Geography

Students start close to home thinking about the city we live in and then broaden our understanding to include studying countries such as South Africa, Russia and China.

Within our study of countries, we look at how the country has developed and consider how people work and live there. We also consider the potential future changes of cities in the world with growing demands for resources and the growing population.

We consider how rivers and seas shape our landscape and how they provide opportunities and threats to the humans who live close to them. When looking at oceans, students will also consider the threats that humans pose to our oceans, the ecosystems within them and the anthropogenic causes of rising sea levels.

We study the physical processes that create our weather and climate and then think about how they affect people. Over KS3, students will develop a key understanding on the interrelation between human and physical processes and the changes they make on the planet. Our students develop skills that will allow them to move successfully into Geography GCSE as well as support them in other subjects.

Students study AQA GCSE geography.

The course is split into three sections; ‘Living with the Physical Environment’ and ‘Challenges in the Human Environment’, and ‘Geographical Applications’.

In the Physical Environment, students study natural hazards, thinking about the causes and impact of hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanoes. Students consider how the UK is also affected by extreme weather systems and how we cope with these. The course then explores how landscapes are created and changed by rivers and coasts. They also look at ecosystems both locally and globally.

Throughout the course we consider the future of the landscapes, environments and the planet and how sustainable our actions are.

As we move into the Living with Human Environment modules we explore employment across the world and look at how it is changing, we study how our cities develop and are changing over time as well as consider the issues that are challenging people who live in them. Within this section we also consider the resources that are available on our planet including water, food and energy.

We discover how the resources are exploited and shared across the world and consider the issues surrounding sustainability and distribution. We look at how human’s interactions can lead to consequences with the economic and environmental sustainability of the planet.

Towards the end of the GCSE course, students will study a pre-release information booklet linking to the topics throughout the GCSE and they develop skills which allow them to analyse sources and develop discussions around geographical debates. They also participate in fieldwork, developing skills around data collection, presentation and analysis.