Ambition

Here at Parklands, our children’s education in Geography begins locally before journeying to the most extreme locations on Earth to nurture a passion, curiosity and respect for the natural world and its residents; both human and animal. In a world where human impact is increasingly influencing its future, our children enjoy lessons that inspire a positive, proactive attitude to continue learning about its endless geographical wonders.

From KS1 through to KS2, our children progressively develop their skills and knowledge, leaving Parklands having experienced field studies and a variety of topics that ensure they are ready to continue their learning at secondary school.

How we achieve our ambitions:

As a Trust, we have worked collaboratively to select topics that fulfill the requirements of the National Curriculum whilst immersing the children in inspiring and fascinating geography to promote a love for the subject. Each year group has a topic which is clearly organised into substantive and procedural knowledge that build on those in the previous year. This ensures that our children are developing their skills of geographical enquiry whilst gaining a breadth of knowledge to help them understand the diversity of human and physical geography on Earth.

Our knowledge and understanding of the world begins in EYFS: exploring their local area and learning about things in the environment that is significant to their lives and getting hands-on in their themed learning.

As the children head into Year 1, they will begin to explore rural and town areas personal to them and within their home of the UK; strengthening their knowledge of the local area. Following this, the children will make links to a non-European country, understanding geographical similarities and differences between the UK and Japan.

Moving into Year 2, children’s geographical knowledge is built upon through map investigation, discovering the continents and oceans that make up the globe. The children will dive into the contents of Europe and Asia, identifying their key human and physical features and using this knowledge to explore how life in Asia and Europe is different in comparison to life in the UK.

Building on our knowledge so far, the children in Year 3 strengthen their fieldwork and locational skills, reading global maps and creating their own local maps. They progress their understanding by exploring what goes on beneath the surface of the world, understanding key elements to help them appreciate the wonder of mother earth. With this prior knowledge, the children will investigate the physical and human features of Africa, exploring the extremes of deserts and rainforests.

Moving into Year 4, the children are jetting off to capital cities around the world to research the similarities and differences between our home town Northampton and the areas of London, Washington and Moscow. The children have the opportunity to explore the extreme climates of the world and compare different landforms from arctic deserts to equator deserts.

In Year 5, children explore South America. This incorporates their equator knowledge in year 4 investigating climates and human settlement; comparing this to life in Europe. The children have an opportunity to put an investigative hat on and research the fair and unfair distribution of produce across the continent, including the impact of Fairtrade.

Finally, Year 6 children use their fieldwork skills to record, sketch and discover features of South East Asia and Vietnam; solidifying prior knowledge as well as providing skills to transition to Secondary School.  The children get hands on with a Field Study in the local area; putting all of their geographical skills to use in the outside world.

Impact

At Parklands, we aspire for our children to deepen their understanding of physical and human processes, their impact on the world and an appreciation for the importance of diverse landscapes and environment as they develop their geographical knowledge and skills of enquiry.

We believe that our children understand the importance of the positive impact their generation can have on the world to protect and preserve our beautiful planet. Alongside our Green Science curriculum and through fun and creative lessons, we are preparing our children for the future and providing them with the knowledge and skills that inspire them to make a difference and lead future change.