Our Vision for Geography Learning at Burlington

Our curriculum aims to inspire children’s curiosity and interest to explore the world that we live in and its people. We intend to equip children with geographical skills to develop their knowledge and understanding through studying both our local community and the wider world. Geography is an investigative subject and we intend to provoke thought through questions and to encourage children to discover answers to their own questions with the use of fieldwork, exploration and research. For our children, the curriculum fosters excitement about the world as well as the creativity and critical thinking that will equip them as globally-minded citizens.

Geography Curriculum Overview

In our diverse community at Burlington, children gain first-hand experiences of different cultures, beliefs and traditions.  They acquire lifelong knowledge and understanding of people, places and processes. 

In Early Years (Nursery and Reception), children explore the environment around them through our weekly ‘Out and About’ sessions where they learn about seasons and basic map skills.  Children also have access to outdoor learning areas during the continuous provision where they are encouraged to draw, write and talk about what they see in their environment. Through sharing stories (for example 'I’m going on a leaf hunt', 'Brave Bear', ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ , 'Yucky Worms' and ‘Grandad’s Island’ ), children’s early geographical enquiry skills are nurtured and they learn to identify places around the world and in the UK.

In Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2), children are encouraged to think like explorers, using sources, maps, globes, compasses and field work to learn through question-led cross curricular topics. Children are natural explorers and our geography curriculum enables children to discover things about the world around them.  They are taught to ask and answer geographical questions.

Children are introduced to a range of geographical vocabulary which they build upon as they progress through each year group.  Using New Malden, the UK and the world, they learn about human and physical features of places.  In Year 1 children love learning about Peru when learning about bears.  Building on this knowledge, in Year 2 children compare England and Brazil when learning about chocolate. Through Key Stage 1 children learn about the UK and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans of the world when learning about habitats, bears, pirates and explorers.

Fieldwork is a crucial component of the geography curriculum. Reception children love creating their own ‘messy maps’ of both the school and areas important to them. In Year 1 children carry out simple fieldwork to investigate the geography of the school, and develop their own maps further, for example showing routes and using keys. In Year 2 children are challenged by Willy Wonka to find a new location for his chocolate factory. Through research and investigation of geographical data, they find a country with the perfect climate for cocoa beans!

Recently children from Reception to Year 2 created models of different parts of the school and the Learning Council put them together to create a 3D messy map of Burlington Infant School. Children also learn about weather patterns in the UK and make comparisons with other areas of the world.  A favourite Burlington Bear investigation for the children is proving that countries near to the equator have the hottest temperature.

The Geography curriculum at Burlington follows the National Curriculum.  You can find the appropriate extract of this National Curriculum for Geography here: 

National Curriculum in KS1 - Geography

Please note this extract covers KS1 (Years 1 and 2) and Key Stage 2 which is followed by the Junior School (Years 3 to 6).

The curriculum map below gives you a complete summary of the Geography skills, knowledge and key vocabulary that we teach our children, during each term as they progress from Nursery / Reception and through to Years 1 and 2.

Geography @ Burlington - Curriculum Map

Here is a summary of the key learning concepts taught from Reception to Year 2.

Geography @ Burlington - Road Map

Here are some photos of our teaching and learning for Geography across the school: 

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