Bourn Geography
The geography curriculum at Bourn is based on the National Curriculum, with a very definite local flavour. Children start in the early years looking at their immediate environment and use maps of the Nature Reserve to identify where different features are. Throughout Key Stage 1, children learn about the local environment of the school and the village and they begin to compare villages to the nearby town of Cambourne and city of Cambridge. There are lots of opportunities to get out and about in Cambridgeshire. The photo above shows Year 6 children in Bourn Brook, taking measurements of water depth. When learning about different parts of our country and other European countries, we compare and contract with what we know locally, for instance how Cambridgeshire compares with the Lake District and a ski resort in the Alps. Children learn to use maps, atlases, globes and compasses, which they use in orienteering activities.
Physical features of the world are studied, and links are made with science wherever appropriate. Throughout the curriculum, we identify the impact of mankind on the world, specifically through the theme of water, oceans and polar ice caps.
The curriculum also covers routes and journeys, from that of Ernest Shackleton to the journeys taken by people from Jamaica to the UK on the Windrush. We study parts of the world which help give other areas of the curriculum helpful context, for instance, the study of Jamaica helps children better understand the difference in lives for those who settled in the UK from Jamaica.
All geography units follow the Big Question format, with teaching specifically designed to enable children to answer the question with facts and opinions at the end of each unit.
