Geography

"Geography is a subject which holds the key to our future."

Michael Palin

Geography is challenging, motivating, topical and fun. In our diverse society children need, more than ever before, to understand other people and cultures. Geography makes a major contribution to children's physical, intellectual, social and emotional development.

Bishops Waltham

Bishops Waltham is a small rural town with the expected physical and human geographical features such as houses, flats, school, church, roads, shops and parks.

It also has some unique features including the Palace Ruins, a fishing pond, a nature reserve, a wooden board walk, the remains of the railway and the 'boiling sands', the source of the river Hamble. It is surrounded by countryside, farmland and woods.

Bishops Waltham Infant School and the local area provide the Year R children with their first geographical experiences, finding their way around the building itself and grounds, walking to the Church, comparing the local parks and taking longer journeys to Longdown Dairy Farm and Hillier's Arboritum.

Bishops Waltham is in easy reach of the M27 motorway, giving access to Portsmouth and Southsea as a contrasting location to study in Year 1, as a city with a coastline, beach and harbour.

A 'real' geography field trip provides the children with a firsthand experience of different landscape extending their knowledge and language beyond their home. The trip starts with a stop on top of Portsdown Hill with a panoramic view of Portsmouth and Southsea as a moving map. On a clear day the children can see the Isle of Wight!

New Zealand is the theme of Year 2's geography project! The children are inspired to explore this country virtually through film, books, the internet and first hand from New Zealand residents living in Bishops Waltham. They even learn and perform the Hakka!

Our Geography Curriculum

The National Curriculum states that:-

'A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching should equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.'

Geography is planned and taught through an intergrated curriculum divided into Projects.

Below you will find the project overviews for each year group.

In Year R early geographical concepts are taught through the 'Understanding the World' section of the Early Years Curriculum.

'Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, technology and the environment.'