Geography is essentially the study of the earth and all living things on it. We believe at the Hilgay Riverside Academy, that geography should inspire pupils with a curiosity and fascination about the world we live in and reflect our value of respecting all that call it home. We want all our children to be challenged to develop a greater understanding of the environment we live in, develop a reverence for their own and others place in it by being given the opportunity to access a knowledge-rich curriculum.  We have seen that investing in children with powerful knowledge about the world around them helps them to recognise their own role in becoming a responsible global citizen.

We value the scientific study of geography as an investigative subject that is carefully specified, ordered and builds over time. This includes the learning of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.  We feel the best way to impart this ability to make meaningful connections of how our world is linked is to build on our children’s prior knowledge in all units and in all years.

In Key Stage One, children begin with an understanding of the countries in the UK together with geographical fieldwork of our school site and the surrounding environment. Our children will be given the opportunity to learn how to:

• locate places on a map
• position items on a map
• use symbols in a key
• interpret scale
• read climate graphs
• identify locations using co-ordinates
• interpret population data
• identify elevation on relief maps

In Key Stage Two, children will also further their study of local geography including regions of Europe and then the world. We will challenge them to apply their knowledge and understanding of:

• the globe
• human geographical features
• globalisation
• natural phenomena

By the time children leave the Hilgay Riverside Academy they will, have an excellent knowledge of where places are and what they are like, ways in which places are interdependent and interconnected, a geographical vocabulary and understanding of geographical enquiry, effective analytical techniques and the ability to explain their findings.

We believe our students will leave us with a passion to find out about their world and a deep respect for all who live there.