Geography
Vision of the Geography Curriculum
Studying geography helps us to have an awareness of a place. All places and spaces have a history behind them, shaped by humans, earth, and climate. Geography gives a meaning and awareness to places and spaces. Our curriculum offers our students a diverse and enriching educational experience that equips them with the skills, knowledge and understanding for their future careers and aspirations they may have.
| Why is Geography important? | Studying geography helps us to have an awareness of a place. All places and spaces have a history behind them, shaped by humans, earth, and climate. Geography gives a meaning and awareness to places and spaces. Our curriculum offers our students adiverse and enriching educational experience that equips them with the skills, knowledge and understanding for their future careers and aspirations they may have. |
| What is the value of Geography within the curriculum and in everyday life? | Teaching our subject equips our learners with knowledge about the diversity of places, people, and resources, natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Geography illustrates the past, explains the present and prepares us for the future. |
| How does Geography reinforce the Alsop values of Knowledge Respect and Opportunity? |
As our learners progress, their growing knowledge about the world helps them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Our curriculum tackles challenging concepts that enrich the students’ values, roles and responsibilities creating a caring and educated global citizen. This includes tackling misconceptions and ideas on migration and other cultures, their direct and indirect link to climate change and destruction to the natural habitat as well as understanding the political and social issues around the world, just to name a few. |
| How does Geography build on the foundations laid at KS2? |
As pupils progress through the school, their growing knowledge about the world helps them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical andhuman processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge and skills are progressive and are sequenced to provide the framework and approaches that provide explanation of how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time. |
| How does Geography support reading? |
In geography, we use various case studies and examples, both in human and physical geography allowing students to have many opportunities to develop their reading skills and develop their range of vocabulary and comprehension. This is done through the study of various places, for example the impact of a volcanic eruption in LICs and HICs or LICs to how fair trade has improved the quality of life for people in LICs. Reading is completed both in lesson and outside the classroom through the use of news articles, GA extracts, approved internet sites and other various methods. To aid their development of complex and diverse vocabulary, every lesson incorporates the Frayer Model. |
| How does Geography challenge all learners? |
In geography, we teach from the top down. This approach allows all students to feelchallenged but at the same time achieve and even exceed their potential. Throughout our curriculum, we cover a wide range of concepts, some more challenging than others, however, there is always a level of expectation for all students to attempt each element and at the same time develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. |
| How is Geography inclusive for all learners? |
In geography, it is a teach from the top down approach. This naturally lends itself to our subject becoming an inclusive one. Where students struggle to acquire new knowledge or apply their understanding, scaffolding strategies are implemented allowing all students to access the same broad and diverse curriculum. Some examples of scaffolding in geography includes chunking information to reduce cognitive overload, bugging questions to allow students to focus on what the question is asking and modelling answers. Scaffolding and other supportive methods are gradually reduced throughout the topics studied and through each key stage to encourage students to become more independent and confident in their studies. |
| What role does assessment play in Geography? |
Our subject is exam based at KS4 and at KS5 it has both exam based and non-exam based assessment. Students are exposed to various exam-based questions and through our whole class feedback, students are presented with opportunities to improve and develop their responses. To check students’ understanding, they have opportunities to apply their knowledge to KIPs, which take the form as MCQ, extended responses, and exam questions. |
| How are British values interwoven into the Geography curriculum? |
Our curriculum tackles challenging concepts that enrich the students British values throughout their experience of geography. This includes tackling misconceptions and ideas on migration and other cultures, their direct and indirect link to climate change and destruction to the natural habitat as well as understanding the political and social issues around the world, just to name a few. Through the study of geography, we encourage the mutual respect for tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, and for those without faiths. |
| How is SMSC interwoven into the Geography curriculum |
Our curriculum tackles challenging concepts that enrich the students SMSC development throughout their experience of geography. This includes tackling various misconceptions, which give many opportunities to reflect on their morals and ethics interms of what is right and wrong. The areas we study in geography consider many aspects including location, development level, culture and the human and physical environment. Some examples we study in geography to enrich SMSC include migration, equality and rights, the impact of globalisation, climate change, tourism and many other areas of geography. |
| How is cultural capital interwoven into the Geography curriculum |
Geography often adds to our students’ cultural capital as it exams a plethora of cultures, places, human and natural environments. Geography incorporates a vast range of case study examples to add to their cultural capital. In geography, we believe studies various parts of the world widens our students’ knowledge and understanding of others cultures to become more responsible and inclusive global citizens. |
Facilities
The faculty has four classrooms, one of which is an ICT suite. All classrooms have interactive whiteboards. The Faculty are developing interest in e-learning through the use of ICT.
Future Careers
Geography is relevant to careers in media, tourism, local government, teaching, the armed forces, planning...the list is endless!
Useful Websites
The following websites are useful to all pupils studying geography. You can either have a general look through them or use them when you have been set a specific piece of work by your teacher.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world...
www.geography.learnontheinternet.co.uk/
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/teens
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/
www.mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/
http://geography-site.co.uk/pages/links.html
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