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Geography
BackCourse Description
Throughout their time at Gaynes, students will study a range of topics at a local, national, regional and global scale to broaden their knowledge and understanding of different places and issues in the world. Geography equips students with several transferable skills that they can use in other subjects and later in life. Students will consolidate and extend their knowledge of the world’s major countries and their physical and human features. They will understand how geographical processes interact to create distinctive human and physical landscapes that change over time. In doing so, they will become aware of increasingly complex geographical systems in the world around them. They will develop greater competence in using geographical knowledge, approaches and concepts, such as models and theories, and geographical skills in analysing and interpreting different data sources. In this way students will continue to enrich their locational knowledge and spatial and environmental understanding.
A core aim is that students will not only think like a geographer but they will communicate like a geographer with specific geographical information in a variety of different ways. We aim for pupils to be able to interpret, discuss and argue using an array of different sources of geographical information, along with varied techniques and understandings, including map work, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and interactive computer systems, e.g. Geographical Information Systems (GIS). This will allow students to access, apply and advance their numerical and quantitative skills, along with qualitative analysis and writing in depth.
Our expectations
One of the core ideas held within geography is the idea of ‘enquiry based learning’. As such, we expect all students to:
- Be inquisitive about the world around us; after all, everything that was and will ever be is in some way interrelated to geography.
- Be willing to question ideas; the subject is ever-evolving, it is a science in a physical and human sense. Furthermore, we can learn more from our mistakes and from each other so it is right to question what might be perceived as the norm.
Keep up-to-date and read about geographical events in the news; we are all members of the global landscape and the world around us is ever-changing politically, physically, socially and economically, and this is supported in students’ geographical learning.
KS3
Curriculum Overview
| Term | Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 |
| Autumn 1 | Where I live | Brazil | Development |
| Autumn 2 | Weather and Climate | Sustainable Living | The Middle East |
| Spring 1 | India | Africa | The Middle East |
| Spring 2 | Extreme Environments | Tectonic Hazards | Our Living World |
| Summer 1 | Rivers and Flooding | China | UK Landscape |
| Summer 2 | Tourism |
Geographical and fieldwork skills |
UK Economy |
KS4
Course Overview
Students at GCSE follow the AQA GCSE Geography Course:
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/geography/gcse/geography-8035
| Physical | Human | Paper 3 |
|---|---|---|
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Assessment components
Geography is assessed through three exams sat in the Summer of Year 11:
Paper 1 – Living with the physical environment (35%, 1hr 30min exam):
The physical component of the assessment looking at the natural world and how it is shaped.
- Natural Hazards
- The Living World
- UK landscapes
Paper 2 – Challenges in the human environment (35%, 1hr 30min exam)
The human development aspects of geography:
- Urban Issues and Challenges
- The Changing Economic World
- The Challenge of Resource Management
- Water Management
Paper 3 – Geographical applications (30%, 1hr 15min exam)
- Issue Evaluation - Pre Release Booklet (Seen resource distributed in March of Year 11)
- Fieldwork
Main activities
Lessons will feature the learning of the content required for the above assessments, with spiral learning applied to allow students to learn through reengagement and continue to build on skills within. Lessons will be driven by discussion with questioning encouraged by students, ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ being key in the process.
A core foundation is the idea of place, a knowledge of where places are and how they differ at local national and global scales. Throughout their studies students will become familiar with GCSE-style questions to supplement their learning and prepare them for the rigorous type of questioning in the new 9-1 specification GCSEs.
Why you should consider this subject for GCSE
Geography has been cited multiple times by the Guardian newspaper as the ‘must have’ subject in both employability and developing critical thinkers. It’s no surprise considering today’s social, economic, environmental and political climates; there are a plethora of current local and more global issues. Simply put, every aspect of these issues will boil down to geography and how we apply ourselves to make a positive difference. We will need the geographers of the future, to help us understand these issues, but also, to be at the forefront in the combat of them.
Future Careers
Geography is useful for a wide-range of careers, including being a/an: Cartographer, Commercial/residential surveyor, Environmental consultant, Geographical information systems officer, Planning and development surveyor, Secondary school teacher, Town planner, International aid/development worker, Landscape architect, Logistics and distribution manager, Market researcher, Nature conservation officer, Sustainability consultant, Tourism officer, Transport planner.
GCSE Results 2022
Congratulations to the Year 11 Students on achieving 89% 9-4
GCSE Results 2021
Congratulations to the Year 11 students on achieving 90.9% grades 9-4.
Extra Curricular / Clubs
Geography drop in interventions
KS3 run on Tuesdays at lunch time
KS4 run on Thursdays at lunch and Fridays afterschool.
