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 for every unit. One is very much formative and targets a particular skill such as working with sources or extended writing. The other is a recall assessment, used to encourage knowledge acquisition and identify any areas that need reinforcing.
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. This is addition to mock papers in years 10 and 11.
Personal Development and Cultural Capital in Geography
Every Friday after school, we 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 – Cambridge to investigate urban zone characteristics
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, we offer a foreign visit to investigate a range of themes in a more relaxed manner with the aim of inspiring pupils about the amazing world around them. This is open to Years 10 upwards.
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: Mr. H. Cushion, B.Sc. (Hons), N.T.T.S (Head of Year 12)
Email: hcushion followed by @ng6.unity-ed.uk
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: Mrs. K. Grieve, B.A. (Hons), P.G.C.E
Email: kgrieve followed by @ng6.unity-ed.uk
Other Staff: Miss. V. Whittaker, B.Sc. (Hons), P.G.C.E.
Email: vwhittaker followed by @ng6.unity-ed.uk
