Geography

Geography at Archibald builds on the Early Years, where children explore their local environment, the weather and the seasons through Understanding the World. It is built on the Cornerstones Curriculum and structured so that pupils secure essential knowledge and skills before applying them in depth. Each autumn, every year group completes a companion project covering locational and place knowledge, human and physical geography, and map and fieldwork skills. Each spring, pupils apply this in a knowledge-rich study of one environment. Pupils move outwards from their school and the UK to Europe, the Americas and the polar regions. They return repeatedly to how people and environments shape each other. In Year 2 they study human activity at the coast, in Year 4 trade, transport and energy, in Year 5 how climate and land use determine farming, and in Year 6 climate change and the sustainability of polar environments.

Map and fieldwork skills are sequenced year on year. Pupils progress from simple maps, symbols and compass directions in Key Stage 1 to four-figure grid references in Year 3, then six-figure references, OS maps and contours in Year 4, and digital mapping and GIS by Year 6. Fieldwork begins in the school grounds and extends to coastal and river. Links with other subjects are deliberate: the Year 3 science content on rocks and soils is taught through Rocks, Relics and Rumbles, and Sow, Grow and Farm runs alongside the DT project Eat the Seasons. Vocabulary support and adapted resources help pupils with SEND and those learning English as an additional language to access the same content. By the end of Year 6, pupils can locate places accurately on a global scale and use maps, data and fieldwork evidence to explain how people and environments interact.