Geography

Welcome

Global, national and local issues are having a real impact on our lives now, covering wide ranging topics such as climate change, coastal erosion and the spread of disease or poverty.  Some of these issues are widely reported in the media and Geography helps you understand what is involved, allowing you to make up your own mind about them. 

We aim to help pupils acquire knowledge and skills relevant to life in a changing world and to respect moral values and tolerance of different communities and culture in our society and elsewhere in the world.

Geography also encourages you to develop and use a variety of skills such as analysing data, using ICT and empathising with people.  Geography enables you to think independently and understand more about what is going on around you.

KS 3 Information

Year 7

Pupils study a combined course that includes Geography, History and Citizenship.

Unit 1 addresses the questions, who are you? Where do you live? It asks pupils to focus on themselves, the nature of the local environment and its history.

Unit 2 focuses on the question, Why is there a castle at Helmsley? Pupils develop their map reading skills, explore the links with the Norman Conquest and develop their understanding of castle development.  The course culminates in fieldwork at Helmsley using a variety of investigative techniques.

Year 8

Pupils study a range of human and physical topics and their environmental impact.  A study of the growth and development of Snaith provides the basis for work on Settlements.

The Restless Earth unit investigates the movement of tectonic plates as the cause of earthquakes and volcanoes.  Current environmental concerns are investigated when studying selected economic activities, including global warming and flooding.

Year 9

Pupils study a range of topics at a global level to raise their awareness of key issues in our constantly changing world.  The “Who wants to be a billionaire?” module raises important questions about the nature of global citizenship and the importance of money for quality of life and happiness.  “Africa: a continent of contrasts” module aims to introduce pupils to the huge variation in geography that exists in this complex continent.  The “Coasts” unit investigates the processes that shape and change our coastal fringe; whilst “Fashion and Football” investigates how globalisation has changed the world we live in today.

KS 4 Information

The AQA GCSE Geography (Specification A) course builds on the four aspects of geography identified in the English National Curriculum; geographical skills and enquiry, the knowledge and understanding of places, patterns and processes, and of environmental change and sustainable development.

The course involves the study of three physical geography topics, namely Tectonic Processes, Glacial Landscapes and Rocks and the Landscape.  The human geography topics studied are Urban Landscapes, Tourism and Globalisation.

Some of these topics build on work completed in key stage 3 whilst others are new.

Next Steps

There are a wide range of careers for pupils who study Geography and many local colleges in the area provide the opportunity to study Geography at A level.

A qualification in Geography is useful in jobs and careers linked with science, the environment, building and construction, leisure, sport and tourism.