Our Geography Subject Leader
Mrs Gray
Intent
At St Joseph’s, our geography curriculum inspires children to develop a deep curiosity about the world and its people. We aim for all children to understand that they belong to a wider world that goes beyond Coundon, exploring diverse places, cultures, and environments with respect and compassion. Through progressive teaching of geographical knowledge, skills, and vocabulary, pupils learn to investigate and interpret both the human and physical world around them. We encourage children to take opportunities to apply their learning through enquiry, fieldwork and exploration, developing a sense of responsibility as stewards of God’s creation. We want our pupils to achieve well, dream big and take opportunities given to them to explore the world they belong to.
Implementation
Our Geography curriculum is carefully designed to be progressive, engaging, and relevant to our children’s lives. Our curriculum covers the National Curriculum and is underpinned by the building blocks of Geography (Threshold Concepts) which are emphasised and reinforced in the geography curriculum across our Trust schools from KS1 to KS5.
Location and Place Knowledge;
Geographical Skills and Communication;
Physical Processes and Landscapes;
Human Interaction with the Environment.
These concepts provide the foundation for children’s understanding and are revisited and built upon each year to ensure secure knowledge and progression.
Through these concepts, children develop a strong sense of place — beginning with their immediate surroundings and the North East, before exploring the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia and North America, as part of our key geographical threads. These common threads weave through the different units, allowing children to make meaningful connections between local, national, and global contexts.
Fieldwork opportunities are integral to our curriculum, providing pupils with hands-on experiences to investigate, observe, and interpret the world around them. Through purposeful enquiry and real-world application, children build their confidence, geographical vocabulary, and understanding of how humans interact with and influence their environment.
Topics and units lay out sequential components of learning which equates to 8-10 hours of teaching.
Curriculum Sequence
We are a mixed year group school, and therefore we have chosen to sequence the curriculum over a two year rolling cycle. Each topic includes a knowledge retention/recap element so that we are constantly building and revisiting prior learning.
Pedagogy
Lessons follow our consistent pedagogical approach.
- Retrieval - The lesson begins with a retrieval task. This may involve retrieving knowledge from the previous topic, previous term or a previous year group. Where possible, retrieval tasks are linked to the content of the lesson that is about to follow.
- Recall - This involves recalling knowledge from the previous lesson. This may be recorded in books when deemed appropriate buy the teacher or it may be an oracy based activity.
- New Learning - New learning is introduced, the learning objectives and foundational knowledge/skills are shared and vocabulary is discussed. The enquiry question for the lesson is shared and briefly discussed.
- I Do - The teacher will share new knowledge and learning - this may be through the sharing of sources, sharing core knowledge, watching videos, exploring maps, analysing data or reading extracts.
- We Do - Pupils may complete as task as a group, or discuss.
- You Do - Pupils complete an independent task.
- Reflection - Pupils reflect on the core learning from the lesson and the opportunities are given to answer the enquiry question. This part of the lesson may include a group discussion, a debate, or opportunities to make connections to our Character Virtues, Protected Characteristics, Catholic Social Teachings or British Values.
Impact
As a result of our Geography curriculum, pupils:
- Develop knowledge of significant places and understand how physical and human processes shape our world.
- Become skilled geographers, able to collect, analyse, and communicate information through fieldwork, maps, and digital tools.
- Use geographical vocabulary confidently, making connections to prior learning and expressing their understanding clearly.
- Leave St Joseph’s with a lasting curiosity and understanding of the world, ready to think and act like geographers in the next stage of their learning.
Geography Careers at St Joseph’s
At St Joseph’s, we encourage our children to dream big and see how geography helps them understand and shape the world they belong to. Through our curriculum, pupils explore how geographical knowledge and skills link to a wide range of exciting careers — from environmental science, town planning and architecture to travel, conservation and geology. By learning to think critically, interpret data, and appreciate the beauty of God’s creation, our children gain the confidence and curiosity to take opportunities and use their talents to make a positive difference in the world.