Intent:

Geography at Ashbourne Primary School harnesses our unique location at the edge of the Peak District. Our work is underpinned by our vision and aims: ‘Nurturing aspiration through happy, creative learning’. Our PRAISE aims are at the heart of every lesson and our focus on the removal of barriers to learning is firmly embedded into all areas of the Geography curriculum.

At Ashbourne Primary School, children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, our country and their immediate locality. Throughout their time here, the children will spend as much time as possible exploring the wonderful area they are lucky enough to live in. The geography curriculum promotes their understanding of diversity and the ways people in different countries use available resources and how this shapes their lives.

The children will develop knowledge and skills that are progressive, as well as transferable to other areas of study and to their further education and beyond. The curriculum is planned and sequenced over a two-year period: KS1 (Y1 and Y2), LWK2 (Y3 and Y4) and UPKS2 (Y5 and Y6). To begin with, children develop their basic knowledge of geography concepts. In the second phase, children deepen their understanding and apply what they have learned. This is based on the principal that learning has only happened when processes and facts (knowledge) are in pupils’ long-term memory. This takes time and repetition. Planning the curriculum in this way, allows pupils to establish fundamental foundations into their memories before advancing and applying concepts across a range of tasks and topics.