Geography Curriculum
“Geography explains the past, illuminates the present and prepares us for the future. What could be more important than that?” MICHAEL PALIN
Rationale:
At Sacred Heart we inspire students to open their eyes to the Geography around them in everyday life. We want all of our students to become global citizens and realise that small, local actions can have big global impacts. The subject of Geography is much more than just maps. We want students to appreciate physical landscapes and natural beauty, we want students to care about the world and investigate the issues our world is experiencing.
Intent:
Throughout their time at Sacred Heart pupils will start to ‘Think like a Geographer’. We will encourage pupils to develop skills which will enable them to critically analyse information and form opinions. We make our Geography lessons as engaging as possible for all our students and offer a broad curriculum allowing pupils to learn about the natural world and how powerful nature can be.
At Key Stage 4, the intention is to support pupils in further developing the skills acquired at Key Stage 3 so that they are able to form and present detailed geographical arguments and justifications in areas such as the cause, effects and responses of geographical events on a local, national and global scale.
Implementation:
As Geography is all about the world around us, we aim to take our students out on field trips as much as possible so they can see and experience real life examples. At KS3 field work opportunities include investigating Redcar, visits to Danby Moor centre, microclimate investigations and coastal fieldwork. Content is delivered as discrete topics that build on prior knowledge gained through key stage 1 and 2 and previous key stage 3 topics. All topics in key stage 3 have an element of geographical and mathematical skills built into them. This is to prepare them for the demands of the GCSE course. The course is structured to provide pupils with key geographical vocabulary and is taught through engaging content from the outset, starting with and building upon prior knowledge of map skills, a topic which students will use throughout their geography lessons in KS3 and KS4 as the cornerstone of the subject.
Overview of Content:
In Year 7 pupils study the difference between human and physical geography, how we are all global citizens, rivers, Africa, investigating Redcar and dangerous places.
In Year 8 pupils learn about The USA, plate tectonics, trade, energy, The Middle East and the weather.
In Year 9 pupils learn about coasts, The Lake District, water wars, Asia, Ecosystems and hot deserts.
At GCSE we are currently following the AQA specification for Year 10 and Year 11 pupils.
In Year 10 pupils learn about Tectonics, Tropical storms and climate change, Rio, London, Coasts and conduct field work in Redcar and Whitby
In Year 11 pupils learn about Resource management and food, Nigeria, UK, Rivers, Pre-release
Fieldwork is such an important part of this subject. We have opportunities for each year group to experience Geography outside of the classroom and to practice the skills they have acquired.
- Year 10- 2 pieces of fieldwork in Redcar and Whitby
Key Assessment Objectives:
- AO1: Demonstrate knowledge of locations, places, processes, environments and different scales.
- AO2: Demonstrate geographical understanding of: concepts and how they are used in relation to places, environments and processes; the interrelationships between places, environments and processes.
- AO3: Apply knowledge and understanding to interpret, analyse and evaluate geographical information and issues to make judgements.
- AO4: Select, adapt and use a variety of skills and techniques to investigate questions and issues and communicate findings.
Impact:
Pupils will develop the ability to analyse and evaluate like a geographer and benefit pupils as these skills are transferable to other areas of the curriculum. They will possess a deeper understanding of how key geographical events and processes have changed, and are changing the world around us. This will secure a love of geographical learning and generate an interest in additional geographical events. The study of Geography will enable pupils to identify issues in the current geographical climate and pressing environmental issues that will impact their generation. Our pupils will develop their critical thinking and be able to justify their ideas with the use of written word, a skill set that is essential to support them in further studies or in future employment that they should undertake
Please click here for the link:
