Geography

Intent

At Brunel Field Primary School, we believe that Geography helps to provide answers to a range of questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives; to promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it.

Implementation

The geography curriculum at Brunel Field enables children to develop knowledge and skills which are transferable to and carefully linked with other curriculum areas. Our geography curriculum encourages children to investigate the area and the people in their locality with close connections to topics taught in History and Science particularly. Stoke Park, the River Avon and Gloucester Road are just some of the places the children will get to explore and study as part of their geography learning - local sites that will be familiar to the children and rich in relevant geographical history. As the children progress to Key Stage 2, they begin to make comparisons between Bristol and the UK and countries and people from around the world. This development of knowledge culminates with an overview in Year 6 where the children explore Bristol’s global significance over time and how the natural and social landscape has been shaped through migration and technological advancements. Together with our whole school Core Learning Skills approach, the geography curriculum at Brunel Field places great emphasis on the learning skills required to gather data, read maps, interpret geographical sources and organise and communicate information. We value the importance of fieldwork in order to provide children with opportunities to apply the above skills in a practical setting. Our design for fieldwork incorporates opportunities also to practise the data handling skills required within the maths curriculum and the working scientifically skills in Science.