Welcome to Vallis First School

Geography

Our subject lead for Geography is Jo Higgins

“The study of geography is about more than just memorising places on a map. It’s about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents. And in the end, it’s about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together.”  Barack Obama

At Vallis First School our geography curriculum begins in Reception. The curriculum is constructed around the concept of “place”. Pupils begin to develop their geographical knowledge by exploring features of our school and the immediate surrounding area. They will learn about their locality; carefully exploring human and physical geographical features through fieldwork. As children grow and move through school, they will build upon their knowledge and deepen their understanding by considering the interactions between the human and physical forms and processes. Children then build upon their knowledge by comparing their life in this locality to other parts of the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.

 When pupils leave Vallis First School they will understand that geography is more than just memorising places on a map. They will have experience in observation, research, analysing, collecting data, making comparisons and carrying out fieldwork activities. They will begin to understand the complexity of our world, gaining insight about the diversity of cultures, natural and human environments that exist across the continents and understand that through time, through human and physical processes, our world continues to change. They will recognise the importance of care and responsibility for the quality of the natural and human environment in our changing world. The knowledge gained at our school will form a secure foundation for further geography lessons at middle school and college where our pupils can build on their skills to become geography experts and inform future generations on the conservation of our world.

Thinking like a Geographer…

Through all of our Geography lessons, we ensure that there is a strong focus on teaching children the disciplinary knowledge that they need to think like Geographers.

Vallis First School

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