Geography
The aim of geography teaching at The Brent is to ignite the children’s curiosity to further their knowledge about their local environment and beyond.
We teach children about their local area, and through this they can compare their life in Dartford with that in other regions in the United Kingdom and in the rest of the world. Through their growing knowledge and understanding of human geography, children gain an appreciation of life in other cultures. They learn how to draw and interpret maps and they develop the skills of research, investigation, analysis and problem-solving. Through our geography teaching we provide children opportunities to embed their new found skills, within a meaningful context. Which will, in turn, create resilient learners for life with a keen awareness and appreciation of the world in which they live, fully prepared to embrace the wonders and challenges of the world around them.
Using their Growth Mindsets children take responsibility for their learning showing resilience and respect for the world around them.
Our Geography Journey Through The Brent
In EYFS, we study Geography by starting with something that is real to the children. They start by talking about where we live and where our school is in Dartford and locate it on a simple map. They describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps. They begin to find simple similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class. They think about the weather and what would be appropriate clothing during child initiated as they learn outside the classroom.
In Year 1, we start by looking at the weather and begin to discuss the four seasons. Children build on their understanding of the local area by looking at their houses and the streets where they live. They discuss their routes to school and begin to look at simple maps of the local area. They develop their own map skills, beginning with a map of the classroom, then the playground and where this fits into the school map. They develop their concept of Place by comparing it to a seaside location, thinking about the physical and human geography and conducting a simple fieldwork investigation at the beach.
They move from maps of the classroom to aerial photos; road maps and maps of the major features of the UK. They begin to familiarise themselves with the location of the River Thames and its relationship to the development of the local area.
In Year 2, we revisit the four countries of the UK before extending out to identify the continents and oceans of the world. Children develop their understanding of weather by comparing and contrasting the Arctic and Antarctic with the continent of Africa, thinking about how weather affects floods and droughts. They look at the human and physical features of both areas. What makes it difficult to live there and how the people, animals and plants have to adapt. They continue to use maps and photographs to develop their understanding of these locations. Drawing maps of the school site with more accuracy using compass directions and scale.
Children begin to look at human impact on the planet and identify how these are affecting the wildlife that live in these areas. They develop their fieldwork by studying our school pond habitat and how the animals within it are affected by the seasons.
In Year 3, they study mountains as a key physical geographical feature. They develop their understanding of human geography as they learn about the people who live their and examine the impact of tourism. Children start with a revisit of the UK and the mountain ranges here. They link this with their work on Africa in year 2 before going further around the world. The information is used to analyse evidence and draw conclusions; understanding geographical similarities and differences. They study larger scale maps of the world identifying a range of mountains and other features. They begin to look at ordinance survey maps and learn to read contour lines and scale. They develop their fieldwork by looking at the impact of people and erosion on our school ground.
In Year 4, they study the continent of Asia, as the largest continent on Earth. No other continent has such varied landscapes, wildlife and weather conditions. They look at the impact of large scale physical features on human lives e.g earthquakes and volcanoes, land use etc. linking their learning on mountains to volcanoes and drawing back on their knowledge of the River Thames as they look at the importance of the River Nile. They identify different types of settlement and trade links. They interpret a range of sources as they look at thematic maps to look at population density, rainfall and precipitation levels, vegetation distribution, and poverty.
In Year 5, children identify different biomes around the world, looking in detail at the Amazon Rainforest. They deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. They independently apply the skills already learnt from previous years in order to explain and analyse appropriate data.
They revisit climate zones and the water cycle and begin to think more deeply about human impact on the environment and climate change through their study of the Green Planet, including major environmental issues like pollution. We encourage them to review and take personal responsibility for their own impact on the environment.
In Year 6, children draw on their knowledge across their journey at The Brent, applying their skills to analyse the effect of urbanisation, migration and climate change on our community in Dartford. Drawing their conclusions about the growth of our settlement in Dartford from early man, through Victorian industrialisation to present day. They use a range of data, sources, photographs, and maps to make generalisations, propose explanations and recognise trends. They present their findings in different forms, for example plans, graphs, tables, sketches and diagrams, including digital technologies.
Photo Gallery
What A Wonderful World
