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Introduction

Geography is a subject dedicated to the study of the lands, the features, the people, and the phenomena of the Earth. The Geography department aims 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 taught for the equivalent of 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 a 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 can 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 Plastic & Pollution. They then do a unit that focuses on the Map Skills they need to be successful in Geography. The third unit is an introduction to Global Warming. They then study urbanisation and sustainable cities. They will then study a unit about Water Resources. Finally, Year 7 will study a unit about Globalisation. These units are designed to provide a good foundation for the rest of KS3 Geography and beyond.

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, Weather & Climate, and a penultimate unit about Limestone Scenery in the North of England (which forms the basis for their main field trip in KS3). The last unit they study is Russia.

Year 9 begin the year with a unit that includes a mixture of lessons & topics about Development. The second unit is a study of rainforests and deserts around the world. Then there are units about Geographical Issues making the news and tourism.

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 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 this syllabus, but there is instead a third exam paper about fieldwork 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 to learn about tourism in Bowness and, sometimes, a residential trip to Dorset.

 

Staff permanently in the Geography Department are:

Mr M Makin (HoD)

Mrs D Harvey

Ms S Wade

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KEY STAGE 3 CURRICULUM MAP

YEAR 7

Introduction to Geography	Plastics	Map Skills	Global Warming	Urbanisation	Water	Fashion and Globalisation
Introduction to Geography	What is the plastic problem? Plastic in our oceans How can we fix the plastics problem?	Continents and Oceans Latitude and Longitude Grid References Direction, Distance,  Symbols & contours Scale and distance	Global Warming- an introduction Global Warming- Causes. Global Warming- effects Responses to Global Warming	What is Urbanisation? Why live in cities? Megacities Life in the slums A city of the future?	How does the water cycle work? How much water do we use/need? Where is all the water? A World without water Do we all have a right to water? Who owns the World’s water? Where has the Aral sea gone?	The Global fashion industry The Nike operation Why go global A fashion victim Is globalisation a good thing? Against globalisation

 

YEAR 8

Earthquake and volcano Hazards	China	Weather in Europe	Limestone Landscapes in England	Russia
What is our Earth-like? Why do we get earthquakes and volcanoes? Where do earthquakes and volcanoes occur? What is an earthquake? What are the effects of earthquakes? Why did so many die in the 2010 Haiti earthquake? Comparing the effects of earthquakes in poor and rich countries What to do in an earthquake. Tsunamis	What do we know about China? China’s physical features History of China Where do people live? How is China developing? How is China linked with the rest of the World? How sustainable is China’s 3 Gorges dam? Dogtan Ecocity One Child Policy	Weather and Climate How can we measure the weather? Britain’s climate How does it rain? Anticyclones Depressions	Weathering & Erosion Limestone landscapes in England- an introduction Where are the upland and lowland areas in England? Why is limestone special? What are typical limestone features? Why should we protect the limestone areas of the Yorkshire Dales? (Fieldwork Summative Assessment)	Russia - an introduction Physical features of Russia Russia’s climate Russia’s population Rural vs urban Russia Russia’s natural resources Chernobyl Russia and conflict

 

YEAR 9

Africa’s Changing Economic Development	Ecosystems - Deserts and Rainforests	Geographical Issues	Tourism
How do holidays connect us to Africa? What is development? Ways of measuring development DTM Formative 1 HDI Development Gap Solutions- closing the development gap. Formative 2 Trade & Aid Tourism used to close the development gap. Why do people move - Kenya Squatter Settlements Improving squatter settlements	World Biomes and climate zones Layers and adaption Deforestation Management Ecotourism Rainforest Tribes Deserts Animal adaptations People in the desert	Introduction to Global Issues Mexico to USA migration Environmental Issues Energy Supply North sea oil Sustainable energy futures Sustainable energy example	What is the tourist industry? What problems does it cause? What causes conflict in tourism? Tourism example in  UK National Parks Tourism example – outside the UK Sustainable tourism Tourism fieldwork

 

Assessments

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 7	Plastics Pollution	Map skills	Global Warming	Sustainable Urban areas	Water Resources	Global Fashion
Year 8	Earthquakes	Hazards Test	China Test	Weather	Limestone Landscapes	Russia
Year 9	Measuring Development	Development Unit Test	Deserts and Rainforests Test	Geographical Issues Test Question	Tourism	Tourism fieldwork

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KEY STAGE 4 CURRICULUM MAP

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 10	The Challenge of Natural Hazards- Tectonic Hazards.	The Challenge of Natural Hazards- Weather Hazards & Climate Change.	Urban Issues and Challenges- Urban Change& A UK City Case Study; Human Geography Fieldwork	Urban Issues and Challenges-; A LIC City Case Study; Sustainable Urban Living.	Physical Landscapes in the UK- Coasts	Physical Landscapes in the UK- Rivers.
Year 11	Physical Geography Fieldwork. Changing Economic World- Economic Development; The Development Gap	Changing Economic World- A Case Study of a LIC/NEE; Economic Futures in The UK.	The Living World- Ecosystems - A Case Study of a Hot Desert & a Case Study of a Tropical Rainforest.	The Challenge of Resource Management- Focusing on Water.	Issue Evaluation & Revision.

 

Assessments

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 10	Earthquakes Test	Atmospheric Hazards and Climate Change Test	Fieldwork Assessment	Challenges in Urban Environment Test	Y10 Exam	Coasts Test
Year 11	Fieldwork Assessment; Rivers Test	Mock Exams	Changing Economic World Test	Mock Exam (2) Deserts/ Rainforests Test

Updated: Aug 2022