Geography

The geography department has a pedigree of outstanding teaching and learning and the innovative use of activities and learning methods. We aspire to be the most innovative and highest-achieving department in the school and among the best performing geography departments in the country.

Our resources and activities have been shared and used by hundreds of geography teachers across the UK and to support learning in schools across the world, including in Australia, Brunei, Thailand, Singapore, UAE, Canada, Spain and many other countries.

As a department, we aim to inspire young people and to cultivate and develop their knowledge and understanding of the awe and wonder, diversity, challenges, viewpoints and potential solutions relating to places and issues around the world. We adhere all areas of the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum. We also believe that there are issues and challenges that deserve inclusion in our curriculum that are not necessarily required by the National Curriculum. As such, we also seek to educate young people about contemporary issues such as plastic pollution, endangered species, the illegal trade in wildlife, the issues of palm oil production, etc.

We seek to support young people in developing as thoughtful, contentious and empathetic global citizens. Our students understand the importance of long-term sustainability and the role of climate change and rates of social and economic development as core, synoptic themes that link most of our units of study. We are also a department that prioritises fieldwork in helping young people to understand the enquiry process wherever possible. Most importantly, students report that they are interested and engaged by their geography lessons. Our lessons also link directly to the core school values and allow young people to see the world from a range of different, respectful perspectives.

Our chosen Key Stage 4 GCSE geography specification (Eduqas GCSE Geography B) is a similarly synoptic course and we have planned learning to allow students to investigate the links between the units, for example how issues of economic and social development affect the development of informal settlements in newly industrialised countries, and how this affect the ecosystems, water quality and drivers of climate change in these areas. We have a pedigree of successful GCSE results and are proud of high number of the high number of year 9 students who are inspired by our Key Stage 3 curriculum to select GCSE geography at Key Stage 4.