At St John’s we aim to inspire pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers with a diverse knowledge of the world; in other words, to think like a geographer!

 

“Everything has to do with geography” Judy Martz

 

We want our pupils to leave in Year 6 understanding that they play an important part in looking after our wonderful world. We aim to inspire our children to think about their own place in the world, their values, and their rights and responsibilities to other people and the environment. We want to promote cultural awareness and knowledge of diverse places so that our children treat people equally and with the dignity and respect that they deserve. 

 

Intent at St John’s:

At St. John’s, our Geography teaching is in line with the school's ethos of ’all different, all equal, all learning together in God’s world.' Geography encourages our learners to ask and answer questions of the immediate and the wider world around them, including both the natural and human aspects. We want to inspire a fascination about the world and equip our pupils with the skills and knowledge to allow them to become global citizens of the world. We aim for them to leave us in Year 6 with the ability to interact with the world with care, tolerance and empathy. 

Implementation at St John’s 

Using the Kapow scheme, the National Curriculum and our teacher knowledge, St John’s aims to provide a high-quality Geography curriculum that has been carefully designed and sequenced to equip our children with a secure, coherent geographical knowledge of Sevenoaks, the UK and the wider world. Each unit starts with a question. We have designed these questions to be open-ended with no preconceived answers and therefore they are genuinely purposeful and engage pupils in generating a real change. In attempting to answer them, children learn how to collect, interpret and represent data using geographical methodologies and make informed decisions by applying their geographical knowledge. 

Impact at St John’s 

Outcomes across the curriculum, evidence of a broad and balanced geography curriculum and children demonstrating what we call key geographical ‘sticky knowledge’ all show the impact of our geography teaching at St John’s. Children review their successes in achieving the lesson objectives at the end of every session or unit. We also assess throughout the year to make sure that key geographical knowledge is sticking! Children are actively encouraged to identify their own target areas through the use of their knowledge organisers. As children progress throughout school, they develop a deeper knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Sevenoaks and its place within the wider geographical context. Regular school trips also provide further relevant and contextual learning. Each year our Year 6 have the amazing opportunity to visit Normandy, France during the summer term. An incredible opportunity where they make memories that last! 

Field Work Skills:

Fieldwork is an essential part of our geography teaching because it provides a ‘real-world’ opportunity for students to develop and extend their geographical thinking; it adds value to classroom experiences. We also find that it is the part of geography that our children love best - learning outside!

 

 

Sustainability

In 2025, the Government asked all schools to put in place a Sustainability and Climate Change Action Plan for their setting. At St John's we already understand climate change and how positive change can be achieved in many different ways. It is embedded in our Geography curriculum from EYFS all the way up to Year 6. This year it is our aim to engage our parents, carers, and our wider community in sustainability and climate change.