Welcome to the Geography Department

Introduction

Geography is a subject dedicated to study of the lands, the features, the people, and the phenomena of the Earth. The aim of the Geography department is to help our students understand the changing world around them. We want our students to develop the skills they need to help them in doing this.

Geography is now taught for two (50 Minute) lessons in Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9. At KS4, Geography is taught for three lessons a week, over Year 10 and Year 11. Geography is taught in mixed ability groups. There are two field trips at KS4. An Urban Geography field trip takes place in the middle of Year 10 and Physical Geography field trip takes place at the start of Year 11. At KS3, Y8 go on a field trip to Malham in the Yorkshire Dales. A residential trip to Iceland is also offered to GCSE Geography students and then to other students. The nature of Geography means that the content of schemes of work and lesson plans are updated and changed regularly, so that we are able to react quickly to significant world events. We aim to provide our pupils with a rich, varied and engaging curriculum.

Year 7 pupils begin the year with an introductory unit called Fantastic Places. They then do a unit that focuses on the Map Skills they need to be successful in Geography. The third unit is about plastics and its effects on our oceans. Then they will do work on Urbanisation in the context of the North West of England. They will then work on units of work about Water Resources. This is followed by a unit about Globalisation, which will be a recurring theme throughout their experience of Geography at St Peter’s. Introductions to Global Warming, and River Landforms finish off Y7 but will be studied at a more challenging level later on in school.

Year 8 start the year with a unit studying Earthquake Hazards, part of which includes an assessment relating to a recent earthquake. Other units they study include China, Russia, Weather & Climate, and a final unit about Limestone Scenery in the North of England (which forms the basis for their main field trip in KS3).

Year 9 begin the year with a unit that includes a mixture of lessons & topics about Africa and Development, which includes a focus on Nigeria. They then study a unit about UK Landscapes, specifically about Coasts, which includes a detailed study of the Jurassic Coast in the South of England. Finally there is a unit about Tourism which includes further opportunities for practising some of the skills needed at KS4.

At KS4, Geography is a subject students can opt to take. Geography is a successful and popular subject at KS4. There are three lessons a week for GCSE. Students in Y10 and Y11 follow the new GCSE AQA Geography. This includes units about ‘The Challenge of Natural Hazards’, ‘Physical Landscapes in the UK’, ‘The Changing Economic World’. ‘The Living World’, ‘The Challenge of Resource management’ and ‘Urban Issues & Challenges’. There is no Controlled Assessment in the new syllabus, but there is instead a third exam paper about field work skills and also includes a problem solving/ decision making exercise.

The department offers a variety of extra-curricular activities including a four day trip to Iceland. As previously mentioned, the main field trip the department runs is a day trip to Malham in the Yorkshire Dales in Year 8. At KS4 field work takes place in Manchester & Liverpool, Rivington and sometimes also in Derbyshire,. There are though further opportunities to take part in fieldwork such as trips to the Lake District and a residential trip to Dorset.

Staff permanently in the Geography Department are:

Mr M Makin (HoD)

Mrs D Harvey

Ms S Wade

KEY STAGE 3 CURRICULUM MAP

Assessments

KEY STAGE 4 CURRICULUM MAP

Assessments

Updated: Jan 2020