Geography
Intent
At Mount Pleasant Primary, we believe that Geography provides children with the knowledge and understanding they need to make sense of the world and their place within it. Through our CUSP Geography curriculum, pupils develop a curiosity and fascination about the diverse places, people, environments and natural processes that shape our planet. They are encouraged to think like geographers by asking thoughtful questions, investigating geographical issues and making meaningful connections between local, national and global contexts.
Our Geography curriculum is ambitious, knowledge-rich and carefully sequenced to ensure that pupils build secure substantive knowledge of places, physical and human geography, and the processes that shape our world. Alongside this, children develop disciplinary knowledge by learning how geographers observe, enquire, interpret evidence and draw conclusions using maps, fieldwork, photographs, data and a range of geographical sources. Key concepts, including location, place, scale, interdependence, sustainability and environmental change, are revisited throughout the curriculum, enabling pupils to deepen their understanding over time.
Implementation
The curriculum is designed around the principles of cumulative knowledge, allowing children to connect new learning with prior understanding through regular retrieval practice and purposeful revisiting of key content. High-quality vocabulary is explicitly taught and embedded, enabling pupils to communicate their geographical understanding with increasing precision and confidence. Where appropriate, pupils take part in fieldwork activities that allow them to observe, record and interpret geographical features, helping them to apply their classroom learning in real-world contexts.
Every lesson follows a clear and consistent structure that supports all learners to access ambitious content. Teachers use responsive assessment to identify misconceptions, adapt teaching and ensure all pupils make strong progress through the curriculum.
Impact
By the time they leave Mount Pleasant Primary, children will have developed a secure understanding of the world's diverse places and environments, an appreciation of the interdependence between people and the planet, and the knowledge, vocabulary and enquiry skills needed to think critically about the geographical challenges and opportunities of the future.
Pupil Voice
Children at Mount Pleasant enjoy learning about Geography:
“I liked learning about the seaside.” Reception.
“I learnt where animals live.” Year 1.
“I like Geography because it teaches me about the world and the place I live.” Year 2
“It is interesting to see other landscapes and learn about other cultures.” Year 6