Geography
There has never been a more important time for students to study geography. From climate change to natural disasters, and from Brexit to social inequality, geography really is the subject for an ever changing and increasingly complex world. Geography is about finding patterns in the complexity of the world and we aim to give our students a deep and secure knowledge of geography so that they can start to make sense of the world1.
Skill
Ever since Eratosthenes coined the phrase geö-graphia, which literally means ‘writing the world’, geographers have sought to learn about the world around them. As the next generation of geographers, we want our students to benefit from thousands of years of discoveries about our planet and for them to use this knowledge to make sense of the complex world.
The central focus of geography is places, how they are connected to one another and how they interact with both human and natural processes. At TGAR, we aim to provide students with a high-quality geography education which gives them knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. Students can be expected to know the locations of the places they are studying.
As students progress in geography at TGAR, their growing knowledge about the world will give them a deeper understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes and the formation and use of landscapes and environments.
Character
As well as being an instruction manual for the present, geography is our students’ inheritance as one day they will be the decision-makers, the policy writers and the influencers. It is therefore vital that we create global citizens that are aware of and understands the wider world – and their place in it. At TGAR we believe that all of our students can make a difference and we encourage them to develop the knowledge, skills and values they need to engage with the world.
We feel that through geography, our students can contribute to the school community and beyond as becoming global citizens allows students to:
- Build their own understanding of world events.
- Think about their values and what’s important to them.
- Take learning into the real world.
- Challenge ignorance and intolerance.
- Get involved in their local, national and global communities.
- Develop an argument and voice their opinions.
- See that they have power to act and influence the world around them.
Experiences
As well as learning about the world, we encourage our students to experience the world around them and get a sense of different places in the world. We do this in the classroom, using a number of resources from pictures and videos through to maps and GIS. However, it is outside of the classroom where students will get to experience fieldwork and gain a much deeper understanding of the world around them.
Fieldwork offers our students the chance to explore first-hand how physical and human processes are changing our world. At TGA Redditch, we offer opportunities for fieldwork across all key stages. From studying the geography of our local area, to studying large urban areas and visiting physical landscapes, we aim to give our students a broad experience outside as well as inside the classroom.
Criticality
We aim to inspire in students a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Indeed, to gain a deep and secure knowledge of geography and start making sense of the world, students need to ‘think like a geographer’. This means that students will not only look at the world, but also investigate it.
We aim to take what students already know about the world around them, help them make sense of that, but also make new connections to ideas and knowledge that they will not have come across before. Students will learn to see the world differently and understand the processes that happen around us. Students will draw on other disciplines, such as biology, chemistry, maths and history to make conclusions about the world1.
Additionally, we aim to give students a sense of place, so that when they are studying different places they gain an understanding of those places. Through a range of secondary sources of information, students will learn about cultural, political, social, economic and environmental characteristics of different places and as such will think about the world and its people in a curious and fascinated way.
Term 1 | Term 2 | Term 3 | |
THEME/FOCUS | |||
Year 9 KS3 (3 Lessons a fortnight) | My Place in the World World cities, countries and continents. UK locations. OS map work: compass, symbols, scale, grid references, height & relief USA: How do people adapt to living with extreme weather? Weather and climate, hurricanes, wildfires and climate change | Uganda: How does the human and physical geography of a place determine people’s quality of life? Physical geography, population, development & closing the development gap Ice Age Climate over time, Britain’s ice age, glacial erosion and deposition, landforms and human impacts | Wild Water River characteristics and processes, river landforms, river valley case study, flooding: cause, effects and management strategies, case study of flooding and management Cracking Coasts Coastal processes, coastal landforms, coastal case study, management strategies and case study |
Year 10 | Hazards & Climate Change Tectonic Hazards – Plate Tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes Weather Hazards – Tropical storms and UK extreme weather Climate Change – causes, evidence, effects and management | Urban Issues Urbanisation NEE case study (Rio de Janiero) – Challenges and opportunities A case study of a major city in UK -Challenges and opportunities Urban sustainability | Living World Living World – Ecosystems Living World – Rainforests: ecosystems, adaptations, challenges and opportunities Living World – Hot Deserts: ecosystems, adaptations, challenges and opportunities |
Year 11 | Economic World Development – development indicators, the development gap and strategies to close the gap Nigeria NEE case study – importance, TNC’s, aid, environmental challenges. The UK Economy – Deindustrialisation, economic change, strategies to improve the economy, transport and the EU | Economic World & Revision Development Nigeria NEE case study The UK Economy | Revision: all topics |
Year 12 | Glacial Systems and Landscapes Glaciers as natural systems The nature and distribution of cold environments Systems and processes Glaciated landscape development Human impacts on cold environments Case studies | Urban Environments Urbanisation Urban forms Social and economic issues associated with urbanisation Urban climate Urban drainage Urban waste and its disposal Other contemporary urban environmental issues Sustainable urban development | Hazards The concept of hazard in a geographical context Plate tectonics Volcanic hazards Seismic hazards Storm hazards Fires in nature Case studies |
Year 13 | Global Systems and Global Governance Globalisation Global systems International trade and access to markets Global governance The ‘global commons’ Antarctica as a global common Globalisation critique | Water and Carbon Cycles / Independent Investigation Water and carbon cycles as natural systems The water cycle The carbon cycle Water, carbon, climate and life on Earth Case studies | Changing Places / EXAMS The nature and importance of places Changing places – relationships, connections, meaning and representation Relationships and connections Meaning and representation Quantitative and qualitative skills Place studies |