We value the views of our pupils and hold termly informal chats with groups of pupils from Year 1-Year 6 to hear what they think about each subject. Each half term we see a different group of children so that we get opinions and ideas from throughout the school.
May 2026
This half term we spent time speaking with children across Years 1–6, many shared how much they enjoy Geography and the wide range of learning experiences it offers. A common theme across all year groups was a real enthusiasm for learning about different countries and cultures, with pupils expressing how much they enjoy exploring the wider world and developing their understanding of places beyond their immediate environment.
Children spoke confidently about how Geography helps them to understand the world around them, including how environments change over time and the importance of looking after our planet. Many pupils showed a growing awareness of environmental issues, explaining how their learning encourages them to think about sustainability and how they can play a role in caring for the Earth.
Pupils also highlighted the value of first-hand experiences, particularly school trips, which they described as exciting opportunities to bring their classroom learning to life. These experiences help deepen their understanding of both human and physical geography, allowing them to make meaningful connections between what they learn in school and the real world.
Across the school, children recognised the importance of using a range of geographical tools and resources to support their learning. Many spoke about using digital mapping tools such as Google Maps to explore locations, as well as developing practical fieldwork and map-reading skills. Pupils in different year groups confidently discussed using compasses, learning about direction, and understanding coordinates, showing clear progression in their geographical knowledge and skills.
In addition, children reflected on how Geography supports their personal development. They explained how learning about different places and communities helps them to become more respectful, open-minded and considerate of others around the world. This links closely to the school’s aim of developing responsible, global citizens.
Overall, the children described Geography as an engaging and enjoyable subject that allows them to explore, question and discover. Their responses reflect the school’s Geography curriculum, which is designed to build curiosity, develop key skills such as map reading and fieldwork, and deepen understanding of both human and physical processes.
February 2024
We had a mix of History and Geography questions to explore during our Pupil Voice session. We started by exploring what the children would like to learn about History and Geography and we will look to implement some of these ideas in themed weeks/ days across the curriculum. See the ideas that children suggested using the link below. We then had plenty of discussions around the key questions highlighted below. Some year groups explored History or Geography, and some year groups responded to both depending on what they had covered so far this year.
Click the linked image below to explore some of our pupil responses.
October 2023
Prior Knowledge
During this pupil voice session, we focussed on prior knowledge. We discussed what it meant and then I asked the pupils questions such as 'What do you remember learning about in History/ Geography last year?' and 'Can you go into detail about something you learnt last year?'.
Most of the children were able to articulate areas of study (units/ eras), but they were less able to go into detail about facts and knowledge learnt. After prompting them with specific events or people from a particular era, children we able to go into some detail. This showed that children had an awareness of what made History and what made Geography study, but that we need to address retention of knowledge going forward. This is part of the action plan for History and Geography with us exploring things like formative assessment, quizzing, and regular revisiting (flashback 4s).
Results of the session can be seen my clicking the image below.
Spring 2023
We used this session to gauge what pupils opinions of the subject were, and I used a questionnaire/ pupil discussions throughout to allow pupils to share their honest opinions with each other and with me. Children were enthusiastic about what they had learnt, and they could articulate clearly about previous topics already covered.
The children expressed their views about what they enjoyed, what helps them, and what vocabulary they can recall from their learning on previous topics. It was promising to see a lot of detail across the range of topics taught. Vocabulary will be a big focus for us moving from Spring to Summer term, as we intend on placing more of an emphasis on this within our planning and teaching.
As is clear above, the children also commented on resources that could be used to help them. Mr. Franklin has placed an order for additional resources for use in classrooms to help learning within the classroom. The school intend on investing in history timelines throughout the school to help support children in and out of the classroom.
Example of Year 5 Feedback
Example of Year 1 Feedback:
We finished the session by discussing what the children would most like to learn about if they were given the choice. It was reassuring to see that comments made by children were already topics we had as part of our curriculum offer. Mr. Franklin will use these to inform curriculum development going into the Summer term, as we intend on placing a greater emphasis on pupil choice within our History/ Geography planning. See notes on these below:
Autumn 2022
First, we discussed the question 'What is Geography?' and we collected our thoughts and ideas using Menti Meter on our iPads. We gathered these together on the board and read them aloud. Please see our collection of thoughts recorded by clicking the link here.
We created a word cloud using all of the words that we associate with Geography.
We finished by sharing our progress and the pieces of work we were most proud of across the year groups.
