At Spring Hill High School, our aim as a Geography Department is to provide a high quality curriculum that encompasses the key knowledge and skills needed while also cultivating then nurturing an awe and curiosity of the world that surrounds us, both on a local and global scale.
Our topic areas cover a wide range of physical and human processes that affect or impact upon a range of people or environments. As our learners progress through their learning journey, they develop a depth of understanding of different environmental, economic and social factors that impact on the world around us. As a school, we offer a variety of topic areas and qualifications to cater to a wide range of learners.
Key Stage 3
Year 7 & 8
As a department, our initial goal in lower Key Stage 3 is to create a learning environment that inspires creativity and enjoyment through Geography.
Learning takes place through a range of activities, including Art, ICT and model making tasks. Topics covered include Rainforests, Rivers and Volcanoes, while in the summer term the learner chooses a Geography project from a wide range of options. Teaching also incorporates basic world/locational knowledge and practical subject skill to provide learners with the required foundation skills in the subject. AQA Unit Awards are used to accredit the work and efforts our learners put forward.
Year 9
Learning in Year 9 is designed to prepare students for choosing their appropriate learning route as they move forwards into Key Stage 4.
Topic areas covered include Coasts, Natural Hazards, Settlements and Tourism; these areas of study have been chosen so that learners have a grounding in them should they choose to move forwards towards a GCSE qualification. Key Geography skills are developed throughout the academic year while moral and social impacts of human and physical processes are discussed in more depth in line with the school’s dedicated SMSC ethos. GCSE lessons are introduced in the Summer Term if learners are taking this qualification route.
Key Stage 4
Year 10 +
Learners in Year 10 and above are provided with the option of two qualification routes.
Spring Hill High School offers the GCSE AQA Geography A specification to students who wish to pursue this option. From September 2017, learners will undertake a new specification of learning in line with AQA’s new syllabus. This is a 2 year course, with 3 written examinations at the end. The course also requires learners to undertake two practical fieldwork investigations outside of the school grounds.
The 3 primary modules of GCSE study from the course syllabus include Living with the physical environment, where learners study the challenges of natural hazards, the living world and physical landscapes in the UK, Challenges in the human environment, which includes urban issues and challenges, the changing economic world and the challenge of resource management, as well as Geographical applications, which entails issue evaluation (provided from an AQA booklet prior to the exam) and fieldwork decided between the teacher and pupil in accordance with AQA syllabus guidelines.
For students who do not wish to pursue a GCSE in Geography, we provide the opportunity to study Unit Awards. Our aim when delivering this course is to promote awareness of a wide range of physical and human issues that affect us on a global scale. Student’s have a choice of modules and tasks depending on interests and levels of attainment.
Assessment in Geography
Assessment: This will be ongoing through in class study and Pupil self assessment and peer assessment of work
There is an opportunity for pupils become certified in their study through the AQA Unit awards scheme.
