Our vision is for students to develop a great understanding of the natural and human world. This includes the variety of physical landscapes, the processes that created them and the biodiversity found within them. Pupils will also develop detailed knowledge of different cultures, diversity of populations as well as how people interact and are affected by the physical environment. With this knowledge pupils will develop the skills to analyse, evaluate and problem solve global issues.
Key stage 3 Geographers at Lightcliffe Academy have an opportunity to learn key Geographical skills, develop their extended writing and evaluative skills, explore new places and compare their lives with people around the world. Through disciplinary reading and oracy activities, students will be able to confidently access a range of materials related to global learning and articulate their views of challenges populations face.
We start year 7 by enabling students to gain a good understanding of the Geography of the UK by investigating the physical and human features of our ‘Wild Isles’. The remainder of the year we focus on topics such as biomes and the use of resources and finish the year focusing on global issues and solutions; honing our analytical skills we have developed throughout the year to problem solve solutions.
In year 8 we start the year with a focus of development and inequality. The following topics such as the UK economy, and the impacts of our changing weather embed the core ideas of wealth creating unequal impacts of human and physical occurrences.
Finally in year 9 we build upon our threshold subjects from year 7 & 8 to tackle ambitious topics which require high levels of critical thinking and evaluation, for example how should urban areas deal with slums, is tourism ever ok and why do more people die from natural hazards in LICs? We also complete fieldwork and use GIS to conduct an investigation with primary and secondary data.
Geography’s threshold concepts naturally entwine with the shared characteristics and allows them to be developed throughout KS3. For example, service, health and happiness, equity and dignity all feature in human geography themes such as development, inequality and resources. Ambition and resilience are taught by looking at examples people of people overcoming physical processes such as natural disasters and erosion, as well as at a student level in showing resilience of learning challenging skills and praising pupils’ ambition for wanting to succeed in their studies.
Students will be assessed through regular A zones that provide feedback on their current learning and skills. We also have larger iterative assessments that assess students learning and skills over a longer period.
“Geography helps students to make sense of the world around us. It's hands on, relevant, and fun. Whatever a students passion for the world – fascination with landscapes or concerns about sustainability – geography will provide them with knowledge and transferable skills that will reward them personally and advance them professionally.” Royal Geographical Society
The course will allow students to develop their knowledge of both Physical and Human Geography. They ill also be given an opportunity to develop their Geographical skills such as critical thinking and analysis, data collection and interpretation. Through disciplinary reading and oracy activities, students will be able to confidently access a range of materials related to global learning and articulate their views of challenges populations face.
Students will study the challenges of natural hazards and the living world, physical landscapes of the United Kingdom and human interaction with them. Students will develop an understanding of the factors that produce a diverse variety of human environments; the dynamic nature of these environments that change over time and place; the need for sustainable management; and the areas of current and future challenge and opportunity for these environments.
Geography’s GCSE topics naturally entwine with the shared characteristics. For example, service, health and happiness, equity and dignity all feature in human geography topics such as economic world, resource management and urban living. Ambition and resilience are taught by looking at examples people of people overcoming physical processes in topics such as the challenge of natural hazards and physical processes which includes erosion and flooding. Pupils are also praised for showing the characterises such as experiencing resilience when learning challenging skills and overcoming it and praising ambition shown by them wanting to succeed in their studies and working hard to do so.
Exam Board: AQA
Paper One: Living with the physical environment (Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes)
Section A: The challenge of natural hazards
Section B: The living world
Section C: Physical landscapes in the UK
Paper Two: Challenges in the human environment (Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes)
Section A: Urban issues and challenges
Section B: The changing economic world
Section C: The challenge of resource management
Paper Three: Geographical applications (Written exam: 1 hour 15 minutes)
Section A: Issue evaluation
Section B: Fieldwork
“Geography is a broad-based academic subject which will open options for students in their futures. Employers and universities see geography as a robust academic subject rich in skills, knowledge and understanding. As a subject linking the arts and the sciences it is highly flexible in terms of what students can combine it with, both at GCSE and A Level.” Royal Geographical Society
