The aim of the Geography curriculum is to inspire all students, regardless of background or circumstance, to become confident and globally-informed citizens who are able to engage in lifelong conversations about the world. Students will develop meaningful knowledge of a wide range of places, environments and features to encourage them to interrogate geographical claims about the world around them.

The learner’s journey starts in Year 7, where the scheme of work initially builds on previous learning at Key Stage 2, by consolidating geographical skills and the student’s geographical place in the world by focusing on ‘Amazing Places’, which aims to incite curiosity about the world around them. Key geographical knowledge, such as the appreciation of physical processes and their ability to shape landscapes, gives students a fundamental understanding of content to be covered in Year 10. The sequence of learning into Year 8 allows students to extend their spatial awareness of a range of countries, providing an appreciation of the human and physical interactions in continents such as Africa, and to challenge their misconceptions. Local fieldwork opportunities are provided to support learning beyond the classroom.

At the start of Year 9, learners focus on the most current topical global issues that challenge them to understand the world around them. Students are empowered to investigate how the decisions that we make on a daily basis have a global impact. This challenges them to become more effective citizens, who may in the future contribute to solving the issues that affect the world. Learners at Pate’s are encouraged to apply their learnt knowledge, understanding and skills, both inside and outside of the classroom. By the end of Key Stage 3, most students will have developed a core geographical understanding of the diversity of environments, cultures and economies in order to create socially aware global citizens.

Students follow the AQA GCSE course, studying a broad mix of topics, combining both the human and physical elements of the syllabus. Students are encouraged to make synoptic links between the three main components: Living with the physical environment, Challenges in the human environment and Geographical applications, in order to realise the multi-disciplinary nature of geography. The scheme of work is structured to ensure that geographical skills are embedded across the three main components. We go beyond the exam syllabus so that learners can play a role in their journey towards becoming highly skilled geographers. Furthermore, students are encouraged to make use of current affairs to develop their knowledge and wider understanding of the world in which they reside. The sequence of learning allows students to apply their knowledge of physical processes and human concepts in the field, as the curriculum is enriched by a residential field trip run by the Field Studies Council in South Wales.

Studying Geography at A Level allows students to develop a high order of knowledge and understanding, whilst investigating and exploring topics that are at the forefront of 21st century thinking. Learners will develop a variety of geographical skills, which will help to broaden and deepen their knowledge, and they will approach their studies in a more self-directed manner than previously experienced at GCSE. Areas of study are sequenced with the intent that knowledge and understanding of places, environments, concepts, processes, interactions and change, at a variety of scales, can be retrieved and consolidated throughout the course.

Learners in Year 12 will study the AQA A Level Geography course, which comprises three elements: physical geography, human geography and a fieldwork investigation. Both the human and physical topics studied in Year 12 provide the building blocks for students to complete an independent investigation for the Non-Examined Assessment (NEA), which is a coursework component of between 3,000 – 4,000 words. This Geography fieldwork investigation is facilitated through a 5-day residential trip to Nettlecombe Court at the start of Year 13.

In Year 13 students continue to follow the AQA course, studying topics such as Hazards, which allows students to transfer and consolidate knowledge of key environments, processes and systems previously learnt in the Water and Carbon unit, as well as developing learning from GCSE. There are also opportunities for synoptic links to be created from the Year 12 topic on Global Systems and Governance. Students will complete their NEA, providing the transferable skills necessary for success in Higher Education and future careers.