Year 7

In Year 7 students start with What is the UK like? looking at investigating the local area, building skills and identifying weaknesses to build upon from Key Stage 2 whilst also learning about the geography of the UK and how humans interact with it. This topic expands on important local geography where they will become adept with using OS maps and atlases to understand physical and human factors that shape the land. The topic builds up to environmental impacts in the UK and how humans and the physical environment interact. As this is the theme throughout the curriculum it is explicitly taught on how to link these concepts together. The geographical skills and knowledge are interleaved to allow students to build confidence in appropriate math skills before applying it in a different context in Geography. Students then delve into looking at marine environments where they evaluate how humans are impacting this ecosystem on a global scale. Climate change will be introduced to allow students to understand how their actions have impacts on everything in the world, including coral reefs. Following from the impacts of climate change in marine environments, China will be studied will be evaluated to see whether a city can be sustainable in the future to reduce its environmental impact. Using all the knowledge and skills that students have learn thus far, they will then delve into China where they shall apply key human and physical geographical concepts to a specific country. China is a country that is classed as super power country and as a result, recurs in multiple topics throughout KS3 and allows students to create a depth of a country over several years.  Following on from China as a super power we study Russia (another country that has a superpower. Linking to marine environments and a country’s development we explore conflict that Russia creates regarding the Arctic and the resources found there. Fluvial environments will be explored through rivers where map skills in the local area will be reviewed whilst understanding how the water shapes the land at different parts of the course. Finally, at the end of Year 7, there will be an exploration into local geology by studying the Yorkshire Dales and they will link together their geographical skills with the concepts of ecosystems, land being shaped and the human and physical processes in the area whilst conducting a geographical enquiry.

Year 8

Using the knowledge learnt in Year 7 as foundational blocks for the curriculum in Year 8, students first look at weather and climate and how it is formed. This topic will introduce new concepts to the students which will support their knowledge throughout key stage 3 and 4. As weather and climate can be complex concepts to learn, students will apply this topic with a microclimate investigation on school site. Following this, they will apply their knowledge of the formation of weather to look at Asia. This topic will start looking at the impact of weather and climate in India and how this can cause flooding on the rivers linking back Year 7 and then move forward to looking at the differences in world biomes, their characteristics linking to climate and human impacts and conflicts. This links to deforestation, and flooding in Asia. The Middle East is then examined with an emphasis on resource management, water and oil, and how this has caused conflict in the area. Finally, at the end of the year, students revisit physical topics and start with coastal environments and how the water shapes the land. This builds on knowledge from Year 7 where they studied rivers and will apply similar theories to new environments.

Year 9

In Year 9 students start to look at how the physical world affects human lives in different ways. The year starts with looking at how natural hazards affect human lives, focusing on case studies such as the Japanese volcanic eruption and earthquakes in Ecuador which plunged the country into further poverty, the Boxing Day tsunami which was undetected causing international devastation and atmospheric hazards in the form of tornadoes. This offers the students to compare and contrast countries of different wealth and their responses to natural hazards and to decide whether natural hazards are always devastating of if human involvement exacerbates this. Students then move to industry and investigate the global concept of globalisation and how industry has social, economic and environmental advantages and disadvantages.. Focus then moves towards Africa and the relationship between people and the environment. Opportunities and challenges in Africa will be focused on through the lens of resource exploitation. Opportunities from resource exploitation will show the potential for African countries to flourish economically but how the challenges come from “resource curses” and the pressure to make profit. In term 3, students focus on two smaller topics firstly considering the future of our food supply. This revisits the concept of sustainability through the environmental impact of food production contributing to the enhanced greenhouse gas effect. Students will then look at alternatives to the traditional food supply such as insects to replace meat, changes to where we get our food from and genetically modified foods before deciding about where the future of food will come from. Finally, the students will look at glaciation to understand how the upland areas near to them have been shaped by processes thousands of years ago but offer opportunities for tourism today still.

KS4

Our GCSE Geography course follows the AQA GCSE Geography (8035) specification and enables students to develop a deep understanding of both the physical and human processes that shape our world. Throughout the course, students explore current global challenges, investigate real-world case studies and develop the analytical and evaluative skills needed to become informed global citizens.

Year 10

In Year 10, students study Paper 1: Living with the Physical Environment alongside Urban Issues from Paper 2 and fieldwork preparation. Within the topic The Challenge of Natural Hazards, students learn about the structure of the Earth and plate tectonics theory, focusing particularly on tectonic hazards and earthquakes. They examine the causes, effects and responses to a named earthquake and explore how risk can be reduced through prediction, protection and planning. Students also study weather hazards, including global atmospheric circulation and tropical storms, with detailed reference to Hurricane Katrina. They investigate the impacts and management of tropical storms, UK weather hazards and climate change, including its evidence, causes, impacts and responses.

As part of The Living World, students explore ecosystems and the concept of interdependence. They study tropical rainforests, examining their climate, biodiversity and the impacts of deforestation, alongside strategies for sustainable management. They also investigate hot desert environments, considering the opportunities and challenges they present and how these fragile environments can be managed sustainably.

Students then examine Physical Landscapes in the UK, focusing on rivers and coasts. In the rivers unit, they study fluvial processes, river landforms, the long and cross profile of rivers and the causes and management of flooding. In the coasts unit, students explore coastal processes such as erosion, transportation and deposition, the formation of coastal landforms and a range of coastal management strategies, including hard and soft engineering approaches.

Alongside Paper 1 content, Year 10 students begin Paper 2: Challenges in the Human Environment, studying Urban Issues and Challenges. They investigate global urbanisation, the growth of mega-cities and the opportunities and challenges faced by cities in countries at different levels of development. Students also explore urban change in the UK and strategies for creating sustainable cities.

Fieldwork is an essential component of the AQA specification. Students complete two geographical enquiries, one in a physical environment and one in a human environment. Through fieldwork, they develop skills in data collection, presentation and analysis, including the use of maps, field sketches, graphs and basic statistical techniques such as mean, median, mode and range. They learn how to draw conclusions, evaluate the reliability of their data and prepare for the fieldwork questions in Paper 3.

Year 11

In Year 11, students complete Paper 2: Challenges in the Human Environment by studying The Changing Economic World and The Challenge of Resource Management, with a particular focus on energy. In The Changing Economic World, students examine how development is measured, why uneven development exists and the strategies used to reduce the development gap. They study the role of transnational corporations, globalisation and economic change in the UK. In The Challenge of Resource Management, students investigate global patterns of resource consumption, energy supply and demand, energy security, the environmental impacts of fossil fuels and the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy. They evaluate sustainable energy management strategies at different scales.

Students also prepare for Paper 3: Geographical Applications, which includes the AQA pre-release resource booklet. They develop the ability to interpret unfamiliar sources, analyse data, apply case study knowledge and construct well-structured extended responses. Throughout the course, students build essential geographical skills including map skills (such as OS map interpretation, grid references and scale), graphical and statistical analysis, critical thinking, decision-making, problem solving and effective written communication.

Learning Journeys

Year 7 Geography Learning Journey

Year 8 Geography Learning Journey

Year 9 Geography Learning Journey

Year 10 Geography Learning Journey

Year 11 Geography Learning Journey

To find out more about our Geography curriculum, please contact Mr W Davidson, Head of Humanities and MFL, by emailing wdavidson@westcraven.co.uk or phoning the main office to arrange a call back.