Geography
Vision Statement​:
The Geography department is passionate about the world and its people. Our aim is to inspire students to become every-day Geographers who have a fascination about the world.
We want our students to not just enjoy learning about Geography in the classroom, but to have a curiosity that motivates them to investigate it in their daily lives.
Staffing and Roles:
| Mrs Knab | Head of EBacc Humanities |
|---|---|
| Mrs MacAulay | Assistant Headteacher |
| Mrs Nottingham | Geography Teacher |
Curriculum in detail - KS3
At Key Stage 3 (years 7 & 8) students study a range of topics to develop an understanding and awareness of diverse places around the world and develop an understanding about the Earth’s human and physical processes at work. We aim to get our students outside as much as possible - this is either by collecting field work data on site or on day trips out.
| Year | Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Deserts | Tectonic Hazards (volcanoes) | Glaciation with maps skills | Rivers with map skills (Infiltration Enquiry) | Population (Whitchurch Fieldwork) | International Development |
| 8 | Tropical Rainforests | Coasts with map skills | Tectonic Hazards (earthquakes) | Weather Hazards (Micro-climate fieldwork) | Climate Change |
Energy (fieldwork) |
Key Stage 3 Reading List
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news
- https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/subjects/zrw76sg
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround
Curriculum in detail - GCSE
We teach the AQA GCSE syllabus over three years (year 9-11), during this time we prepare our students for the following exams:
| Paper | Paper 1: Living with the physical environment | Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment | Paper 3: Geographical Applications |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topics Covered |
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| Exam Information |
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| % of the GCSE | 35% | 35% | 30% |
Key Stage 4 Reading List
Ross, R., Rowles N., Holmes D. and Digby B. GCSE Geography AQA. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
CPG. GCSE AQA Geography For the Grade 9-1 Course. The Revision Guide.
GCSE specifications
- Exam board: AQA
- Specification at a glance: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/geography/gcse/geography-8035/specification-at-a-glance
- Specimen and past papers with the appropriate mark schemes are available from the AQA website pages: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/geography/gcse/geography-8035/assessment-resources?f.Resource+type%7C6=Question+papers
Resources to support my child
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CPG revision guides, workbooks, and flash cards: ensure you purchase the correct specification for your child – check the course specific information above. Opportunities to buy revision guides through the school are regularly available to students and their parents.
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BBC Bitesize: ensure that students use the content aimed at the correct level – KS3 for Y7 and Y8, GCSE (AQA) for Y9, Y10, Y11.
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Senecalearning.com: ensure that students add the correct courses when registering for Seneca (AQA: Geography GCSE). Class teachers can provide students with a class code which will enable students to join their class, adding the relevant courses automatically, giving teachers the ability to monitor the time spent revising on Seneca by each student.
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GCSEpod: students have access to hundreds of podcasts on GCSEpod which they can use to further their revision of GCSE topics. The Geography department will share specific playlists on different topics which will be useful for student’s revision, but students are also encouraged to use the site independently to aid their revision.
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Revision resources on TCS SharePoint and Teams (GCSE Students): students will need to use their school ICT username and password to access TCS SharePoint and Teams.
How can I support my child at home?
- Encourage your child to read around the subject - looking at articles in the news or reading interesting articles from publications such as National Geographic or Geographical magazine are a great way for students to develop their understanding of geography.
- Encourage your child to watch geographical documentaries and the news – this is a great way for your child to widen their breadth of knowledge and understanding of places, people and geographical processes.
- Ensure your child is using their revision materials (e.g. revision guide, knowledge organisers, flash cards, mind maps) to prepare for unit tests and exams.
- Check they are doing their homework, ask to see it.
- Check they understand the definitions of important key words and know how to spell them.
- Encourage the weekly production of mind maps or revision cards, and completion of practice exam questions.
- Students should make use of mark schemes to check any practice papers or exam questions they have completed so that they can identify where they have gained and lost marks - a great deal can be gained from unpicking questions and understanding what marks are awarded for.
Extra-curricular activities
Trips
Sorrento, Italy
A group of year 11 geographers visited Sorrento during October half term 2017. During our visit we had an exciting walk up Vesuvius in the fog, saw the effects of the 79 AD eruption by visiting Pompeii and Herculaneum and travelled along the Amalfi coast looking at the beautiful scenery and coastal features. The students also learnt how to make pizzas and got to taste their creations!
Field Trips
During year 9, 10 and 11 students will go on two compulsory field trips to collect data for their paper 3 exam. Last year, year 10 went to Southampton for their human fieldwork and Hengistbury Head for their physical fieldwork.
We hope to offer more local trips in the coming years for key stage 3.
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Further information
For more details, please contact Miss Freemantle, Head of Humanities, at: b.freemantle@tesbourne.school.
