Geography
Key Stage 3
The emphasis in Years 7 and 8 is on gaining a good grounding in all aspects of Geography with the ultimate aim of continuing to raise attainment and preparing students for Key Stage 4. Our new Year 7 students will be some of the first to sample the new style Key Stage 3 course, which looks to give students increased locational knowledge of world geography as well as longer, enquiry based topics such as rainforests and global issues. All of our topics have a key question that will be answered in an assessment.
Year 7
In Year 7 students are set on ability and they have two, one hour lessons per week. Currently these lessons follow a set structure which builds the students knowledge as we go through the year. Our current topics for Year 7 are How safe is our local area?, How is the landscape in the UK shaped?, The Uk – land of opportunity or challenge?, How can weather be extreme?, Volcanoes- a benefit or a curse? and What are the challenges and opportunities in Kenya? These are a mixture of physical and human topics and test a range of geographical skills.
Students in Year 7 will also complete a piece of fieldwork around school in the topic How safe is our local area?
Year 8
In Year 8 students are set on ability and also have two one hour lessons per week. As in Year 7, students build their knowledge of both physical and human geography and build on the skills learnt in Year 7. Our current topics for Year 8 are should we preserve our rainforests?, Is globalisation taking over?, How does ice change the world?, How can global issues change our lives? And where would you like to visit?
Students in Year 8 will also will also complete a piece of fieldwork outside of the school site.
Key Stage 4
At GCSE students study the AQA A Geography course which is now 100% examination. Students must sit two examinations on the content of our 3 year GCSE course including the following topics, Coasts, Challenge of resource management, rivers, the changing economic world and the challenge of natural hazards. During the course students must also complete two pieces of fieldwork in the local area that will be assessed in a third examination at the end of Year 11.
Key Stage 4 Courses Offered
Level 2 Qualification |
Exam Board |
Link to Website and specification |
---|---|---|
Geography |
AQA |
http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/geography/gcse/geography-8035 |
Extra Curricular Activities
The Geography department currently offers catch up and intervention to GCSE students on a Tuesday (Y11) and Thursday (Y9 and 10).
Useful Links
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/11_16/site/geography.shtml
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/z2f3cdm – Bitesize revision guide
- http://www.georesources.co.uk/ – resources for topics
- http://www.geographyalltheway.com/ks3_geography.htm
- http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/
- http://www.memrise.com/ – case study revision