At St. Mary’s, pupils are encouraged to develop a knowledge of the world and their place in it.  The geography curriculum builds strategically, beginning with the pupils’ locality, and working further afield as they progress through the school.  It sequences knowledge, enabling an increasing understanding of the Earth’s key physical features and their relationship with human processes.  It includes an appreciation of how the world’s natural resources are used and transported and crucially the impact of this on climate change.  Through lesson content and first hand fieldwork experience, pupils are expected to consider respect for their local, national and international environments, underpinned by our Catholic values and wonder at God’s creation.  Pupils are explicitly and regularly taught specified geographical vocabulary to enable them to effectively understand curriculum content and articulate their understanding effectively. In other curriculum areas, to further familiarise children with the world and its regions, pupils are guided to identify the location of significant people, of significant events and the settings of stories, making links with their growing geographical knowledge. 

In September 2022,  St Mary’s Primary School adopted a new KS2 curriculum which started in Year 3 and 4 and has then been rolled out in the subsequent years. St Mary’s use the Opening Worlds programme. It is a knowledge-rich humanities programme for teaching history and geography in Years 3 to 6. As a school we are provided with curriculum resources together with training, support and ongoing programme-related professional development for our teachers. Because of its rapidly discernible effects on literacy and its highly inclusive approach, Opening Worlds has quickly gained appeal in schools tackling under-achievement in areas of considerable social disadvantage. The programme meets and substantially exceeds the demand of the National Curriculum for history and geography. The programme is characterised by strong vertical sequencing within subjects (so that pupils gain security in a rich, broad vocabulary through systematic introduction, sustained practice and deliberate revisiting) and intricate horizontal and diagonal connections, thus creating a curriculum whose effects are far greater than the sum of its parts. 

Please use the links below to access our learning resources.

KS1 Geography Learning Resources

KS2 Geography Learning Resources