Curriculum Intent and Rationale
Our intent for the curriculum is to promote the vitally important role that Geography plays in enabling students to understand the ever-changing world around them. Geography has taken on an even more important role given the challenges that their and future generations face from major processes, including climate change, globalisation and other wider changes to society and the economy.
The Key Stage 3 Geography curriculum has been designed as a springboard, not just towards further study at GCSE and A level, but also to aid our students in their journey to becoming well-rounded adults, who are informed and empathetic global and local citizens. Knowledge, application and skills are at the core of our curriculum. We will support the students to develop core skills required for good scholarship, transferable and cross-curricular skills and skills in the use of information technology and data/resource analysis and interpretation through the curriculum content and how it is delivered.
By covering a wide range of topics in a sensitive manner, we intend that the curriculum reflects important changes in society and reflects the needs of our diverse school community. By tackling difficult issues, students will also have the opportunity to discuss and debate social, moral, cultural and spiritual questions.
Our aspiration is to deliver a curriculum which fosters genuine curiosity about the world in our students about the world around them and to give them the skills and confidence to develop into self-reliant and independent learners. We will set high standards and aspirational targets whilst ensuring that the needs of all learners are supported inside and outside of the classroom.
Studying Geography has many applications and is becoming increasingly important in the realms of engineering, epidemiology and all spheres relating to climate change. In terms of university, studying geography supports applications across the Arts and Sciences. Geographers are fantastically employable and many opportunities exist including in the media, journalism, management, law and finance.
Implementing our curriculum
Key Stage 3
At Key Stage 3 we follow a programme of study based on the National Curriculum. The design has been carefully considered to take students on a learning journey across the breadth that Geography has to offer. As a result, in Year 7 students study topics including maps skills, the geography of the British Isles and coasts. The focus in this year is to build on knowledge and skills gained at Key Stage 2, drawing on examples from the UK to develop understanding of the country they live in. This is then taken on a stage further in Year 8 with many units focusing on the wider world. As such topics such as globalisation, development and climate change are taught to develop greater understanding of how the world is connected. Year 9 is then used to focus on a student’s place in the world through studying topics, such as biomes and energy consumption, to develop their sense of being global citizens and to inspire them to consider how they might shape their own world in the future.
Throughout Key Stage 3 skills are developed alongside the knowledge that students gain. By the end of this Key Stage, students will be well on their way to being skilled in critically analysing data in a range of formats (tables, graphs, maps, etc), being able to construct logical arguments and to assess complex and challenging issues from different perspectives.
Key Stage 4
Specification: Edexcel B
Building on the foundations established at Key Stage 3, students follow the Edexcel B course. This course is followed as it prepares students well, not only for their public examinations, but also for their future lives by teaching them about a broad range of topics relevant to the world around them. Not only do students learn about challenges, such as tectonic hazards, tropical storms and climate change, but also those facing society at large, including those relating to development and the patterns of urbanisation around the world. This course helps create rounded students with a breadth of knowledge and strong cross-curricular links to many subjects (including the Sciences). Alongside developing their knowledge and understanding, the course teaches students many skills in terms of analysis and application, such as being able to interpret data in varying formats to construct well-reasoned judgements. Students also have the opportunity to learn outside the classroom through partaking in fieldwork opportunities in north Wales and Birmingham.
Key Stage 5
Specification: Edexcel
At A level, we follow the Edexcel specification, which enables students to further deepen their understanding of the complex and dynamic world around them. Through studying on this course, students gain a deeper understanding of how places and landscapes are formed, how people and the environment interact, and how a huge range of economies, societies and environments are interconnected. This is achieved through studying a diverse range of units, ranging from superpowers and regenerating places through to coastal landscapes and change and the water cycle and water insecurity.
Geography builds on students’ own experiences to investigate places at all scales from personal to global. Alongside this, the course builds many skills. A key focus of this course is critical thinking and the ability to reach well-argued and substantiated judgements. Students learn to think spatially and use maps, images and new technologies. Through geography, students explore their own place in the world, their values and their responsibilities to others, the environment and to the sustainability of the planet. Students also develop their independent organisational skills in the completion of their NEA assessments. A level Geography provides the foundations for many students to undertake undergraduate study in Geography and related disciplines.