Geography | St Peter's Catholic Primary School, Lytham

‘Geography underpins a lifelong ‘conversation’ about the earth as the home of human kind.’ Geography Association

At St Peter’s Catholic Primary School we want our children to develop a life long curiosity and fascination in the wonder of our world. We seek 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 physical and human processes.

Geography at St Peter’s…

Provides a knowledge rich curriculum..
Gives children opportunities to be curious, ask questions and explore practically
Challenges children to think deeply, build on prior learning and make links in their understanding.
Encourages children to use specific and associated geographical vocabulary through the sequential planning and teaching of high frequency words (Tier 2) to help make sense of subject specific words (Tier 3)
Is planned to equip children to become more ‘expert’ with each study and grow an ever broadening and coherent mental model of the subject.

CUSP Geography Curriculum

Our curriculum is structured using the research based Cusp Curriculum.

Specific and associated geographical vocabulary is planned sequentially and cumulatively from Year 1 to Year 6. High frequency, multiple meaning words (Tier 2) are taught alongside and help make sense of subject specific words (Tier 3).

In the study of the geography our children increase their substantive knowledge. This is the subject knowledge and explicit vocabulary used to learn about the content. Common misconceptions are explicitly revealed as non-examples and positioned against known and accurate content as pupils become more expert in their understanding. Misconceptions are
challenged carefully and in the context of the substantive and disciplinary knowledge.

Through the CUSP geography curriculum, substantive concepts and knowledge are defined at the start of every study in the Big Idea:

Locational Knowledge: Where a place actually is found.

Place Knowledge: What a location is like

Human and physical geography: The interactions between people, places and
the environment.

Geographical skills and fieldwork: Using maps, globes and compasses, along with what you know to explain location, place and human and physical features associated with it.

In the study of the geography, our children also increase their disciplinary knowledge; this is the use of knowledge and how children become a little more expert as a geographer by Thinking Geographically.

When we think as a geographer, we focus on