The geography curriculum teaches an understanding of places and environments. It covers a wide range of aspects of both human and physical geography. Geography helps children learn about and appreciate their local environment, and compare this to other regions in the U.K. and the rest of the world. This ranges from studying weather patterns, climate, housing, careers, the economy and travel, to name a few.

Throughout their time at Putnoe Primary, pupils are encouraged to develop their locational knowledge and recognise key features of our globe. They will establish an understanding of differences between human and physical features. They are also taught to use skills in collecting information, such as map reading, creating graphs and identifying features through photographs.

The world as we know it has changed. The impact that COVID-19 has had on our planet is huge. It has affected the world of geography in more ways than we may even realise. For this reason, we have looked at ways in which our current Geography units can be adapted to accommodate this. There are lots of big questions which must now be factored into geography planning, such as:

• How has a decrease in air traffic affected climate change?
• Have towns changed much as a result of hospitality and retail industries closing?
• How have tourist towns been affected as a result of lockdowns and due to people holidaying more in their own country?

These all reflect key issues which can be addressed through an adapted geography curriculum.

Pupil voice will be particularly valuable in these new times, as the children themselves are living through this global pandemic. Drawing on pupil voice to support learning will hopefully make this adapted curriculum even more tangible to the children as it is something they can now relate to in more real terms.