At the end of Year 13, an A-level Geographer should have the knowledge and skills needed to be able to analyse complex unseen sources and put together sophisticated arguments about a range of global debates.
Our curriculum is designed to build from a focus on specific concepts and core skills, that can be evidenced through local and national-scale case studies. From this foundation, it gradually increases in complexity and range. In each year, the key areas of human systems, physical systems, environmental challenges and core investigative skills are revisited in a more sophisticated way, taking in examples at a wider scale.
geography curriculum map
year 7 – my place
year 7 – microclimates
year 7 – coasts
year 7 – deserts
year 7 – energy
year 8 – cities
year 8 – rivers
year 8 – population
year 8 – volcanoes
year 8 – earthquakes
year 9 – development
year 9 – weather & hurricanes
year 9 – megacities
year 9 – glaciation
year 9 – climate change
gcse – urban issues
gcse – changing the ecomonic world
gcse – the living world
gcse – challenge natural hazzards
gcse – resource management
gcse – physical uk landscapes
Working Independently
Below are a number of links to resources available to support independent learning:
Assessment in Geography
Assessment is used primarily to aid learning. At key stage three pupils can expect ongoing assessment in lessons via oral feedback and questioning. Every lesson will have some knowledge assessment based on what has been taught in each unit so far. There are also assessments against key performance indicators every half term.
At GCSE there are formative assessments, using past questions, every 2-3 weeks and a formal end-of-unit assessment for each of the 6 topics. We also ask pupils 5 key knowledge questions every lesson. Each half term we also use quiz-style vocabulary tests as a learning exercise.
Personal Development and Cultural Capital in Geography
Every Tuesday lunchtime, we run an intervention session in Computing 4 for GCSE pupils, especially those that are struggling with some aspect of the course.
Every Wednesday after school, we also run a revision session for GCSE pupils. This is primarily aimed at Year 11 but others are welcome.
We run an educational visit for every year group. We aim to build up fieldwork skills for both human and physical geography. We also aim to give pupils the opportunity to learn outside the classroom whilst carrying out specific investigations.
Year 7 – Cromer to study sea defences.
Year 8 – London science museum to study plate tectonics and geology.
Year 9 – Sheringham to study the impact of tourism
Year 10 – Cambridge to investigate how well cities cater for their users.
Year 11 – Winterton on Sea to investigate the impact that humans have on sand dunes.
Every other year, in October, we travel to Iceland for 4-5 days to investigate this remarkable country, its tectonic history, land forms and the adaptations people make. This is open to Years 10 and 11.
Who Teaches Geography
Head of Department: Dr. A. Barrett, PhD, P.G.C.E.
Email: abarrett followed by @ng6.unity-ed.uk
Dr Barrett has a BA Combined Studies from Manchester University, an MA in Latin-American Studies from Liverpool University and a PhD in History from Keele University. He has been an examiner since 2003 for AQA and Edexcel. Dr Barrett is also the co-author (with Chris Harrison) of Crime and Punishment in England: a sourcebook, UCL Press, 1999.
Other Staff: Mrs. S. Ellis, B.Sc. (Hons), Q.T.S.
Email: sellis followed by @ng6.unity-ed.uk
Mrs Ellis holds a Diploma in Biology, as well as a B.SC , which she studied with the Open University. She really enjoyed the units on tectonics, ecology, evolution and oceanography. She has also taught Environmental Studies at DSFC.
Other Staff: Mr. W. Lennard,
Email: wlennard followed by @ng6.unity-ed.uk
