Geography

Head of Geography  
Geography Teachers Miss C Booth, Mrs Moir-Smith and Mr Storey
Support Mrs C Salter

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The Geography department’s mission statement:

“To deliver a Geography education that allows all young people to understand their place within the world and to explore their interactions with both the physical and human realms now, and in the future.”

The Geography department ethos

The Geography department at Chelmer Valley High School utilises a variety of teaching and learning approaches to deliver a high-quality geography education. We strive to deliver a dynamic and diverse curriculum to all students which is inclusive, accessible and enjoyable.

The subject of Geography inspires curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that can remain with students for the rest of their lives. Geography equips students with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

As students progress, their growing knowledge about the world helps them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments. Geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide the framework and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.

We recognise the important of learning inside and outside the classroom, therefore conduct a range of fieldwork in local and distant and contrasting locations. We incorporate the use of ICT in the learning of Geography, and make use of cross-curricular links with English, Maths, Science, Citizenship and more.

Key Stage Three

Key Stage 3

KS3 Geography is all about developing students’ sense of ‘awe and wonder’ about a variety of places, develop an understanding of key geographical processes and practice the implementation of a range of geographical skills. Our KS3 curriculum is designed to be comprehensive, engaging and diverse in order to prepare students for further study in Geography.

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Subject Content

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Geographical skills and geography of the UK

 

Fantastic Places: Antarctica

 

Development, trade and globalisation

 

Fantastic Places: Mount Everest

 

Weather and climate

Population

 

 

Fantastic Places: Iceland

 

Rivers

 

Fantastic Places: Russia

 

Climate change

 

Hazards

 

Fantastic Places: Middle East

 

Coasts

 

Issue evaluation: Tropical rainforests

 

 

Fieldwork at KS3 takes place in the local area and on the school site. The aim of fieldwork at KS3 is to encourage students to consider the different stages of a geographical enquiry.

Assessments

At KS3, assessments take place at the end of each topic. Assessments come in a variety of formats so that they remain challenging but reliable in measuring the progress of all students.

Key Stage Four

Key Stage 4

Geography is a popular and well-respected GCSE at Chelmer Valley. We currently study the AQA GCSE Geography specification.

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This specification enables a variety of teaching and learning approaches, making the course exciting and relevant. Students study a balanced framework of physical and human geography themes and investigates the link between them. Students will travel the world from their classroom, exploring case studies in the United Kingdom, higher income countries (HICs), newly emerging economies (NEEs) and lower income countries (LICs). Students are also encouraged to understand their role in society, by considering different viewpoints, values and attitudes.

Subject content

At GCSE Geography students will study the following topics:

Living with the physical environment

Challenges in the human environment

Geographical applications and skills

  • The challenge of natural hazards
  • The living world
  • Physical landscapes in the UK
  • Urban issues and challenges
  • The changing economic world
  • The challenge of resource management
  • Issue evaluation
  • Fieldwork
  • Geographical skills

 

The Issue evaluation is based around a resource booklet released 12 weeks prior to the exam. It will be based on a specification content and will allow students to apply knowledge and understanding and demonstrate geographical skills

Fieldwork is a vital compulsory component of the course, as students need to undertake two geographical enquiries. In an exam students will be assessed on their ability to analyse and evaluate geographical enquires and to show their understanding of fieldwork skills and techniques.

At present, we offer a 3 day residential field trip to the Peak District, where we carry out both physical and human geography investigations. The trip usually costs in the region of £150, dependent on student numbers and other external factors.

 

Assessments

Students are assessed at the end of the course by three examinations:

Paper 1: Living with the physical environment

1 hour 30 minutes

35% of GCSE

Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment

1 hour 30 minutes

35% of GCSE

Paper 3: Geographical applications

1 hour 15 minutes

30% of GCSE

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Key Stage Five

Key Stage 5

Geography is a facilitating subject at A Level because it supplements a variety of other subjects extremely well. Students are expected to be aware of current geographical issues in the world around them, and demonstrate their ability to link real world examples to their studies. It is imperative that A Level students in this subject are able to “think like a geographer”.

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We currently study the AQA A Level Geography specification. This specification will excite students’ minds, challenge perceptions and stimulate their investigative and analytical skills. Subject content reflects the world today, but still contains much of the traditional geography topics. Geographical skills are taught with conjunction with subject content. Students are required to carry out their own independent geographical investigation. All of this will help provide students with the knowledge, skills and enthusiasm sought by higher education and employers.

 

Entry requirements

Our current entry requirements for A Level Geography is a C grade or above in GCSE Geography. Or in the case of students who have not studied GCSE Geography, student must have achieved at least B grades from Science and Grade 5 from English and Maths. Please note that entry requirements are subject to change and will be reflected in the Sixth Form prospectus.

 

Subject content

Component 1: Physical geography

Component 2: Human geography

Component 3: Geography fieldwork investigation

Section A:

  • Water and carbon cycles

 

Section B:

  • Hot desert systems and landscapes

or

  • Coastal systems and landscapes

or

  • Glacial systems and landscapes

 

Section C:

  • Hazards

or

  • Ecosystems under stress

Section A:

  • Global systems and global governance

 

Section B:

  • Changing places

 

Section C:

  • Contemporary urban environments

or

  • Population and the environment

or

  • Resource security
  • Students complete an individual investigation which must include data collected in the field.

 

  • The individual investigation must be based on a question or issue defined and developed by the student relating to any part of the specification content.

 

All students are required to undertake fieldwork in relation to processes in both physical and human geography. Students must undertake four days of fieldwork during their A-level course. Students are required to undertake an independent investigation. They may incorporate field data and/or evidence from field investigations collected individually or in groups. What is important is that students work on their own on contextualising, analysing and reporting of their work to produce an independent investigation with an individual title that demonstrates required fieldwork knowledge, skills and understanding.

At present, we offer students the opportunity to attend a residential field trip at a Field Studies Council fieldwork centre in a location such as Devon, Wales, or the Lake District. The trip usually is 4 to 5 days in which students complete their required fieldwork and receive specialist tuition on geographical skills and fieldwork techniques at the centre. The trip usually costs in the region of £400, dependent on location, student numbers and other external factors.

Assessments

Students are assessed at the end of the course by:

Paper 1: Physical geography

2 hour 30 minutes

40% of A Level

Paper 2: Human geography

2 hour 30 minutes

40% of A Level

Non Exam Assessment: Geography fieldwork investigation

3,000 – 4,000 words, submitted before exams, marked by teachers, moderated by AQA

20% of A Level

 

 

Page Downloads  
CVHS STEPS GEOGRAPHY PRINT SEPT.pdf Download
Geography Curriculum Intent Download
GEOGRAPHY Curriculum map Download