Why we teach geography

At St Anne’s Infant school we are passionate about developing children as adventurous geographers, igniting their natural fascination with the world around them and the people within it. Through rich and meaningful experiences, children develop a sense of who they are whilst developing a connection and understanding of our ever-changing world. We aim to instil our young geographers with an appreciation for nature and respect for the world’s many diverse cultures.

The knowledge, skills and understanding children develop

Through enquiry-led, hands on, investigative learning experiences, our children are inspired to ask and answer geographical questions. Exploration of our local environment and research of the wider world develops the children’s observational skills and supports them to make comparisons and solve problems. We equip the children with geographical vocabulary that empowers them to communicate their thoughts, ideas and findings.

The children develop a deep understanding of physical and human geographical features and how these interact in different places. The initial focus on our school and local environment progresses and the older children learn about places in the wider world. As early as Reception, our young geographers learn to draw information from simple maps and as more experienced geographers, they learn to devise their own maps, construct basic symbols in a key and use compass directions.  Children benefit from every opportunity taken to practise and apply their reading, writing and maths skills within the geography curriculum.

The learning experience

Children’s understanding of the world begins when they start school; through exploration and play, our inquisitive geographers quickly gain a sense of the world around them.  Transferable knowledge and skills are built on progressively into and throughout Key Stage 1, providing our children with a deeper and embedded understanding of our culturally, socially and ecologically diverse world.  Inspiring, thought-provoking stories, non-fiction books and poems from around the world enrich our children’s geographical experiences, providing them with an appreciation of how different life is beyond our immediate locality.  At St Anne’s, we love to take our learning outside and through Forest School in Reception and explorative trips in and around Bristol, geography is brought to life and our young geographers develop the understanding of the power they have to make a difference to the wonderful world we live in today.