Geography

Head of Department: Ms. P Ingham

SUBJECT INTENT

The Ravensbourne School Geography curriculum aims to provide students with a well-rounded education through global human, physical and environmental concepts. This facilitates students to become skills-rich through practical application to the wider world.

CURRICULUM MAP AND BIG IDEAS

big ideas final e21c geography.pdf

Knowledge Organisers

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

What skills and cultural capital do students acquire in your subject?

Students acquire the key skills of Geography, including qualitative and quantitative skills and the capacity to understand and analyse the impact of both physical and human processes. Our students are introduced to a rich variety of Geo-Fiction to help promote the love of reading. The cultural capital students acquire from Geography is essential for a successful life – the basic knowledge of what is where, along with a little bit of knowledge about the world and in-depth knowledge about some areas and aspects of it. The curriculum exposes students to differing cultures, busts misconceptions and invites students to think about real world problems.

How do you make Careers education explicit in your curriculum?

Geography is a facilitating subject which links to many University degrees and careers due to the transferable skills students gain such as problem solving, communication, analysis and evaluation, presentation, social conscience, and independent research. These skills are taught through all topics in all years. Students are also inspired by our own Geography alumni who visit lessons to discuss possible routes after compulsory education.

What additional experiences (including expeditions) do your students access in your subject?

Students experience a wide range of fieldwork opportunities both in school and wider afield. During KS3 students complete environmental quality surveys, a microclimate assessment of the school, questionnaires and field sketches. Outside of school students may get the opportunity to visit Kew Gardens to study ecosystems, Bromley to study regeneration and Hastings to study coastal management. In the past, international trips have been offered to Italy, Switzerland and Iceland.

How do you support all learners to progress?

The department believes in scaffolding student learning through an extensive use of resources, a variety of tasks, out of the classroom experiences, RGS/GA membership. Teachers in the department are subject specialists and regularly receive CPD to ensure their subject knowledge is up to date.

How is your curriculum designed?

The curriculum is designed to ensure students develop mastery of the basics of Geography, including continents, countries, capitals, oceans along with map and data skills. This mastery allows for students to then look at the most important issues facing the world today. Year 7 study Geography of the UK, ecosystems and development with an in-depth focus on Africa in the Summer term. Year 8 study rivers, population, tectonics and a case study on Asia. Year 9 study natural resources, climate change, coasts and finally the Middle East. Students are exposed to the local, national, international and physical and human concepts throughout their curriculum journey.

What content do you cover and how is this delivered over time?

The five-year curriculum prioritises the building blocks of Geography, before introducing key themes that are built upon in following years – physical processes including their impact on people, development, urbanisation, and resource management. These are taught through case studies at each stage, which become more advanced and complicated as students move through the school. Fieldwork is also used throughout the five years as it is a key Geographic skill that further supports the building of Geographic knowledge. The

TRS Geography curriculum has broad and balanced units and provides a solid foundation for further study with skills becoming more complex each year and greater demands in linking all strands of geography together and the appreciation that one factor can change another.

Which exam board do you use? Why?

Edexcel B due to the coherence sequence of enquiry and the clarity of assessment objectives. The department have superb links with the exam board and have invested in resources to help the successful delivery of the course. Some teachers in the department have been specifically trained by Edexcel to mark GCSE and A Level papers.

What are the Big Ideas in your subject? Why are they important?

Geography is a highly synoptic subject and the most successful learners will be able to make links between the various topics learnt. The Big Ideas underpin each of the topics taught in KS3 and KS4.

Location: It is crucial students have an understanding of where places are. This is fundamental for understanding context behind processes.

Physical processes and change: Natural processes affect the distribution of resources and the conditions of human settlements.

Human processes and change: Developing an understanding of how humans impact the world around them and the consequences these actions have.

Sustainability: Our students should have an awareness of how their actions will impact their lives and those of future generations.

Development and Inequalities: This seeks to understand the varying causes of why places around the world are not equal, but more importantly, what can be done about it.

How do you use spaced practice / retrieval practice?

Do Now tasks are based on recall and are a prominent feature of every lesson. Due to our careful sequencing, lessons and topics revisit prior learning and skills. Assessments require students to use their long term memory to apply past learning to new contexts and make synoptic links between topics.

How is reading and mathematical fluency prioritised in your subject?

Geography lends itself to both; student have to read case studies containing subject and context specific vocabulary, and in nearly every lesson have to work with graphs, data and undertake numerical work or statistical analysis. The department is constantly reviewing GeoFiction for each key stage which is available to students via the library. Some home learning seeks to utilise and promote the love of guided reading.

Equitable delivery - How do you support disadvantaged students and students with SEND?

The department believes in access for all and therefore endeavours to meet the needs of all students. This may be through individualised learning plans, use of SEN support, teaching assistants or access to differentiated resources.

How does your subject use homework to support learning?

Regular homework allows students to practice applying knowledge from previous learning by using the look, cover, write check method for all year groups. Additional skills and research tasks are set within the lesson and are outlined within the S.O.W.

Assessment - How do teachers assess across the unit / term / cycle / year / key stage?

Students sit cycle assessments every cycle in Years 7-10, as well as mocks in Year 11. From Year 9 onwards, these assessments are cumulative tests, 12-mark essay and low tariff. A level student will be assessed using key word tests and a combination of 10-, 20- and 30-mark questions. These assessments will be used to inform planning and teachers judgements.