Geography

Welcome to the Kingsmead School Geography Department.

In Key Stage 4 we study Edexcel ‘B’ GCSE Geography 9-1

CURRICULUM INTENT/AIMS OF THIS SUBJECT

Our intent is for students to have an awareness of the world around them, to build confidence and understanding with geographical concepts. To know and understand how the human and physical worlds interact. To become global citizens, to care for the planet and have an understanding of the concept of sustainability.

The curriculum is planned to develop skills which are examined at GCSE, through KS3 topics- Map skills, Trivium, My local area, UK Human and Physical Geography, Coasts, Tectonics, Asia, Climate Change, Risky Places, Our Human Planet, Rivers and India. If students complete their geography education in Year 8 and not opt for the GCSE we would hope they would have some knowledge from these topics studied in Year 7 and 8 and have gained some geographical skills (Skill 1: Demonstrating knowledge of places and processes and environments at different scales; Skill 2: Remembering and understanding geographical information about places/ processes and the relationships between them; Skill 3: To be able to make judgements using real geographical information about issues and problems; Skills 4: Use geographical skills, e.g. map reading, using data etc, to investigate issues and communicate your findings).

By the end of Year 11, we aim for all students to be able to sit the Edexcel ‘B’ GCSE, which comprises 3 exams: Unit 1 is Global Geography, Unit 2 is UK Geography and Fieldwork,  Unit 3 is Environmental Issues.

We would hope to develop their independent learning skills, fieldwork skills and ability to write projects. Many skills in our subject are transferable to employment- communication, research, problem solving, and many aspects of our course content relate to the real world e.g: UK employment and industry, earthquake and hazard management, sustainable cities, globalisation etc.

We provide many off-site enrichment opportunities for both Key Stages, e.g: Year 10 students complete two off site visits for Fieldwork studies, and a Year 11 day visit to London. There is also local fieldwork to Wiveliscombe in Year 7, and a possible Rivers trip in Year 8 (TBA) and use the school grounds to explore geography as well. 

SUMMARY OF LEARNING AT KS4 and KS4

The curriculum is planned and sequenced so that there is clear progression in knowledge, understanding, and skills from Year 7 into Year 11. In 2018 the department completely re-wrote the KS3 curriculum and before this, starting in 2015, re-wrote the entire KS4 curriculum to meet the demands of the new 9-1 GCSE.

We have taken the GCSE assessment objectives and created ‘skills’ which we now use and assess within work and assessments at KS3, so that students are developing these, which are requirements of the GCSE. The topics at KS3 have taken key aspects and important knowledge from the GCSE ones, so that students have some awareness and understanding before embarking on Year 9.

The department regularly updates SoL and resources. There is a clear SoL and resources for every lesson from Year 7-11. 

Students have tracking sheets in Year 7 and 8 and one tracking booklet for their whole GCSE. They record feedback and note down which skills they did well in and which still need development. This encourages them to reflect on their previous assessments with the aim of improving the next.

Students also receive PLC and evaluation sheets for each GCSE topic to track their progress from start to end, but also to aid revision for mocks in Year 11 and for summer exams.

SUMMARY OF TRIPS AND VISITS

In Year 7 student complete a local area study and visit the local town of Wiveliscombe to complete a land use survey of the area.

In Year 8 students use the local stream to conduct a river investigation. We also use the school grounds in Year 7 and 8 to conduct lessons.

In Year 10 (Winter) we take the cohort to Bristol to conduct the first of two fieldwork trips. Here they study various levels of urban deprivation and conduct environmental quality surveys and other research.

Late in Year 10, or sometimes very early in Year 11, students conduct their second piece of fieldwork, this time a river study on Exmoor.

Finally, in the Spring of Year 11 students are offered an optional day trip visit to London to visit the East End, Newham, Stratford and the Olympic Village, and the Canary Wharf area too. This is to help embed the London topic, which is a key case study within their GCSE.

We are also hoping to offer further fieldtrips to Year 8 and a possible trip abroad in the near future.

Sequence of Learning in Geography

This is a summary of the topics studied in Geography at Kingsmead School:

This is a summary of the topics studied in Geography at Kingsmead School: 

Top Websites 

For additional learning and revision in this subject, see these websites:  

1. Kerboodle- Your ONLINE textbook and resources hub to help you with extra learning and content – you will receive a log in when you start the course in Year 9!
2. BBC Bitesize- Great for mini quizzes, lots of revision notes and videos.
3. Seneca Learning- Great at revisiting content and multiple choice quizzes
4. The Geography pages on Firefly- particularly at the department’s Twitter feed is on here, packed full of up-to-date an relevant information about geography in the ‘real’ world! 

Geography Progress Overviews
These are designed to outline the progression of Geography based learning within each year group. They make clear the skills, understanding and knowledge within each category of our language for learning.