Geography

The Geography curriculum aims to inspire students with curiosity and fascination about the world. The curriculum aims to equip students with knowledge and give them an understanding about natural and human environments, diverse places, people and resources, including the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As students progress, so should their understanding of complex interrelationships between physical and human processes, at different scales and how they can change overtime. They should have a critical understanding of the World and its rapidly changing environmental and social challenges and how to tackle them.

In Year 7 students build on their knowledge and skills base from Primary school, studying My Place (geographical skills and the local area), the Middle East, East Africa, Russia and a contemporary topic based on Geography in the news. In Year 8 students study physical landscapes, population and world cities, tectonics, resources and a contemporary topic based on Geography in the news. In Year 9 students study the UK in detail, this covers; weather and climate, ecosystems, economic change in the UK, resource use in the UK, urban challenges and an investigation into climate change. In Year 10 students study the development gap, tropical storms, deserts, coasts and fieldwork, rainforests and challenges in Rio de Janeiro. In Year 11 students study rivers, India (NEE) economic change in the UK, tectonics and energy. In Year 12 students study tectonic processes and hazards, coasts, globalisation and regeneration. In Year 13 students study physical systems and sustainability; water cycle and security and carbon cycle and security, superpowers and global development and connections; health, human rights and intervention, preparing them with high quality skills and knowledge for a successful future.

Curriculum Intention:

Good understanding of key places in detail, considering their geographical similarities, differences importance and links.
Locational knowledge on; the world’s countries, their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics and major cities.
Understand links between processes, interdependence, scale and change.
Physical Geography– students should have sound knowledge and understanding of plate tectonics, weather and climate, contrasting biomes, rivers and coasts.
Human Geography– students should have sound knowledge and understanding of population and urbanisation, international development, economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors; and the use of natural resources.
Understand how human and physical processes interact to influence, and change landscapes, environments and the climate; and how human activity relies on effective functioning of natural systems.
Are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
- collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
- interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
- communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.

Curriculum Design

BCCET EYFS – KS2 Geography Curriculum Map Final

BCCET EYFS – KS2 Geography Overview final

St. Aidan’s Geography Curriculum progression 2023-2024

St Aidan’s Geography Learning Journey & Assessment 2023-2024

Course Information

GCSE-Course-Information-Geography 2023-2024

For more information about our sixth form course provision please follow the link below:

Courses « St. Anthony’s & St. Aidan’s Catholic Sixth Form (aaasixthform.com)

Curriculum Implementation:

Geography is an ever-shifting discipline, and therefore it is important to us, at St. Aidan’s that our students leave with the ability to recognise the differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes and environments across the world, and to be given the opportunity to explore the links between them.

Through our curriculum students will build on big concepts (core knowledge) and steadily work out a bigger picture about how the world works and how it can and will change in the future. This will include learning about diverse places, extreme environments, peoples, cultures and economies. Sequences of learning have been developed to build on these themes giving students with new ways of thinking about the world in terms of Place, Space and Interconnection. As a result, students will be enriched with a greater grasp of the world and synoptic understanding, which will include having sound cultural and global awareness.

In lessons, students will learn about places that are beyond their everyday experience, developing rich conceptual knowledge. They will be able to explain causality, impacts; social, economic and environmental, sustainability and futures and uncertainties. Students will also be able to use a range of resources to analyse and draw conclusions about the world in which they live.

In addition to lessons, students have opportunities to develop their geographical understanding outside the classroom. Students currently undertake fieldwork both on site and at the beach. Students are encouraged to develop their cultural capital by looking at Geography in literature, film and documentaries. Retrieval practice is embedded into our curriculum, through the use of SMART activities at the beginning of each lesson, regular assessments, which are then subject to DIRT time and enrichment projects to allow further application and development of the skills covered. Where support is needed it is deployed at point of need.

This will be assessed by:

Contextual world and locational knowledge (Assessment Objective 1)

Students have extensive knowledge relating to a wide range of places and environments.
Students have knowledge of spatial scales from local to global.

Geographical processes and understanding (Assessment Objective 2)

Students can make connections between geographical concepts & processes.
Students understand processes and relationships between people and environments.

Geographical application and communication (Assessment Objective 3)

Students can apply their knowledge of the world to real life examples.
Students can create well-structured and fluently written answers
Students use geographical terms with good levels of accuracy and good SPaG.

Skills (Assessment Objective 4)

Students can competently use a variety of sources including maps, atlases and images.
Students can collect, present, interpret and analyse data from a range of sources including, raw data, maps and graphs.
Students have a good grasp of mathematical and statistical skills to interpret geographical issues

In Geography we assess using the four assessment objectives listed above, throughout each topic in all year groups as per the Assessment and Reporting and Recording Data Handbook. This gives full coverage of the requisite skills needed in Geography. Schemata has been sequenced to provide a clear pathway for students to A-Level and further study.

Curriculum Impact:

St Aidan’s Catholic Academy considers the greatest impact of the curriculum to be high rates of student progress

Progress in:

Students will have contextual world and locational knowledge and will be able to compare and make judgements about places in different parts of the world.
Students will have a sound understanding of and articulate geographical processes, using use examples when appropriate.
Students will create well-structured and fluently written answers using geographical terms and examples confidently.
Students will communicate high levels of synopticity.
Students will apply information gathered from graphs and maps and apply them to a geographical issue.
Students will be able to choose which geographical skills to use and interpret my findings.
Students will use multiple mathematic and statistical skills to gather information to interpret geographical issues and concepts