This resource provides a quick and easy map of your child’s curriculum journey.

Geography explains the past, illuminates the present and prepares us for the future. What could be more important than that?’ – Michael Palin

Geography is an academic subject which is rich in powerful knowledge where students explore the links between people, places and the environment.

Through their study of Geography, students will understand the processes and actions which link human and physical Geography to support a greater understanding of the world around them. Students will be able to make conscious and sustainable choices, understanding the local and wider impacts of their actions as they will have the ability to promote the need for responsible citizens. Students will be able to engage with the news, make sense of what they see, and articulate how and why the world is ever changing.

The five power concepts covered throughout the curriculum are: place, equality, hazards, natural processes and sustainability

Key Stage Three

In Year 7 students begin with the topic ‘Changing places’ students apply their knowledge from KS2 of being able to locate oceans, continents and countries within continents as well as locating places through the use of four figure grid references and longitude and latitude, In order for this knowledge to be generative students assess the geographical features of their local area continually retrieving their prior learning blending their KS2 and KS3 schemas. This underpins the importance of Geography and the personal links which we each have with the subject. Students assess the features of the Hoyt Model and how this applies to Manchester, the opportunities and challenges of the changing function of Walkden and gentrification of the local town Monton. Students apply their understanding to assess the impacts of changing urban environments where they analyse the opportunities and challenges of squatter settlements. Through this, students are able to suggest how ‘self help’ schemes are strategies to promote sustainable improvements to urban areas. Students then use this understanding to assess the importance of sustainable settlements in the UK through the case study of BedZED this provides the opportunity for students to identify and describe the social, economic and environmental impacts of sustainability.  Students will build on their generative knowledge of how places change through investigating ‘Volcanic Hazards’ as students begin to develop their schema of tectonics and how these processes change the natural landscape over time. Students will evaluate strategies used to manage hazards. Through the topic ‘River Landscapes’ students are able to develop their schema of the water cycle to understand the importance of water resources in the UK, and the role which rivers play in settlements. Students are able to apply their geographical skills to identify the physical features of rivers and how these can change through processes of erosion and deposition over time. Students’ generative knowledge of places will be used to assess the impacts of river floods and the importance of strategies to manage flooding hazards in urban areas. This topic underpins students’ future knowledge throughout Key Stage Three when assessing the reasons for the location of settlements and the importance of resources and their sustainable management through ‘The Middle East’ and ‘Coasts’. As Year 7 students investigate the topic ‘Weather and Climate’ and they continue to develop their schemas of places and physical features developing generative links between human and physical geographical events. Students assess how the weather of the UK is determined by air masses and terrain causing changes to air pressure and then the daily weather. Students will be able to use symbols to identify weather patterns and to determine what the weather in a specific location will be. Students explain the impacts of changing weather patterns leading to occurrences of extreme weather in the UK Students will develop their schema of sustainability when assessing the causes and impacts of climate change both in the Northern Hemisphere, UK and Southern Hemisphere. Students will be able to explain the growth of climate refugees assessing how weather can pose a risk and why weather events are changing globally as a result of climate change. When investigating ‘microclimates’ students will identify factors which can influence the climate of a small area and will conduct field work to assess how microclimates affect different locations within the school grounds. Students will develop their own hypothesis, conduct a methodology, present, analyse and draw conclusions from their findings. Students will develop a deeper understanding of climates and the features which can affect them. Students will develop their schemas of climate as they investigate the features of ecosystems with a focus on tropical rainforests. This topic provides students with the opportunity to assess current world issues of the exploitation of natural resources, and sustainability linking this to changing weather patterns which threaten the future of these biomes. Students assess the intrinsic links between the human and physical environments. When studying ‘The MIddle East’ students will further build their schema linking changing places, river landscapes, weather and climate, microclimates and ecosystems as they develop their understanding of the interrelationship between arid biomes, resources and economic development. Students will assess how the demand for natural resources has led to economic development as well as increasing equality in this region of the world. Students will understand the need for sustainability resources or water and oil become over abstracted as well as the increased risk of conflict as a result. 

Year 8 students continue to develop their schemas of the power concepts to generate their knowledge. Students will generate their knowledge of natural processes and fluvial landscapes as they investigate ‘Coasts’ Students will develop their schemas of erosion, transportation and deposition. Students will assess the human and physical interactions along the Holderness coastline evaluating the impacts of strategies to reduce hazards associated with coastal erosion. Field work will provide an opportunity for students to visit Formby to observe the features of coastal management strategies and assess how land use in the area provides recreation opportunities for visitors to this coastal location. Students investigate ’Population change’ developing their schema of why places change contrasting rural and urban areas and population densities. Students will develop their schema of migration assessing categories of migration and the opportunities and challenges of this through the generation of knowledge students will develop empathy towards forced migrants and refugees. Students will evaluate future population models and the impact of population decline in HICs. Through the topic  ‘Development’ applying their schema of weather and climate, places and ecosystems to understand the human and physical factors which affect development, students study global examples as well as an example of the development gap within the UK. To apply their knowledge, students investigate development levels within ‘India’ where students assess the opportunities and challenges of development as well as the impact this has on gender equality through the fair trade foundation and the emancipation of women in Kerala. Students will continue to build on their scheme of weather and climate as they generate their knowledge of ‘Weather Hazards’. Students will investigate the causes of effects of weather hazards including tropical storms and will study contrasting examples in Asia and Africa. Students will develop their schemas of climate change as they analyse the interconnections between climate change and frequency of tropical storm events. Through ‘Hot and Cold environments’ students will build on their schemas of development, weather and climate and development. Students will generate their knowledge of sustainable resource management and the fragile interconnections between people and physical environments as they assess the opportunities and challenges of living in hostile environments. Students will generate their knowledge as they study Russia as an example. 

In Year 9 students further develop their schema of hazards and development as they investigate the tectonic hazards of earthquakes in contrasting areas of the world assessing factors which affect hazard risk. Students will generate their knowledge between levels of development, effects and responses to hazards and strategies implemented to reduce future hazard risk. Through the study of ‘Africa’ students generate their schema of biomes, weather and climate to assess the diverse landscapes which exist within this continent. Students focus their studies on Eastern African countries contributing to their schema of natural hazards through the opportunities and challenges populations face in the Rift Valley. Students evaluate the impacts of resource scarcity and conflict as they study conflicts which exist over the River Nile. Students develop their schema of populations, migration and economic change as they visit Ethiopia and learn of the growing international trade links in this region. Students continue to generate their scheme of sustainable development throughout the ‘Oceans’ topic where students assess the interrelationships between human and physical environments. Students assess the human impacts of overfishing, climate change impacting coral reef ecosystems and canal construction on ocean ecosystems. From this students can appreciate the small and large scale ecosystems of oceans. Students study the changing economy of ‘China’ to further develop their schema of place, development and population. Students assess the social, economic and environmental impacts of increased manufacturing in core areas of China.  Students assess the local and global impacts of the use of coal and assess strategies which can promote a sustainable future for industrial growth in China. Students return their focus to the UK where they study ‘Glaciers’. Through this topic students will generate their schema of physical and fluvial processes as well as assessing the opportunities for economic growth in UK glacial valleys including the Lake District. Students will continually develop their use of geographical skills as they identify key glacial features. Students will complete their Key Stage Three journey through the topic ‘Resource Consumption and Sustainable Management’ Students will develop their schemas to link their knowledge to assess the local and global impacts of resource exploitation. Students will evaluate how their singular actions can contribute towards the sustainability of resource use. Students will be able to articulate the importance of the choices they make and understand the potential impacts in order to appreciate the need for sustainable futures. During Year 9 students will complete fieldwork assessing the sustainable features of UK cities e.g. Liverpool. 

At the end of their Key Stage Three journey, students will understand the processes and actions which link human and physical Geography to support a greater understanding of the world around them. Students will be able to make conscious and sustainable choices, understanding the local and wider impacts of their actions as they will have the ability to promote the need for responsible citizens. Students will be able to engage with the news, make sense of what they see, and articulate how and why the world is ever changing. 

Key Stage Four

Geography is an important subject to study into Key Stage Four, it further promotes inquiry and curiosity as we explore dynamic physical and human environments of our world. Through studying Geography students are exposed to the continually evolving world through the development of Geographical skills from understanding how to use GIS to locate places, to data analysis and problem solving. Geography provides students with the ability to assess human and physical processes through time, in order to assess the present and make future predictions based on evidence. Learning through Geography means we are able to evaluate our own actions from the energy we use, the modes in which we travel as well as our patterns of consumption from where we shop to the waste we produce. Understanding and developing our knowledge of the world we live in allows us to make conscious decisions as we journey through life. 

Key Stage Four follows the AQA GCSE specification.

Year 10 students focus on the theme of ‘Living with the Physical Environment’ this unit will enable students to make links between the dynamic nature of physical processes and systems, and how humans interact with them in a variety of places and scales. Students will develop their knowledge of key processes which shape our landscapes and the direct and indirect ways humans can change these. Students will use and develop numerical skills through graphs and charts, locational skills and identifying key features through photographs, aerial images and a range of maps including OS and GIS -AQA.

Students begin their KS4 studies with ‘The Challenge of Natural Hazards’ where students investigate the structure of the Earth, why tectonic hazards occur and the impacts they have. Students generate knowledge to understand the contrasts of hazard risk contrasting areas of wealth and development of Nepal and New Zealand. Students develop their schema of hazards as they generate their understanding of weather and climate through evaluating the impacts of tropical revolving storms with a focus on Typhoon Haiyan. Students further enhance their schemas as they investigate extreme weather patterns in the UK and assess the strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This topic is essential for generating threshold knowledge as students progress through the KS4 curriculum as students develop their schema of natural processes and the impact they have on people and urban landscapes. The ‘Living World’ topic builds on students’ schema of biomes and physical landscapes. Students explore the impacts of exploiting natural resources for economic development as well as the impacts of climate change and how this threatens the future of tropical rainforests, hot desert ecosystems and desert fringe environments. Students then investigate ‘Physical Landscapes in the UK’ focussing on the Jurassic coastline and the River Severn. Through these examples students develop their schema of physical processes of erosion and deposition. Students generate knowledge on the soft and hard engineering strategies used to manage these environments. 

At the end of Year 10 students will conduct their fieldwork enquiry. Students visit Formby Beach as their physical study to test the hypothesis ‘that vegetation coverage and species increase with distance from the sea’. Students collect their data across a sand dune transect. The human study takes place at Salford Quays, here students assess the built environment to test the hypothesis ‘opportunities for recreation have increased as a result of urban change’. Students use their data to present and analyse their findings using a variety of data presentation techniques. Students are able to draw conclusions from their data assessing the extent to which they can support their hypotheses. Students evaluate each element of their field work as well as making a final judgement to fully justify the appropriateness of the field study and how they could make their findings more reliable.

Year 11 students focus on the theme ‘Challenges in the urban environment’ throughout this theme, students are required to revisit their knowledge of the physical environment and processes to assess how this impacts on the built environment at a range of skills. Students are able to fully identify how physical and human environments are intrinsically linked. This unit assesses how human processes, systems and outcomes can change spatially and temporarily and compares development levels in higher income countries (HICs), newly emerging economies (NEEs) and lower income economies (LICs). Through this unit of study students will understand factors which lead to a variety of human environments, how these change over time, the future opportunities and challenges human environments face and the need for sustainable development -AQA.

Year 11 study ‘Challenges in the Urban Environment’ throughout this topic students apply their schema of biomes and the exploitation of natural resources. Students assess the opportunities and challenges of urban change in areas of contrasting development of Nigeria and the UK. Students use their schema of sustainable development to suggest how cities of the future can be improved through the example of Curitiba. ‘The Changing Economic World’ topic promotes a depth of understanding into why global development is uneven and the strategies to reduce the development gap.. Students will revisit Nigeria developing their schema of this location as well as the opportunities and challenges of  investment from Transnational Corporations (TNCs) such as Shell. As students assess the economic changes in the UK they will understand the changing economic structure, the reasons for this, and the features which define a ‘post-industrial economy’. Students will assess the different economies in rural and urban areas within the UK as well as the North-South divide. Students will develop their schema of sustainability as they evaluate the planned strategies to reduce the North-South divide in the UK and the future sustainability of industrial development.  Students will complete their narrative of knowledge through the final topic of ‘The Challenge of Resource Management’ where they will develop a key understanding of how the three main resources of food, energy and water are exploited as well as local and global strategies which promote sustainable consumption. Students will explore our changing use in water consumption and how this is linked to changing lifestyles and affluence. Students will investigate global patterns in water consumption, through this they will build their schema of climate change, urban growth and river landscapes. Students will investigate the increasing need for water transfers in HICs, such as the UK, NEEs such as China and LICs such as Ethiopia. Through this breadth of knowledge students will evaluate each need, draw comparisons and suggest sustainable alternatives. 

At the end of their KS4 journey students will have developed powerful knowledge to fully understand and communicate the dynamic nature of the world, the environment they live in and the interrelationships between human and physical environments. Students will be able to observe landscapes within the UK and the wider world, identifying  key features with the ability to describe their formation. Students will be able to engage with the news and make sense of how and why the world is ever changing. Students will be equipped with the knowledge to evaluate their actions ensuring they are responsible citizens who demonstrate stewardship. Students will have a concrete knowledge of their place in the world, the changing landscape of urban environments as well as understanding the economic diversity between regions within the UK and the wider world. Students will have a totality of understanding and skills to adapt to their ever changing world in the future.

 

The Curriculum Overview provides information as to how the curriculum is sequenced to enable students to build their knowledge and skills towards ambitious endpoints in each subject area. Click the picture to enlarge it and read more. Each terms’ learning is complemented by a knowledge organiser. 

Check them out