Geography at The Leys

'The study of Geography is about more than just memorising places on a map. It's about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents. And in the end, it's about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together'
'Barack Obama'

Our Vision for Geography at The Leys

Intent

At the Leys, through our Geography teaching, we aim to inspire children to explore not only their immediate environment but the world around them. We want to encourage children to build an interest and passion to develop their knowledge and understanding of different places; their features and their characteristics.As children grow, we strive to encourage them to become knowledgeable and active citizens of their community and the world beyond them and encourage them to know that they have an impact on the world.

Implementation

The progressive geography curriculum taught at The Leys sets out clear objectives which aids and supports our vision and teaching. Children learn a variety of topics, including human and physical features of an area (locally and worldwide), cultural and environmental geography. We focus on enrichment activities which encourage an enquiry-based style of learning to allow pupils to question, investigate and think critically about the world, people and cultures around them. 

Here at The Leys we focus our Geography lessons on using and building geographical skills. We have a strong focus on practical fieldwork where map skills, compass work and exploration is taught to allow pupils to explore and make sense of the world.

Impact

At the Leys we hope to equip all pupils with the skills, knowledge and ability to become independent learners who understand their world. By the end of Year 6 we we strive to ensure pupils:

Geography topics taught include:

What our children love about Geography:

"I like geography because you get to learn about the world which is very interesting"
Marianna - Year 2

"I love learning about new towns and cities in the UK and how to get there. Maps help me know how to get to different places."
Eddie - Year 3

"We get to learn fun things like how the Earth and mountains are formed. I've learnt about the crust and the mantle."
Aadi - Year 4

"I've enjoyed learning about Eastern European countries like Poland and Romania. We have been learning about their culture and tasting their food! Soon, we'll be making Polish pizza called Zapiekanka"
Kyler-May - Year 5

Subject Overview

Geography Subject Overview 2024 - 2025

International Week 2023

October 2022 - Year 6 local walk to look at and discuss land use around our area.

Helpful Websites

Environmental Themes

The children’s section has many useful facts, activities and animations and includes sections on: air, energy, land, climate change, people and lifestyles, resources and waste, water and wildlife.
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/fun/?lang=_e

Mapping

An introduction for key stage 2 on how maps work and how to interpret them. It includes these 8 sections: starting mapping, symbols, compasses and directions, grid references, understanding scale, measuring distance, relief and contour lines and compass bearings.
http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/index.html
Local street maps including a ‘find my nearest’ function, which can be used to locate features e.g. schools, list them and link them to a map.
http://www.upmystreet.co.uk/
Search for local street maps by postcode, OS grid reference, place name or street name. Maps are extendable in eight compass directions.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/
Online mapping site which includes eye level 'Streetview'
http://maps.google.co.uk/
Maps resized to show population sizes, income, etc.
http://www.worldmapper.org/
Distant locationsVery child-friendly site for understanding development issues.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/index.htm
Includes a range of resources for information supporting distant locality studies.
http://www.actionaid.org.uk


The Leys Primary & Nursery School

Ripon Road, Stevenage, Herts, SG1 4QZ.
01438 314148
admin@leys.herts.sch.uk

Copyright © 2022 - The Leys Primary & Nursery School
Headteacher:  Mrs D Khangura
Chair of Governors:  Mrs Marina Stone