Geography at Cantrell – A Tour of the World. Geographical understanding fires children’s curiosity and imagination about who we are, where we have come from, where we live and where we might be going next. It helps children to make sense of their place in the world and is central to their development as informed, active and responsible citizens. We value the importance of teaching about current global issues, such as sustainability, and are confident to use specialist vocabulary. We want our geography to be meaningful, exciting and relevant for children. We want the subject to be fun, creative and interactive. We maximise every opportunity for developing our place and locational knowledge by using maps and sharing images identifying where historical times began, where children have been on their holidays, where authors were from, where stories are set.

Our youngest learners take small and carefully guided steps through our school gates, while our independent Year 6s are encouraged to enjoy giant leaps around the world! Through our geography, we want our children to become ready, resilient, resourceful, reflective and responsible learners and to have a holistic view of the world around them. Our intent is to equip our children with not only the minimum statutory requirements for the National Curriculum, but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life in an ever-changing world.

We ensure that the ‘Geography Skills and Field Work’ component of our provision is built-on and developed throughout children’s time at our school so that they can apply their knowledge of geography when exploring the outdoors, building arguments and explaining processes confidently. We want them to leave Cantrell to continue to ask questions and be curious about our planet.