Geography

Intent

Our aim is to provide high quality geography education for all our students; that inspires in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Our teaching will equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources, and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. This will provide Cultural Capital for students. By ensuring the individual can succeed academically and engage in wider society.

Pupils will develop a wide variety of skills. Many of these are transferable – supporting subjects across curriculum and students with careers Post 16;

Locational knowledge.
Awareness of places around the world – providing individuals the opportunity to understand diverse cultures and faiths.
Map and atlas skills.
Graphical skills.
Numerical skills.
Interpret data.
Comparisons skills.
Field work skills – collecting data, analysing data, and presenting information.
Problem solving.
Setting goals.
Reflecting on success.
Identifying where improvements can be made.

Implementation

KS3 – Core Year 9

In year 9, we follow earlier learning at KS2/3. The focus is providing students with ‘snap shots’ into a variety of Geography topics providing students with a broad basis in a variety of topics. Please see Curriculum Maps for more details.

Maps
Weather and Climate
Rivers
Coasts
Population
Development

Year 10 and 11

At the beginning of Year 10, if students choose Geography GCSE as one of their option subjects, we move to looking at the geography content in more detail. Please see Curriculum Maps for more details.

The Challenge of Natural Hazards - including tectonic hazards, weather hazards, climate change and extreme weather in the UK
The Living World – including a study into ecosystems and the rainforests.
Physical Landscapes – including the UKs relief, river, and coastal landscapes.
Urban Issues and Challenges - including urban change in the UK.
The Changing Economic world - including development and a study of a Newly Emerging Economy, i.e., Nigeria.
The Challenges of Resource Management - including food, water, and energy management.

Field work will be incorporated throughout the years of study, finishing with a full day's field trip in Year 11 to prepare students for their final GCSE exam.

All lessons will be carefully planned, well-structured and show a clear direction in progress. Geography will be taught enthusiastically, with a variety of imaginative, creative, well-paced lessons to suit all needs and catch everyone’s imagination.

At the beginning of each topic students will look through the Knowledge Map for the topic. This gives an overview of the topic studied, Geography skills that will be used, key questions to consider, key spellings identified and key terminology that can be linked with a student’s CV/personal statement.

Student’s will be provided clear objective every lesson and will be encouraged to reflected upon these objectives and their own learning. This will give them the opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning.

Impact

A variety of assessment techniques will be used throughout the year to check understanding. Formative, in class assessment (quizzes, classwork, discussions and questioning) will take place to ensure pupils understanding and support planning of lessons. Students will also have summative assessment with baseline assessments, end of unit assessments, peer assessment and mock exams.

Resources

BBC Bitesize – https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/zy3ptyc An excellent resource which students can find topics they would like to revise.

Documentaries/TV programmes

BBC iPlayer – a day in the life of earth

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0001vjc/a-day-in-the-life-of-earth

BBC iPlayer – a perfect planet

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p08xc32c/a-perfect-planet-series-1-5-humans

David Attenborough – lots of documentaries available but the Witness Statement ‘A life on this planet’ is particularly good.

Films

The impossible – based on a true story about a tsunami in Thailand.

Day after tomorrow – not a true story, but fun.

Twister – a classic film which looks a team of people who chase tornadoes in America.

San Andreas – a bit ‘showy’ and not a true story, but there is a fault line that runs along the west coast of America.

News

Always good to keep an eye on current affairs. BBC news or Sky news are good places to start and are free to look at online. Following something on social media can be a good idea to keep up to date.