Subjects

Interdependence – Systems – Globalisation – Development – Sustainability – Scale – Processes – Conflict – Biodiversity

The year 7 curriculum focuses on foundational knowledge of the key geographical concepts and skills to ensure students are ready to apply these in later years.

Weather & Climate

Students will be introduced to one of the most fundamental elements of physical geography, weather and climate.

Follow the Dollar

Students will learn about money and the economy, linking these concepts to globalisation and development by following a single Dollar through the world economy.

Climate change

Climate change is a significant global challenge for the 21st century, and students will learn how this challenge happened and what effect it will have on their lives.

Factfulness

Students will learn how the world has developed over the last 100 years and how many people’s perceptions of development in Africa, Asia, and South America are outdated.

Frozen Planet

Students will explore Earth’s cold environments, from the lives of people living in the Arctic to tourism at the peak of Mount Everest to Animal adaptations in Antarctica.

The year 8 curriculum will develop student’s foundational learning from year 7 into a deeper understanding of geographical concepts and issues.

Hazardous Earth

Students will develop a thorough understanding of the world beneath their feet and the hazards that result from tectonic and geological processes.

Conflict

Students will learn that conflict is everywhere and that disagreement is part of human society. They will explore how people argue and fight over resources, land, and perspectives and how these conflicts can be resolved.

Haiti

Students will thoroughly study Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and explore its challenges over the last 200 years.

Oceans & Plastics

Students will learn about throw away culture and how this has contributed to plastic pollution. They will explore how these plastics interact with the world’s oceans and have effects at a range of scales.

Health & Disease

Students explore the geography of health and disease, including why some people are less likely to live long and healthy lives than others and how the changing nature of the world has allowed infectious diseases to become a global threat.

Trade

Students will explore the geography of trade and how it links with fundamental concepts such as globalisation, development, and sustainability.

The year 9 curriculum will explore some of Geography’s more contested and thought-provoking topics and encourage students to develop their own perspectives on Geographical issues.

Russia

Year 9 will investigate Russia’s Geography and how it has influenced its past and present. Students will explore Russia’s relationship with the rest of the world and the significance of this.

The Mediterranean 

Students will explore population and migration around the Mediterranean sea, learning how so many different cultures and groups share a single body of water; the opportunities, challenges, and conflicts this creates.

Tourism

The world’s second largest employer; a source of jobs, economic growth, and opportunities. Students will explore the opportunities and challenges of tourism and develop an understanding of how to analyse information and reach a geographical decision. 

China

Year 9 will learn of the diverse and ever-changing characteristics of China. Students will explore how China’s economic and political growth has had regional and global effects. This unit will focus on China as a rising global power and what this means for the 21st century.

The KS4 curriculum provides students with opportunities to build on their learning experiences gained during Key Stage 3.

Students will study a total of 8 units throughout their two-year AQA GCSE Geography course.

The Challenge of Natural Hazards: This unit explores the tectonic, atmospheric, and climatic processes that affect our planet and how these result in natural hazards that threaten human lives and civilisations. Students also explore specific examples of natural hazards, their impacts, and how these can be managed in the future.

The Living World: Exploring Earth’s unique and varied ecosystems from tropical rainforests to arctic environments. This unit explores how these regions developed, the fauna and flora that have adapted in these locations and the opportunities and challenges that the environment, and the people who live there, face.

Physical landscapes in the UK: The United Kingdom has varied and complex physical landscapes that have been primarily shaped by three natural processes: coastal processes, fluvial processes, and glacial processes. This unit explores how these processes have shaped the landscape of our country and continue to do so. Students will also explore how these environments present opportunities and risks, and how they can be managed sustainably.

Urban issues and challenges: This human Geography topic explores the world’s urban environments; how these areas have grown and changed over time, and how they will continue to grow and change in the future. Students will explore two urban areas in significant depth, Lagos in Nigeria, and Manchester in the UK. They will discuss the challenges, opportunities, and improvements in both areas and compare how these three aspects are different for two cities at different stages of development.

Changing Economic World: The first human Geography unit that we study is one focused on the unequal development across the world, the causes of this inequality, the impacts, and how the gap can be reduced in the future. Students will then study two countries at contrasting levels of development: the United Kingdom and Nigeria. Extensive knowledge of these two countries will be analysed and discussed to determine what challenges and opportunities they face now, and which await them in the future.

The Challenge of resource management: Resources are the essential items that we, as humans, need to survive and succeed in the world. These resources are rarely equally distributed, and students will explore these inequalities: the reasons behind them, the impacts of such inequalities, and how these inequalities have been solved in the past or can be solved in the future.

Fieldwork: Students are required to undertake two fieldwork visits: a physical enquiry and a human enquiry which link to their learning in other units. We currently visit a river landscape and Salford Quays, and students spend time in lessons analysing their data and reaching their own conclusions.

Issue Evaluation: Towards the end of the GCSE course, students are presented with a Geographical Issue which is relevant to their prior learning. Students must analyse this information and draw on their own understanding/other sources of information to reach a conclusion on the issue which has been presented.

Geography is an ever-changing and evolving discipline that allows students to understand the complex and dynamic world around them. Reading is the cornerstone of knowledge, allowing understanding different cultures, places, and people to remain current and relevant whilst growing and developing. The literature surrounding Geography is as varied and diverse as the discipline of Geography itself. This literature allows students to learn about the world and challenge their views, becoming equally more knowledgeable and understanding of the differences on the diverse and dynamic planet.

Reading is built into the Geography curriculum in several ways.

• Guided reading tasks are incorporated into each unit. Some are background information about the lesson, and others are specific information linked to student tasks. Sharples guided reading strategies are used for these tasks, combining teacher-led and student-led reading. The connected questions allow students to demonstrate that they have understood what they have read. 
• Independent reading tasks with related comprehension activities are set as homework for students to encourage reading and understanding. This allows students to read about Geography outside of the lesson and encourages students to think more deeply about what they are reading and its meaning.
• A collection of geographic literature is available within the department for students to access. These books allow students to explore Geography more widely in their own time, and many are directly linked to the topics students are studying, with some guided reading extracts in lessons taken from the books in the ‘Geography Library’.
• Vocabulary is explicitly taught in every lesson, and a range of strategies are used to familiarise students with essential vocabulary before each unit and before tasks. This allows students to explore this vocabulary, become more familiar with it, and build their confidence for the upcoming task or unit.
• Each unit booklet shares Keywords with the students and appropriate definitions that allow students to access the content for the upcoming unit of work.

Click here to view the suggested reads poster.
Please note: the images of the book covers are clickable hyperlinks to the book.