Geography at Holy Trinity

Geography lies at the heart of the adventure curriculum. It is fascinating and engaging to ensure that children plunge deeper into their journey of discovery. The main purpose of the subject is to instil an element of curiosity within all of the children. In order to do this, we use relevant case studies to encourage children to think about their impact on God’s creation. We aim to encourage children to become independent learners who can ask and answer questions about the world around us. At Holy Trinity, we want to create a lifelong relationship with the environment and we do this through immersive experiences where we explore what the real world is like. The interest we have in our local area allows us to investigate the human, physical and environmental impacts which are continually evolving. By encouraging children to think geographically we hope to create a well-rounded child who consciously protects our home for future generations. Overall, we are committed to developing keen explorers who are able to build up a meaningful, and contextual, knowledge about the world around us. With these investigative skills we have no doubt that the children at Holy Trinity will move hand in hand with our nurturing Christian ethos.

Progression of Skills

Locational Knowledge

• EYFS - Talk about the features of their own environment and how environments might vary from one another.
• EYFS - Make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur and change.
• KS1 - Name, locate and identify characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom and its surrounding seas.
• KS1 - Name and locate the world’s seven continents and five oceans.
• KS2 - Identify the position and significance of Equator, N. and S. Hemisphere, Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
• KS2 - Identify their main environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, and major cities.

Place Knowledge

• EYFS - Children are given the opportunity to share experiences and increase the knowledge and sense of the world around them.
• KS1 - Understand geographical similarities and differences through studying the human and physical geography of the local area, and that of a small area in a contrasting non-European country.
• KS2 - Compare a region in UK with a region in N. or S. America with significant differences and similarities. Understand some of the reasons for similarities and differences.

Human and Physical Geography

• EYFS – Children should start to recognise key human and physical features as they are guided through their community.
• KS1 - Identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles.
• KS1 - Use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to key physical features, including: beach, cliff, coast, forest, hill, mountain, sea, ocean, river, soil, valley, vegetation, season and weather.
• KS2 - Describe and understand key aspects of physical geography including: earthquakes, volcanoes, climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, human geography including types of settlements in Early Britain and reasons for their location.

Environmental Geography

• EYFS – Children are taught to identify seasonal and daily weather patterns.
• KS1 - Observe and describe changes across the four seasons.
• KS2 - Describe the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle.
• KS2 – Describe and understand the processes of climate change and the consequences that it poses.

Geographical Skills and Fieldwork

• EYFS - Children increase their knowledge and sense of the world around them from visiting parks, libraries and museums.
• KS1 - Use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its counties, as well as countries, continents and oceans.
• KS1 - Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.
• KS2 - Learn the eight points of a compass, 6 figure grid reference and some basic symbols to build their knowledge of the United Kingdom and the wider world.
• KS2 - Use fieldwork to observe and record the human and physical features in the local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs, and digital technologies.