At Princeville, children are equipped with a critical understanding of Geography, and what it means to be a global citizen.

Pupils are taught geographical knowledge and skills that are carefully sequenced and that grow in sophistication as they move through school. This starts at the closest level to the pupils, looking at our local area, building to regional, national and global knowledge, where key concepts are developed at each level. 

Through Geography, we teach our pupils about social responsibility; being global citizens with a responsibility for sustainability. We ensure that our curriculum reflects the modern geographical concerns that may affect our children as global citizens. 

We want our pupils to have a broad knowledge of opportunities that exist outside of BD7. With this in mind, we use Geography as a tool to broaden our pupils’ horizons and to raise their aspirations and widening their knowledge of opportunities available to them later in life. 

We carefully plan for pupils’ acquisition of geographical knowledge, so that pupils are exposed to a wide range of geographical terminology during their time at Co-op Academy Princeville. 

In EYFS children are first introduced to the concept of location. They begin to explore simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of our school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment. 

In Year 1 children learn about our local area, Lidget Green. They are introduced to a range of geographical vocabulary in their studies of Scotland and the seaside. They also study the weather, looking at seasonal and daily weather patterns in the UK. 

In Year 2 children start to learn about key landmarks in Bradford. They look at the countries of the United Kingdom and the capital cities, linking with their historical work on the Great Fire of London. They go on to compare London with Kingston, Jamaica, and will study the effects of climate change. They also learn to locate hot and cold countries around the world.

In Year 3 children begin by studying the rivers and mountains of the United Kingdom. They also look at what counties are, locating them within the United Kingdom. Following this, pupils look at the concept of settlements, and good locations for settlements, including natural resources and physical geography. Linking with the topic of Chocolate, children study Ghana. 

In Year 4 children build on their knowledge of African countries, with a study of the River Nile. In this unit of work, they look at the importance of the river for trade, as well as exploring the water cycle, and an introduction to what biomes are. They then go onto building on what they learn in Year 2, locating cold places around the world, by studying the polar regions. In the Summer term, Year 4 investigate plastic pollution and the impact on oceans. 

In Year 5 children will study Poland, in relation to their work on World War Two in History. They then go on to look at Turkey, and the significance of refugees in that country. In the Summer Term, Year 5 pupils study Rainforests and the Amazon Basin, with consideration given to deforestation and fires. 

In Year 6, children begin their geographical studies by looking at natural resources in three very diverse locations; The United Kingdom, Russia and Australia. In the Spring Term, Year Six investigate climate, land use and biomes in their study of the United States of America. Year Six’s final geographical unit focuses on Baghdad, and the significance of the river Tigris on the city.