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Years 7-11 Students

GEOGRAPHY

Curriculum Overview

A balanced and challenging world-class curriculum provides an insight into the current climate of the world and its everchanging landscape through classroom and field-based learning. Students are encouraged to think deeply, critically and curiously developing powerful knowledge and becoming an expert learner in geography.

In curriculum-making, ‘it is important to pay special attention to the big ideas’1, this brings coherence and makes learning more efficient. Our curriculum has been designed to enable students to engage in a narrative with what we consider to be Geography’s core principles (Figure 1), which permeate throughout the taught themes alongside the application of geographical skills with the ultimate goal of students achieving their ‘personal best’.

Geography Core Principles

Figure 1: Geography Core Principles

Each key stage has been carefully considered so that there is a progression of knowledge and understanding throughout the IGS Geography curriculum. Each Key Stage should engage and enthuse students whilst preparing them for their next step in education.

Outstanding geography brings the real world, with all its excitement, complexity and challenges, into the classroom. It also takes students and teachers out of the classroom!2 Overall students will leave as global citizens able to participate and lead in learning communities and make a difference to the world around them.

The core principles are interwoven throughout the Geography curriculum which has been designed around six themes at Key Stage 3, with students visiting the themes in each year of Key Stage 3. The curriculum map at Key Stage 3 is illustrated in Figure 2, showing how the themes are build upon prior learning, increasing in complexity and difficulty to enable progression and preparation for GCSE.

Geography KS3 Curriculum Map

Figure 2: KS3 Geography Curriculum Map

Our Dynamic World

Students arrive at IGS with different experiences at Key Stage 2, so we start by students considering Our Dynamic World theme and investigating Our Place in the World, which not only considers the contemporary situation of the Earth but also places us in a historical context of the Earth. The core idea behind this theme is the world is changing and a complex entity so in Year 8, students investigate Russia and the role of Climate Change in shaping the planet we live on. The development from Year 7 to Year 8 is that Climate Change is arguably the most important physical/ environmental contemporary situation of change when considered against the historical dynamic changes studied in Year 7 and that Russia is a controlling nation is the changing human/ political world. Moving into Year 9 students consider some of the worlds most contemporary and contentious issues in the world today and how geography is fundamental to this. The areas studied are of greater complexity and require a higher level of maturity to consider all arguments surrounding the topics covered such as palm oil and the geographical impacts of conflict in the Middle East.

Our Local World

Geography is about the study of the Earth and that should take place at a variety of scales, one of the core concepts. Therefore, it is important to consider the geography immediately around us. This also enables students to make connections between the ideas investigated within the classroom and their own lived experience. The theme involves comparisons on a global scale, for example in Year 7, students compare and contrast Ilkley and Kenya so that they develop a deeper understanding of the world in which we live as they can make greater links to their personal geography. The progression through this topic shows range of different geographical knowledge, considering the local human and physical geography with focus on the Yorkshire Dales National Park in Year 8 and Life in Bradford in Year 9.

Our Natural World

Physical Geography is a fundamental component of the overall study of the Earth. The natural world is the basis for the planet and has significant influence upon humans and their activities. It is therefore an essential theme to study. In Year7 students consider the Weather & Climate which are the driving forces behind the natural world and determine many of the natural phenomena seen. From this foundation students then consider different ecosystems and wilderness areas in both Year 8 and 9.

Our Urban World

Human Geography is the other primary component of the curriculum and covers the progression of people and place. Students investigate changes in population and the factors that determine growth and movement of people. From this, students see the development of modern urban areas and the opportunities and challenges that are created is megacities and how urban centres can be made more sustainable. The Year 9 aspect is combined with the Local World theme and students will be able to apply their existing knowledge and consider the issues in their nearest city,

Our Unequal World

The core principle of ‘development’ is integral to this theme and the progression of knowledge throughout this theme allows students to gain a greater understanding of the modern world. Initially in Year 7 students understand the spectrum of development and how countries are at various places along the continuum. Students use this knowledge in Year 8 to see how variations in development are manifested in the inequality of resources and the impact this has on populations. Year 9 provides students with an insight into the complexity of global development and how all places are interconnected.

Our Dangerous World

Geography would not be complete without considering the natural hazards that exist and their inter-relationship with humans and the built environment. Knowledge is built incrementally throughout this theme when considering plate tectonics, with earthquakes in Year 7, volcanoes in Year 8 and tsunamis in Year 9. This is so that core ideas can be revisited and also to reduce confusion between them. In the first two years of Key Stage 3, students also consider flooding and wildfires respectively. The variation in frequency and scale of these hazards when compared to those in a tectonic setting allow students to develop their skills of analysis and to consider more carefully how we determine if a hazard becomes a disaster.

GCSE

The AQA specification has been chosen as it follows the core principles that develop further so that they have the skills and experience to progress onto A-Level and beyond. The course is exciting and has a balanced framework of physical and human themes and investigates the links between them. There is a varied range of case studies from within the UK, HICs, NEEs and LICs. Through this course students are encouraged to understand their role in society, by considering different viewpoints, values and attitudes. There are also a range of geographical skills that are covered that benefit the students beyond their Geography classroom. Students are taught in alternating ‘Human’ and ‘Physical’ topics as this offers variation of content whilst developing long-term memory retention.

A-Level

The requirements of young adults was the main consideration when choosing the A-Level specification. It was to be challenging and prepare students for whatever path they would wish to follow after completing their studies. The AQA course offered this as it had been designed to provide students with the knowledge, skills and enthusiasm sought by higher education and employers. The contemporary course offered the range of topics that engages students and is of relevance in today’s world. All students complete their Independent Investigation on a topic of their choosing after undertaking a wide range of fieldwork experiences and techniques. The topics taught to students in Year 12 enable students the greatest option for their investigation.

Outstanding geography brings the real world, with all its excitement, complexity and challenges, into the classroom. It also takes students and teachers out of the classroom! (www.geography.org/uk)


Further Information:

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