Geography

The geography curriculum at The Orchard School makes learning fun and engaging. Through hands-on activities, stories, interactive lessons, and workshops, children build core knowledge, skills, and vocabulary. 

Where appropriate, geographical learning is connected with other subjects such as science or art. It may also be linked to their writing, where children use what they have been learning in geography to write in different genres such as travel journals or informational reports.

The curriculum includes "memory moments" and a range of other recall and retrieval opportunities to help children remember important places and facts.

This approach ensures that learning geography is both enjoyable and effective for young children.

 Geography Policy Subject Leadership Report 2023-24

Knowledge Organisers

Please click on the pictures below for the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary taught in each Geography unit of work. 

Geography in Reception

In Reception, Geography forms part of the learning children acquire under the ‘Understanding of the World' branch of the Foundation Stage curriculum. 

The geography taught at this stage is where children begin to gain a wider experience of the world around them.

Children learn through first-hand experiences to explore, observe, problem solve, predict, think critically, make decisions and talk about the creatures, people, plants and objects in their natural environments.

We ask children open-ended questions, for example, “What can you see here?” to help your child to think and make connections between ideas.

Children learn about seasons, the weather, features in the local area and the buildings that surround them. They may be shown photographs of the local area and London to help them identify features, for example a library, train station, or church, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben or The London Eye. They will also be encouraged to record their findings, perhaps through drawing, writing, and modelling.