts, concepts) with procedural knowledge (how to observe, ask questions, record and interpret geographical evidence) so pupils become confident geographers, not just consumers of facts.

We bring geography to life through age-appropriate case studies and enquiry-led investigations. Local, national and global case studies are chosen deliberately to build depth (e.g. a local river study, a UK urban change study, a contrasting non-European locality) and to provide repeated opportunities to apply core concepts. Each case study includes an oracy-rich sequence: modelled talk (vocabulary frames), structured discussion tasks, debate and presentation. We use our oracy framework in every lesson to deepen thinking — pupils explain findings, justify judgements using evidence, and critique contrasting viewpoints — which strengthens both geographical understanding and the communication skills vital for wider curriculum success.

Our curriculum maps directly to National Curriculum expectations for each key stage, with adaptations to ensure progression from Reception. In Reception geography learning focuses on developing sense of place, simple fieldwork (observing the school/local environment), positional language and making simple maps; planning ensures these early experiences provide the foundations for KS1. In Key Stage 1 pupils develop locational awareness (name, locate and identify characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the UK and its surrounding seas), basic map skills, and simple human/physical feature comparisons. In Key Stage 2 the curriculum deepens to include more detailed locational knowledge (continents, major rivers, mountain ranges), analysis of physical and human processes, study of land use and settlement change, and increasingly sophisticated fieldwork and map-reading skills (including grid references, scale and interpretation of data). Our long-term plan records the specific NC objectives for each year group so leaders can demonstrate coverage and progression and ensure purposeful links between Reception experiences and KS1/2 expectations.

In line with our school vision and our Diversity & Inclusion priority, geography is planned and taught so all pupils can participate and achieve. Teachers use high-quality universal scaffolds (visual knowledge organisers, labelled maps, sentence stems, working walls with tiered vocabulary) and multi-modal activities (practical fieldwork, role-play, drawing, data-handling, ICT) to reduce cognitive load and make concepts tangible. For pupils with SEND or limited language the sequence breaks tasks into smaller steps, uses pre-teaching of vocabulary, provides additional modelling, and gives alternative recording methods (photographs, annotated diagrams, scribed responses). For pupils who are disadvantaged or mobile we prioritise retrieval of prior learning at the start of units and use deliberate repetition and small-group catch-up so gaps do not widen.

Teachers plan adaptations informed by up-to-date knowledge of our cohort (SEND register, pupil premium, EAL needs and mobility patterns). This means selecting case studies and fieldwork that are culturally relevant and accessible, differentiating enquiry questions by cognitive demand rather than content, and setting clear success criteria so that every pupil knows the small, achievable steps to progress. Assessment is formative and targeted: lesson-level checks, end-of-unit low-stakes quizzes and two annual curriculum book-studies inform targeted interventions and curriculum tweaks. Leaders monitor uptake of fieldwork and oracy participation, ensuring vulnerable pupils have equal access to outdoor learning and leadership of geography tasks. Together these approaches ensure geography is ambitious for all pupils while being practically inclusive and rooted in knowledge of our children.