Geography Programme

Vision

To create an exciting, challenging, safe and thought provoking learning environment which develops core skills, fosters achievement, promotes global citizenship and helps prepare students for future global challenges.

To achieve this vision, the KS3 and KS4 geography curriculum aims to;

  •  Develop PLTS (Personal Learning and Thinking Skills).  PLTS include independent enquirers, team workers, effective participators, self managers, reflective learners and creative thinkers
  •  Use a variety of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles within lessons which are underpinned by ICT, literacy, numeracy and cross curricular themes
  •  Develop Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development

           Spiritual: Students reflect on their beliefs and values about issues such as the  

           natural environment, fair trade and world poverty

           Moral: Decision making activities based on real life events and issues

           Social: Promote pair and team work, respect and positive behavior

           Cultural: Study real people in real places such as Tanzania and Ecuador

  •  Teach and inform students about key global challenges and topics such as  sustainability, global warming and renewable technology

 

KS3 Geography

Year 7 curriculum

  • What is Geography?
  •  How and why do rivers and the sea affect the shape of the land?
  •  Why is it important to have a good carbon footprint?
  •  How sustainable is Beverley Road?
  •  How and why is life in Tanzania different to ours?

 Year 8 curriculum

  • Is tourism in the Ecuadorian rainforest sustainable?
  •  What is development, how can we measure it and why are some countries more developed than others?
  •  Why do volcanoes and earthquakes happen?

          Why do volcanoes both harass and help people?

          How can we limit the impacts of earthquakes?

  •  How can we prevent flooding?
  •  How can we stop the coast from eroding?
  •  Why are the headquarters and factories of mobile phone companies located in   different parts of the world?
  •  What are the causes and effects of global warming?
  •  What are the solutions to global warming?

 KS4 Geography

Students study OCR GCSE Geography.

OCR GCSE Geography consists of three sections:

  • Geographical Themes (50%)
  • Sustainable Decision Making Exercise (25%)
  • Controlled Assessment (25%)

For the Geographical Themes section, students will study three out of four key themes which are assessed in the form of a 90 minute written examination.

The four key themes;

  • Rivers and Coasts
  • Population and Settlement (overpopulation, migration, ageing populations,              urbanisation, urban development and changing retail services)
  •  Natural and climatic Hazards (volcanoes, earthquakes and tropical storms)
  •  Economic Development (types of Industry and its impacts on the environment,    globalisation, aid and world development)

The Sustainable Decision Making Exercise (SDME) section involves research and investigation into a current or future issue which is linked to one of the four key themes.    The SDME is assessed in the form of a 60 minute written examination. Previous SDME exams have focussed on topical geographical issues such as flooding, coastal erosion, tourism and an ageing population.

The Controlled Assessment section requires students to complete 2 research tasks (Fieldwork Focus and Geographical Investigation).  The Fieldwork Focus research task is based on an aspect of the coast and requires the collection of primary data to draw a conclusion and evaluate. To obtain the required primary data, students will take part in a full day visit to the Holderness coastline. The Geographical investigation task is based on a question linked to a topical geographical theme and requires students to research secondary data to again draw a conclusion and evaluate. 

Findings from each Controlled Assessment task will be presented in the form of a report. The maximum word limit for both reports is 2000 words (1200 words for the Fieldwork Focus and 800 words for the Geographical Investigation). The Controlled Assessment section is assessed through an internal and external moderation process.

Information sourced from © OCR 2009 GCSE Geography B v3 April 2009