Geography

Key Stage 3

Key Stage 3 Course Content

Year 7: 1. Diverse UK – Location.  2. Diverse UK – Landscapes.  3. Antarctica. 4. Energy and Climate Change 5. Australia. 6. Rivers and Fieldwork.

Year 8: 1. Weather and Climate. 2.Biomes. 3. Development and Africa. 4.Cold Environments. 5. Sustainable Beaumont. 6. Resource Insecurity.

Year 9: 1. Plate Tectonics. 2. Urban Fieldwork 3a. Asian Cities. 3b. The Middle East. 4.Climate Change. 5. Superpowers.

Key Skills developed: map work skills, fieldwork enquiry techniques, spatial awareness through a study of place, application of key concepts, presentation and organisation, GIS mapping and Information Technology.

Assessment

Assessment is both formal and informal for each topic, covering the full range of skills.

Key Stage 4

We study the Edexcel B GCSE specification.  This includes looking at Global Geographical issues, UK Geographical issues and people and environmental issues.

Assessment

The GCSE is a linear course and assessment takes place at the end of Year 11 in the form of three written examinations.  There is both formal and informal assessment throughout the course, including end of unit tests for each topic. The course requires all students to complete 2 days of field work. One of these takes place at the end of Year 10, the other at the beginning of Year 11. This includes one day studying a coastal region (Walton-on-the-Naze) and on day studying an urban area (Stratford, East London).

Key Stage 5

We study the Edexcel ‘A’ level specification.  This includes both physical and human elements, including hazard risk, globalisation, diverse places, superpowers, migration and sovereignty water and coasts.

Assessment

Assessment takes place in the form of regularly marked essays and exam questions with an (internally set) end of Year 12 exam and the final three written ‘A’ level exams at the end of Year 13. Students’ final marks also incorporate a piece of independent fieldwork to be written up formally and submitted to the exam board.

Extra-curricular enrichment

The Geography Department offers both day and residential fieldtrips to all year groups.  In Year 7 we visit the River Lea in Wheathampsted for our river study; in Years 8 and 9, our studies are based locally in St Albans; in Year 10, we offer a trip to the Olympic Park in Stratford as part of the Human fieldwork and in Year 11 we visit Walton on the Naze for the Physical fieldwork element of the GCSE.  In Year 12, we take students to Swanage in Dorset and in recent years we have offered trips to Iceland and Sicily.

Stretch & Challenge

Where can Geography take you?  We have a significant number of students who go on to study Geography at university each year.  Amongst those that took this path over the last few years, students went to Birmingham University, Sheffield University, Exeter University and Leeds University.  Other students have successfully applied for Geography related degrees, such as international development, Urban Planning and Geology.  Geography is a broad subject which has been identified by the Russell Group of Universities as a ‘facilitating subject’ which may lead to you having a much wider choice of options when applying for university.

How parents can support their child’s learning

Parents can help at home by checking the student planner each week to be aware of home learning and end of unit tests.  All tasks can be enhanced by extra research and reading using the library links and recent newspapers and internet reading.  We encourage independent research during lessons and this should be encouraged at home.

Useful links

KS3:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zrw76sg

KS4:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/examspecs/zsytxsg

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/geography-b-2016.html

KS5:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/geography-2016.html

To see the frequently asked questions, please click here