The geography curriculum overview for 2023-24:

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 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! 

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.'