Geography

We aspire to make Geography a fun and inspiring environment, which encourages students to take an interest in the world around them.

The KS3 curriculum is designed to engage students whilst preparing them from the earliest opportunity for GCSE.

In Year 7 students study an initial module which introduces them to Geography and to some crucial geographical skills, particularly relating to maps. They then move on to study development, which is always one of their favourite modules. This gives them an insight in to life in other countries and opens their eyes to the idea that there is so much diversity in the world. They will then study a practical module relating to coasts which encourages them to make decisions and think about the impact of events. They finally study a module on geographical skills which uses data collection within the classroom to introduce them to the idea of fieldwork.

In Year 8 students begin by looking at a topical module relating to the changing population of the world and the impact of this in a variety of areas. They then study weather and climate which includes looking at extreme weather events. They then complete a module about ecosystems, where they are introduced to a range of ecosystems and their main characteristics.Β Β They finally study a module on geographical skills which uses data collection within the classroom to re enforce with them to the idea of fieldwork.

In Year 9 the students are studying GCSE content and a key idea is to study case studies in depth so that these can be better understood at GCSE level. They begin by studying in depth two biomes; the tropical rain forest and the coral reefs. Following on from this and linking in to some of the ideas already studied they complete a module based around climate change and sustainability. This is a very topical module that is constantly changing and which often opens up fierce debate. They then move on to study globalisation and the decreasing importance of distance as technology advances.

We have recently introduced a field trip for Year 9 and 10 to Barcelona. This will run in February 2019 and is something we will look to make in to annual addition to our enrichment activities.

In Years 10 and 11 the students study the new OCR A Geographical Themes GCSE Specification. This course is 100% exam based and consists of three exams which are sat at the end of Year 11.

The 9 – 1 grading system is used for exams. The papers are;

Living in the UK today (Paper 1 worth 30%) – Landscapes of the UK, people of the UK and UK environmental challenges. This paper focuses totally on the UK and ties together all elements of Geography. It covers traditional geography as well as contemporary issues such as the prevalence of heart disease, the low life expectancy of women in Manchester and the inequality in access to broadband. The topic is brought to life by a range of case studies which include, The River Tees, The Jurassic Coast, Leeds, Salford Quays and The Somerset Levels Floods.

The world around us (Paper 2 worth 30%) – Ecosystems of the planet, people of the planet, environmental threats to our planet. This paper mirrors the themes of paper 1 but this time in a global context. Students always enjoy the ecosystems topic, in which they study in depth the Amazon Rainforest and the Andros Barrier Reef. The contemporary issues here include the sale of profitable farm land in the case study of Ethiopia as well as the prevalence of drug and gang violence in the Argentinian city of Rosario.

Geographical Skills (Paper 3 worth 40%) – This paper assesses geographical skills and will assess the outcomes of two contrasting field trips which are a compulsory part of the course. It will also synoptically access elements from the other two papers. We will go out on at least two field visits as part of this module. This will include visiting a river and a regenerated urban area.

Geographical skills will be embedded throughout the course and will be assessed on all 3 exam papers. Literacy is crucial to the course and all of the exam papers have marks that are available for Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar