Name of Head of Department
Ms A Trower, BSc (Hons), PGCE
Statement of Intent
At DHSG, our Geography Curriculum is designed to:
- celebrate the diversity of our world and cultivate curiosity about its places and people;
- critically analyse physical processes and human concepts ;
- embrace geographical thinking and independent enquiry, in our studies and in our own lives;
- nurture global citizens with the knowledge and skills to effect sustainable environmental change.
Key stage 3 (Year 7 and 8)
The KS3 course is intended to introduce students to the full scope of the subject from the very start and allow all students to appreciate and investigate the sheer variety of physical and human landscapes on our planet and how these are changing. The programme of study in each year at KS3 is carefully designed to incorporate a variety of places, scales and contemporary issues and is planned for the progression of skills, knowledge and understanding.
Year 7
Amazing Places; Weather and Climate; Our Changing Settlements; Our Frozen Planet – A Journey to Antarctica; Population and Resources; Oceans on the Edge.
Year 8
Ecosystems - Tropical Rainforests and Hot Deserts; Our Hazardous World – Volcanoes and Earthquakes; Globalisation and Fashion; Amazing Asia.
Key stage 4 (Year 9, 10 and 11)
Key stage 4 at DHSG
Students follow the AQA specification.
Full details of the specification and assessment criteria can be found on the AQA website GCSE Geography Specification
Teaching at Key Stage Four
Lessons and schemes of work are designed to build on students’ knowledge and understanding from Key Stage 3 and gradually progress these, alongside geographical skills, from Year 9 to Year 11. Topics are split across the three-year course to ensure a range of human and physical geography topics are studied within each year.
Year 9
- River landscapes of the UK
- Coastal landscapes of the UK
- Changing the economic world - Nigeria
Year 10
- The challenge of natural hazards
- Urban issues and challenges
- Fieldwork skills
Year 11
- The living world
- The challenge of resource management
- Changing the economic world – The UK
- Geographical enquiry and issue evaluation
Curriculum Programmes of Study
|
Year |
Cycle | Content |
|---|---|---|
|
Year 7 |
Cycle 1 |
Becoming a Geographer |
|
Cycle 2 |
Population and Resources |
|
|
Cycle 3 |
Our Frozen Planet |
|
|
Year 8
|
Cycle 1 |
Global Ecosystems |
|
Cycle 2 |
Our Hazardous World |
|
|
Cycle 3 |
Global Fashions |
|
|
Year 9 |
Cycle 1 |
Paper 1: Rivers |
|
Cycle 2 |
Paper 2: Changing Economic World |
|
|
Cycle 3 |
Paper 1: Coasts |
|
|
Year 10 |
Cycle 1 |
Paper 1: Natural Hazards |
|
Cycle 2 |
Paper 1: Natural Hazards |
|
|
Cycle 3 |
Paper 2: Urban Issues and Challenges |
|
|
Year 11 |
Cycle 1 |
Paper 3: Physical Fieldwork |
|
Cycle 2 |
Paper 1: Living World |
|
|
Cycle 3 |
Paper 3: Pre-release and revision |
Extra-curricular activities
Fieldwork is a fundamental part of the study of Geography and students are provided with a range of fieldwork opportunities. Below are some of the trips that run regularly in the department.
Key Stage 3
Year 7 – National Marine Aquarium – looking at threats to ocean ecosystems.
Year 8 – Eden Project – studying tropical rainforests and other biomes
Year 10 – Plymouth or Exeter city centre - investigating changing urban environments.
Year 11 – Dawlish Warren – investigating coastal processes and landforms.
Year 12 - Start Bay - investigating coastal processes and landforms in preparation for students’ own independent investigation.
Year 12 – Totnes and Haytor – investigating the concept of place identity in Totnes and studying water flows and carbon stores on Haytor on Dartmoor.
Year 12 – Devonport docks and Plymouth waterfront – investigating our local sense of place, urban regeneration and urban deprivation.
