Teachers of Geography
- Dr T J Belliss
- Mrs N Czaplicka (Curriculum Leader)
- Mrs E Flemington
- Mr A Jewell
- Mrs L Kenny
- Miss B L Paling
- Mr L Petrie
- Mr S Rowan
- Miss I Turner
Our Vision for Geography
Students at SJB study geography in order to develop a sense of awe and wonder about places and people at all levels, from the personal, to the local and the global. Our department strives to inspire students to have a love of the world around them and we will do this through varied activities inside and outside of the classroom. We aim to ensure Geography becomes a lifelong love of our students and encourages their questioning, investigation and critical thinking about issues affecting the world and people’s lives, now and in the future.
Key Stage 3
Year 7
Map skills and the UK – An introductory unit into Geography with foundational skills covered including: map reading, locating continents and oceans, identifying human and physical features, investigating UK regions, using both paper and digital maps and the beginnings of fieldwork enquiry.
Scandinavia – In this unit, students cross the North Sea to investigate the more northern parts of Europe. The focus of the unit is graph skills and evaluation. Students examine both human and physical topics, for example: northern biomes, climate and climate change, impacts of global warming on civilians, volcanoes and glaciers, geothermal power and sustainable resources.
Asia – Students will explore the largest continent on Earth at the end of the year with a particular focus on knowledge and causes/impacts. This unit utilises numerous case studies such as India, Mumbai, North and South Korea, Bangladesh and Bhutan to showcase a variety of geographical topics. These include: population and demography, plate tectonics and hazards, development and globalisation. The unit ends with a link to Scandinavia and how climate change affects more than just one region.
Year 7 Geography Assessment Framework
Year 8
North America – This unit builds upon the human and physical divide to Geography with seamless links between the two in some cases. Lessons cover: development and globalisation with a comparative case study and then tectonic and meteorological hazards.
South America – Students will investigate the climate of South America before venturing into the rainforests of the Amazon. Here students will learn about the forest itself, its people and its animals before exploring the impact on it caused by humans. Knowledge of tectonic hazards will be developed further along with urbanisation as megacities will begin to be explained.
Africa – The final unit of year 8 sees students delve into the developing continent. Students study lots of human geography, looking into: development, corruption, population, barriers to further development, etc. The Sahara Desert will be studied too, so as to compare life in the desert to life in the rainforest.
Year 8 Geography Assessment Framework
Year 9
At Year 9 our teaching shifts to more country-based case studies thereby reflecting the approach to case study teaching at Key Stage 4 and 5. We examine 3 countries from around the world, making sure to include as many skills and themes as possible.
China
Brazil
Australia
For the final half term of the year, we then prep our year 9’s for GCSE by teaching them a GCSE case study for the Development Dynamics unit.
Year 9 Geography Assessment Framework
Key Stage 4
Qualification: GCSE
Exam Board: Edexcel B
Coursework: N/A
Exam: 100%
Exam Structure: 3 x 1hr 30min exam papers sat in the summer of Year 11
Link to specification:
GCSE (9-1) Geography B
Course Overview:
An exciting and relevant course that enables students to investigate both global issues and those closer to home. Students gain a sense of awe and wonder and begin to understand their place in the world thereby helping them succeed in their chosen pathway for future study.
Exam 1: Global Geographical Issues
Topic 1: Hazardous Earth
Topic 2: Development dynamics
Topic 3: Challenges of an urbanising world
Exam 2: UK Geographical Issues
Topic 4: The UK’s evolving physical landscape (Coastal change and conflict and River processes and pressures)
Topic 5: The UK’s evolving human landscape – including a Case Study of London
Topic 6: Geographical investigations – including one physical fieldwork investigation and one human fieldwork investigation (see below for more information)
Component 3: People and Environment Issues – Making Geographical Decisions.
Section A: People and the biosphere
Section B: Forests under threat
Section C: Consuming energy resources
Section D: Making a geographical decision
Fieldwork: We undertake 2 days fieldwork. One for human geography to Guildford and the other to Juniper Hall Field Studies Centre to explore river characteristics.