Geography

INTRODUCTION

Geography is fundamentally about places. Our aim in the department is to help students acquire the skills that will help them to understand the processes through which places at different scales have evolved in both physical and human terms.

Instilling a spirit of enquiry is important for our students to develop the highly transferable skills of research, data collection and presentation, analysis and evaluation. They benefit from the intellectual rigour of the subject and also become more critically aware of the world around them.

FACILITIES/RESOURCES

The Geography Department consists of three spacious classrooms and a new department office. Each room is equipped with interactive whiteboards, data projectors and wall-to-ceiling, dry-wipe world maps. ICT facilities are provided by eight desktop computers in the specialist Sixth Form teaching room and by a movable, wireless class set of laptops. All teachers have iPads with geographical apps which can be projected on to the whiteboard.

WHAT WE DO

The learning style adopted in the department is investigative, with the focus on questioning rather than rote learning. Preparation for examinations is meticulous; and students have a clear outline of exactly what is required and how to maximise their exam performance.

The programme of study within the department is always evolving to reflect the dynamic nature of Geography.

In Years 7 and 8 the students’ eyes are opened to a wide variety of topics from ‘Coffee’ to ‘Globalisation and Fashion’. There is a strong emphasis on teaching geographical skills in order to promote independent learning.

In Year 9 as well as studying the ‘Geography of Crime’ students study ‘Tourism’ and ‘Natural Hazards’.

Our GCSE students are now studying for the Cambridge IGCSE which we feel provides a traditional foundation to a wide variety of geographical topics. Taught in a dynamic way this qualification is the perfect stepping stone to studying geography at a higher level.

At A Level we continue the investigative theme. Half the course looks at Physical Geography and half at Human and Economic Issues. We follow the Cambridge International I ALevel syllabus at A level. Each student is taught by two staff, one for Physical and one for Human Geography.

TRIPS

There is a residential field trip to South Devon in the Sixth Form to enhance the teaching of modules such as coasts, rivers and rural change.

We also offer a bi-annual trip to the Agores where students are able to experience volcanic hazards first hand.

Trips and visits in all other year groups are arranged on a flexible timescale to suit the topics covered. We have an active fieldwork programme in all Key Stages, for example Year 8 visit the Living Rainforest in Newbury in order to investigate the theme of ‘adaptation in the rainforest’.

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