Children’s geographical learning starts with the familiar and slowly builds outwards, from London, to the UK, to Europe, South America and Africa. Their understanding of how their local area fits into the wider world is therefore gradually accrued. Understanding of physical geography also starts with the familiar: from the seaside in Year 1, to mountains and volcanoes in Year 3 and rivers in Year 6. More in-depth studies allow children to develop their understanding of the interactions between physical and human geography, with units on Brazil in Year 1, principle UK cities in Year 4 and Ukraine in Year 5.

Progression within the curriculum is clear: it starts with what is familiar to children and extends outwards. Progression in fieldwork skills is built across units, with rich opportunities for mapping, technical drawing and exploring their environment in a concrete physical way. Other units offer scope for children to use digital resources, globes, atlases and Geographical Information Systems to explore regions. Key technical and tier 2 vocabulary is mapped onto each unit, allowing children to build a rich bank of geographical language.

Links are built with other subjects, predominantly but not exclusively with writing, art, music and science.