Geography

Head of Faculty

Mr Lee Bradbury

Subject Leader

Miss Emma Adams

Vision

To create and sustain powerful Geographical learning. We aim to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world, whilst engaging a knowledge and critical approach to how global processes influence people and places. 

Disciplinary Concepts

• Place and Identity
• Scale and Interconnection
• Physical Systems
• Representation
• Risk
• Sustainability

Big Questions

• What is Geography?
• How do physical and human interconnections construct place?
• Why do people, resources, and ideas move?
• How has the earth been transformed by human action?
• Why is global wealth unevenly distributed?
• How will climate change affect the world?
• How have plate tectonics shaped the world we live in today?

Curriculum Content

Key Stage 3

Year 7           

How does Geography shape the UK? Exploring how the UK's Physical Geography has come to shape our people and places. Why do we migrate? Examining causes behind migration and evaluating representations of migrants in the UK. What is weather? Explaining the atmospheric systems which cause our weather patterns. Do we live on a hazardous Earth? Assessing tectonic plate movements and their impacts through Earthquakes. How do we use natural resources? Evaluating local to global use of resources and how we can approach sustainable systems. Do we live in an uneven world? Overcoming representations of rich versus poor to examine inequality.   

Year 8            

What shapes our coast? A study of the physical systems that shape our coast and the human intervention which seek to combat them. Globalisation: Where does our money go when we spend it? Evaluating the causes and impacts of globalisation and economic interconnection through following the global movement of ‘The Almighty Dollar’. How is our climate changing? An analysis of the causes, consequences, and futures of Climate Change. Who are the emerging 'Superpowers'? An evaluation of the BRIC nations and their key human processes driving a new global role. Is water an unlimited resource? Examining the emergence of water insecurity in multiple contexts to evaluate human versus physical causes. How does a river change as it travels towards the sea? Understanding the key physical systems which drive fluvial processes and their consequences. 

Year 9

Is disaster a choice? An analysis of how humans construct disaster beyond the consequences of natural hazard, through study of volcanoes. Is our understanding of the world wrong? Evaluating global perceptions of development and causes of misconceptions through Hans Rosling’s Factfulness. Middle of what, East of where? Examining representations of the Middle East, alongside the human and physical processes which drive the region today. Why are forests under threat? Exploring human influence on the rainforest and the impact of our actions at a distance. Are changing places a blessing or a curse? An examination of how ‘Changing Place’ alters sense of place and identity for communities. What drives energy transition? Assessing the multiple approaches which must be taken to energy transition across environmental, socio-economic and political contexts, comparing Bristol in the UK to Cape Town in South Africa.

Key Stage 4: Edexcel GCSE Geography (Paper Codes 1GB0/01, 1GB0/02, 1GB0/03)

Paper 1: Global Geographical Issues

Topic 1: Hazardous Earth

Topic 2: Development dynamics

Topic 3: Challenges of an urbanising world

 

Paper 2: UK Geographical Issues

Topic 4: The UK’s evolving physical landscape – including sub-topics:

4A: Coastal change and conflict

4B: River processes and pressures

Topic 5: The UK’s evolving human landscape – including a Case Study – Dynamic UK cities

Topic 6: Geographical Investigations – including one physical fieldwork investigation and one human fieldwork investigation linked to Topics 4 and 5.

 

Paper 3: People and Environmental Issues – Making Geographical Decisions

Topic 7: People and the Biosphere

Topic 8: Forests under threat

Topic 9: Consuming energy resources

 

Key Stage 5: Edexcel A level Geography (Paper Codes 9GE0/01, 9GE0/02, 9GE0/03)

Paper 1

Topic 1: Tectonic Processes and Hazards

Topic 2: Landscape Systems, Processes and Change including 2B Coastal Landscapes and Change

Topic 5: The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity

Topic 6: The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security

 

Paper 2

Topic 3: Globalisation

Topic 4: Shaping Places including 4A Regenerating Places

Topic 7: Superpowers

Topic 8: Global Development and Connections including 8A Human Rights and Intervention

 

Paper 3

A thematic paper containing synoptic interpretation of:

Players

Attitudes and actions

Futures and uncertainties

 

Non-examination assessment: Independent Investigation

Students will produce an investigation report based upon independent fieldwork related to any aspect of geography contained within the specification.