Our vision for Geography is to stimulate children’s understanding, curiosity and fascination about the world and its people.

“Raising Aspirations” is embedded into all elements of school life and learning at Minet. Our school curriculum is driven and shaped by our school vision, which informs everything that we do. Minet’s geography curriculum aids all our children to aim high and fulfil their potential to understand and thrive in their world, be it near or far. Our school values of respect, responsibility and resilience are at the heart of our geography curriculum. These values are embedded as we learn about people, places and the world. Our Geography curriculum will allow children to build resilience and become problem solvers. Children will take responsibility of their own learning as well as their surroundings and respect what they have learnt about different parts of the world.

Geography at Minet will inspire children to look closely at the world around them, inspire curiosity in their immediate surroundings and in places and environments in the wider world. We want geography to be creative, fun and above all be relevant and meaningful to the children’s own lives and experiences. We want children to develop the skills necessary to help children gain a better understanding of our world’s places and environments as well as develop subject-specific vocabulary. We want our children to be inquisitive about the world, open-minded and also responsible for the actions and choices they make leading them to be knowledgeable and confident.

Geographical skills will be built upon each year and as pupils progress through the school, their growing knowledge about the world will help them deepen their understanding. Minet learning will remain with them for the rest of their lives, equipping them well for their further education and beyond.

Geography at Minet will aim: ​

• To provide opportunities for children to undertake geographical enquiry and skills by investigating and expressing their own views.
• To develop the skills of interpreting a range of sources of geographical information.
• To help children understand human and physical features of places.
• To embed curiosity throughout all geography lessons.

Geography Primary GOLD Quality Mark

It is with great pleasure to announce that Minet has been awarded the prestigious Gold Primary Geography Quality Mark by The Geographical Association. The Geography Quality Marks are prestigious awards which recognise and promote quality and progress in geography leadership, curriculum development and learning and teaching in schools. It is a superb achievement by the whole school!

Geography at Minet 2024 - 2025

The geography curriculum overview for 2024-25:

Knowledge Organisers

Have a look at some of our wonderful learning in geography! 

Fieldwork can be can be carried out in a number of locations, both in or very close to the school grounds, or within the immediate local environment. Our Year 1 pupils have been exploring the local area searching for human and physical features. During our Hayes Town visit, children were enquirying about the variety of shops it has to offer...there were many takeaways and barbers!

This week builder Tom came to visit the children in Reception. Tom is the Site Manager of the new development of flats which are currently being built opposite the school playground. The children enjoyed looking at the different tools and machinery builders use, they had lots of questions and experiences to share with Tom.

In Reception the children enjoyed learning about 'World Teachers' Day.' It is a special day celebrated every year in the month of October. The children made lovely cards and shared all the wonderful reasons their teachers deserve to be celebrated. It was a pleasure to hear how much the children enjoy coming to school and being taught by all their teacher's at Minet Infant & Nursery School. 

Reception's topic for this half term is ‘People who help us’. Mrs Parker, the school nurse came to visit the children in Reception. Mrs Parker explained her role within the school and how she helps the children when they are hurt or feeling unwell. The children enjoyed exploring the different medical equipment she uses, including a thermometer which is used to check the children’s body temperature, plasters/bandages which are used when a child is injured. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and had lots of fun! We have also had a visit from the fire fighter and the dental nurse!

As Reception continue their topic on, 'People Who Help Us,' What an exciting time they have had! Three Metropolitan Police Officers came to visit the children in Reception. The Police Officers explained the importance of keeping safe and all the different jobs they do. The children enjoyed exploring the Police van and trying on the officer's uniforms. The children also experienced a staged 'Crime Scene' in the library, it was a lot of fun playing detectives!

Geography at Minet 2023 - 2024

Knowledge Organisers

A Knowledge Organiser is a go-to document for a unit of learning: each one identifies the key knowledge that children need to cover in the unit and is shared at the beginning so children know what they are going to be learning.

We have developed our own Knowledge Organisers to support the delivery of the curriculum, with each one starting with knowledge children should already know from previous learning. These knowledge organisers are designed carefully to match identified ‘key knowledge and vocabulary.

Please find below KS1 Knowledge Organisers for this term. We hope both parents / carers and children find these useful documents.

Have a look at some of our wonderful learning in geography! 

The Summer Term was full of fun for our Minet Geographers with our after school fieldwork club. Each week we investigated our school ground and local area. We looked at weather, sounds in different parts of the school and litter. Our Geographers had a wonderful end to their Fieldwork afterschool club where we went on an Environmental walk around the local area we even had time to have a quick play in the park!

Year 2 enjoyed the hook to their Kenya topic today. They learnt how to play the jambu drum, created their own beat and mixed music together using different drums.

Year 2 have been learning about Kenya and Nairobi. They have been comparing local schools to school over there and even had an amazing assembly lead by Mrs Wrehmanji and Mrs Vallijee! Children experience a memorable Kenya themed day where they were able to ask questions, research and compare.

Our Year 1 pupil became weather watchers in the Summer Term. Each week they learnt about a different weather type and how each was measured and why. They made rain gauges, wind streamers and used the Beaufort scale!

To finish our learning on the United Kingdom, each Year 1 classroom became a country for the day. In each class we completed an activity. In Indonesia class we were learning about England and St. George and the Dragon, we used the VR headsets. In India class we learnt all about rugby and played the game outside. Japan class was Northern Ireland and we did some Irish dancing. In Cambodia class we learnt about Scotland and made tartan!

This half term Mrs Rehmanji did an assembly for Reception as part of their Understanding of the World where they learnt about Kenya. 

UNCRC Article 31

I have the right to take part in cultural  activities.

• They learnt how Kenya is similar and different to England.

• They learnt about the BIG 5 and sang a song.

• They learnt about one of the tribes in Kenya called Maasai and Mrs Bangard even dressed up as a Maasai.

The children were very engaged and joined in enthusiastically. 

As part of their Geography on the United Kingdom and famous landmarks, our Year 1 children visited Windsor Castle. What an amazing day had by all... we saw the changing of the guards, Queen Mary's doll house, the final resting place of Queen Elizabeth and the state apartments. 

In the Spring Term, Key Stage 1 have been locating countries, capital cities, continents and more using the atlas. 

To enhance their learning on weather and climate, Year 2 visited the Living Rainforest in Reading where they learnt about weather around the world.

Reception children have been developing their map skills and have used classroom resources to make messy maps!

Year 1 have been learning about maps. They have learnt that maps and plans are views from above or a 'bird's eye view' of a place and use symbols. We enjoyed looking at various maps...we had big giant maps… and small maps with lots of detail. Maps can be printed on paper and folded, they can be three dimensional like this globe or even on a phone. The closer you look at a map, the more detail you see. Children created a messy map of their classroom then they used a map of the school grounds to locate features of the school!

Reception children have enjoyed learning about, People Who Help us!'

Year 2 have been learning about the world's continents and oceans. The children enjoyed a continents and oceans workshop where they visited each one and learnt some fun facts. Thank you to Freshwater Theatre for letting our children accompany the Earth Explorer on a global expedition traversing the five oceans and seven continents. 

Geography at Minet 2022 - 2023

Have a look at some of our wonderful learning in geography! 

Year 1 visited Minet Country Park to investigate park usage. We interviewed park users and found lots out! There is a park user who visits everyday (between 10 and 11am) to water the trees there.

Reception enjoyed celebrating National Fieldwork Fortnight by completing an environment walk around the school grounds. We took our checklists with us and ticked off different parts of nature that we found along the way. We focused our senses on what we could hear (birds), see (trees), and smelt (grass), and drew pictures for each one. 

Year 2 are learning about Kenya. Mrs Vallijee and Mrs Rehmanji, who have lived and visited Kenya, delivered a very special assembly explaining life in Kenya. They share artefacts, resources, pictures and so many wonderful facts. Children look forward to sharing what they have learnt with you at the end of the topic!

In the Summer Term, Year 1 children are learning to identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom. Each week, children learn and record a different type of weather. Thank you to Freshwater Theatre who has given us an exciting introduction to this topic by helping us to categorise some weather patterns, role-play different types of weather, and produce a season soundscape with the Earth Explorer.

Kamari in Austria Class: 'I used the hose. It was fun! The firefighter will use it when there's a fire.  

Haashir in Indonesia class, 'We went to Minet Country Park and I saw a map.

Shameela, 'There are not enough bins in Minet Country Park.

Fatimah in South Africa, 'I know that Europe is the smallest continent. I made a globe with a balloon, showing the continents and oceans.'