Exciting news!

Our school was recently awarded the Bronze Primary Geography Quality Mark for the geography taking place at our school.

Geography at our school:

Geography is an important part of our school curriculum.

Our vision is for our children:

• To develop a sense of awe and wonder about the world in which we live.
• To develop the geographical knowledge and skills needed to understand the world in which we live – where places are and what they are like, and how our world is represented.
• To celebrate diversity and to challenge stereotypes of people and places.
• To develop, through learning about global issues, the knowledge, skills and values needed to become active and responsible global citizens, who know that they can make a positive difference in the world and are empowered to do so. 

Catholic Social Teaching

There are strong links between geography and Catholic Social Teaching.  In particular, our school is a 'School of Sanctuary' - a place of welcome and safety for all.  In Refugee Week, children throughout our school have the opportunity to learn about the global issue of refugees and to take action based on their learning, e.g. making refugee children welcome in our school or raising money a charity such as Borderlands - the charity set up by St. Nicholas of Tolentino RC Church.

Look out for our 'CAFOD club' - coming soon!

  Geography Policy - coming soon!

Our geography topics.

In Year 1, children learn explore the geographical features of our local area. ​​

Children learn how to create a simple map of their journey from home to school.​​

Children learn about the weather in the U.K. – its seasons and daily weather patterns and learn how to keep a simple record of the weather.​, and explore hot and cold places in the world too.

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In Year 2, children  learn about continents and oceans and take a virtual trip to Uganda, in  Africa, where they learn about the geographical features of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, and Kisoro – a town in S.W. Uganda.  They identify similarities and differences between Bristol and Kampala and between Kampala and Kisoro. ​ Have a look at the photo of our class collage in Kampala!

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Children learn how to create a simple map and add a key and use simple grid references (A2, B3) to locate features on a map, and to give directions using the four points of a compass – north, south, east and west.​​

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Throughout KS1, children learn to use world maps, globes and atlases and learn about the United Kingdom.

In Year 3, children build on their knowledge about the United Kingdom:​​

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Children learn about the geographical features of the United Kingdom, including its cities, mountains, rivers and seas and focus on the city where we live -  Bristol.​​

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Children, learn to identify the key geographical features of Bristol on an OS map map of Bristol and on 'Digimaps for Schools',  how to use 4 and 6 figure grid references to locate features and how to give directions using the 8 points of a compass.​​

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Fieldwork may include a walk over Clifton Suspension bridge  to observe geographical features, including the river Avon which flows through Bristol.​

Linked to their science topic on rocks, children also learn about volcanoes and earthquakes.

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In Year 4, children build on their knowledge of the United Kingdom and  learn about Europe - its geographical features, including countries, capital cities, mountains, rivers and seas.​  The children learn about mountains and about the Alps and focus on the country of Switzerland and the similarities and differences between economic activity - tourism - in Switzerland and the UK.

In Year 5, children learn about the key geographical features of North America- it's countries , capital cities, mountains and rivers,  before taking a virtual trip to El Salvador, to learn about the key geographical features of the country.

In Year 6, children learn about the key geographical features of South America - it's countries, capital cities, mountains and rivers.  They learn about climate zones, vegetation belts and biomes and focus on the Tropical Rainforest in Brazil.

Children learn about food. They explore where different foods come from and focus on bananas. Children learn about the global theme of Fair Trade and have opportunities to take action based on their learning.

In addition to our geography topics, children in each class have a weekly 20-minutes geography lesson.  This is a short, fun learning activity aimed at developing their knowledge of where places are in the world.

Have a look at the slide show below to see some of our geography activities.