Geography

“Geography is the subject which holds the key to our future" Michael Palin

About the Department

The Geography department is led by Mrs. F Smith.
Mrs. L Ogden and Mrs. E Davison are the other subject specialists.

Geography is very relevant to help young people make sense of a complex and dynamically changing world. It is about how the world was formed, how it is changing and how we impact on it.

It is our aim that our curriculum will inspire and develop a curiosity in our students about the world around us, encouraging them to have a responsible attitude towards our world and have a love of learning. We aim to enable our learners to ‘think like a Geographer’, to be confident to understand and ask questions about the world around them and become lifelong learners.
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Through their Geography studies, our students will develop a range of important and transferable skills, for example, developing an argument, mapping and numeracy, communication through presentation and interpretation skills that will support them in other curriculum areas and in later life.

Key Stage 3 Geography

In Years 7-9 in Geography, students should be building on their knowledge of the world’s major countries, including their physical and human features. Additionally they will develop an understanding of how geographical processes work to create the distinctive landscapes of our world and how they change over time.

The Geography curriculum at KS3 covers a variety of topics. These include:

Physical Geography:

Geological timescales and plate tectonics, weather and climate, glaciation, rivers and coasts.

Human Geography:

The UK – our home region, Population and urbanisation, Asia, Africa and Global warming and climate change.

Field work (working outside the classroom) is an integral part of the learning in Geography and trips out of school extend the learning that takes place in the classroom.

Assessment:

The work completed by the students will be assessed in a number of ways; teacher, self and peer assessed. Work set can take many different forms including written work, presentations, model making and more.

“Geography prepares for the world of work – geographers, with their skills of analysis are highly employable!”

Key Stage 4 Geography

The GCSE course:

At Key Stage 4 the students who continue with their studies in Geography will follow the AQA GCSE Geography specification.
Studying this subject will help you to develop a range of important skills. Many of these are transferable which means the skills you use in your studies will make you of potential interest to a wide range of employers.

This linear course is assessed through 3 written exam papers:

  • Paper 1: Living with the physical environment (35%) – 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment (35 %) – 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Paper 3: Geographical applications (30%) – 1 hour 15 minutes

In preparation for papers 1 and 2, students will study a range of Physical and Human Geography topics, including: Natural hazards (Tectonic, Weather, Climate), Ecosystems, Coastal and River landscapes, Urban environments and their challenges, Food/Energy/Water Resource Management, Global Development Gap, Economic Development and Quality of Life Issues.

Paper 3 is a combination of issue evaluations and the examination of geographical skills and fieldwork.
Fieldwork is a compulsory element of the GCSE course and the data collected, techniques and methods used will be examined.
Pre-release resources will be made available 12 weeks prior to the examination for the issue evaluation section.

Assessment:

In lessons students are assessed through the work they produce. This can be teacher, self and peer assessed. Homework and classwork can take many forms including written work, group work and presentations. End of topic examinations are carried out to assess progress against the GCSE criteria.

Geographers enjoying Iceland!

The Geography Department aspires to make sure that the curriculum experienced across the key stages is engaging, relevant and has a positive impact on every student. We hope that our students will continue to have a sense of awe and wonder about the world in which they live and continue their learning journey.