Geography
At George Green School our vision is to inspire our students with a curiosity and fascination about the world around us.
We want to bring current affairs and news stories into their lessons as frequently as possible, building a strong social awareness and cultural capital. We aim to encourage independence and critical thinking skills which will prepare our students to become ‘change makers’ in their respective careers.
In order to keep the Geography curriculum topical and relevant we will dedicate one week a term to a geographical issue in the news. Homework is planned to engage our learners in current affairs while we attempt to encourage our students to have more meaningful conversations with their parents, families and carers. Opportunities for investigative fieldwork and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are included at least once a year for each year group further building employability skills in our young people. Fieldwork begins in the local area, and moves to a human and physical environment within contrasting chosen areas at Key Stage 4 and 5.
We structure our curriculum to gradually broaden students’ horizons from local to international scale over an academic year which will encourage our students to be aware of growing complexity in human and physical processes. By Year 9, students will be familiar with social, economic and environmental concepts with increasing exposure to political factors which shape the world.
In Year 7, students begin by building geographical skills in order to develop to become a successful geographer, before looking for interactions between humans and the biosphere in ‘the world around us’ in Year 7. The same themes of scale and increasing interconnectivity continue throughout the KS3 curriculum, before students apply their knowledge and skills to contrasting locations within Africa and the Middle East in Year 8. At this point in Key Stage 3, we expect our students to make links between units in their explanations of how the world works.
Geography: Key Stage 2 into Key Stage 3
What you will study
At George Green’s School we broaden students learning about ‘location’ from the UK and Europe, to extend to Africa, Asia and a variety of contrasting locations, including a wide range of different environments. The study of human and physical geography extends further to include more environmental geography, studying the interaction between human and physical concepts such as migration and tectonic hazards. Learners will continue to develop using a variety of geographical resources, such as OS maps and atlases, but with the inclusion of more detailed maps, graphs and GIS. Students will develop their own enquiry skills through more independent fieldwork and investigations. By doing this, students will develop their cartographic and graphical skills throughout Key Stage 3.
Geography: Key Stage 3 into Key Stage 4
What you will study
We ensure that our students engage with an increasing variety of knowledge, understanding and skills. We avoid repetition where possible, choosing instead to expose students to a wider variety of places and concepts. When choosing examples and case studies we consider relevance to our students and ensure material is up-to-date.
Geography: Key Stage 4 into Key Stage 5
Exam Board: AQA
What you will study
Students are prepared for KS5 through our relentless approach to keep studies current through new articles and news reports. We offer additional reading advice and encourage our students to read beyond the curriculum. The library at George Green School has a whole Geography section with a wide variety of challenging texts. We seek opportunities to build links with local businesses within the local area (e.g. BP, Canary Wharf). We prioritise excellent teaching in order to prepare for further study encouraging independence and organisational skills which are essential when studying Geography at University level or for the workplace.
Curriculum Map
We offer a high-quality geography education to inspire in students a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
Teaching should equip 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 should help 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 frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
Aims
The national curriculum for geography aims to ensure that all pupils:
• develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places - both terrestrial and marine -including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
• understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
• are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
- collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
- interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems(GIS)
- communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.
KS3 Geography Curriculum Intent Per Year Group
KS3 Geography Curriculum Map per Year Group
KS4 Geography Curriculum Map per Year Group