Geography

The Geography and Travel & Tourism Department aims to create students who are aware of the world around them today, and become responsible global citizens who will look after the world of tomorrow.

Our aims are met through a study of the main geographical concepts of: place, space, scale, cultural understanding and diversity, physical and human processes, environmental interaction and sustainable development and the interdependence of our world.  Students are able to interact with this information in the classroom through a variety of topics and styles of teaching.

Our assessments and lesson activities allow students to increase their teamwork skills, independence, creativity, and their ability to become self-managers and reflective learners.  Students become effective participators in individual and group presentations, they use GIS (Geographical Information Systems) and a variety of computer programmes, films, booklets, as well as music, 3-D models and role play to display their understanding.  Decision making is a key skill taught within lessons as students are asked to decide on the best options for future developments to create more sustainable environments. We also encourage students' enquiry skills so that they can investigate and interpret the world around them through their own investigations.  Students are actively encouraged to empathise with other people’s views different from their own.

Key Stage 3

Our aim is to instil a sense of awe and wonder of the world in which we live, and to introduce students to major geographical concepts and processes. Students are encouraged to understand the geography they experience in their everyday lives and to be able to use this as a comparison in understanding new spaces and places. Students are encouraged to be creative, to show their understanding and to develop their own enquiry skills.  Fieldwork is an integral part of geographical education and there are numerous opportunities provided for work both within and beyond the school grounds.

The topics studied are:

Year 7

  • Becoming a Geography Detective
  • Mapping my World
  • Where in the world am I?
  • Wild weather
  • 1 in 7 billion
  • Climate Change

Year 8

  • Coasts
  • It’s Not Fair
  • Water world
  • A place called home
  • Earth Shattering (joint visit to the Natural History Museum with the Science Department)
  • Rural vs Urban Life
Key Stage 4

Geography

We build upon the knowledge and basic understanding of concepts in Key Stage 3 and we study both human and physical geography in more depth, as well as improving key skills of fieldwork investigation for controlled assessment and decision making.  At GCSE we study Edexcel Syllabus B.  We currently only teach GCSE Geography as an immersion subject with students completing the course in one year, although in future years we are also looking to expand to offer a three year course.

Autumn Term

  • Unit 1 – Dynamic Planet – Introductory topics - Restless Earth, Climate and Change, Water World, Battle for the Biosphere.  In-depth topics - Oceans on the Edge and Coastal Change and Conflict.
  • Unit 4 – Researching Geography (fieldwork visit to Christchurch Bay)

Spring Term

  • Unit 4 – completing controlled assessment
  • Unit 2 – People and the Planet – Introductory topics – Population Dynamics, Consuming Resources, Living Spaces, Making a Living.  In-depth topics – Changing Cities/Countryside, Development Dilemmas/World at Work

Summer Term

  • Unit 3 – Making Geographical Decisions

Travel and Tourism

Edexcel BTEC First in Travel and Tourism is taught as an immersion subject to Years 9 & 10. Here students study the UK travel and tourism industry and learn how to have good customer service skills, plan holidays, conduct their own research and create an in-depth portfolio of evidence. Lessons and assessment takes the form of role plays, displays, videos, presentations - group and individual, brochures and documentation.  Students are encouraged to be creative and use a variety of computer programmes.  The course is offered at Certificate Level (1 x GCSE A*-C Grade equivalent), and Extended Certificate Level (2 x GCSE A*-C Grade equivalent). This allows the course to be differentiated to meet the needs of the individual students in the group. This course allows students to progress to Level 3 in Key Stage 5.