“Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock.” Matthew 7:25

Vision    

The geography department at Mount Carmel aims to promote academic excellence by providing all pupils with skills and knowledge they need to understand world around them. By studying geography, we inspire pupils to be curious and fascinated about the world and its people.  Pupils will explore and develop knowledge of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments.  

Through studying geography, pupils are given the opportunity to develop literacy and numeracy skills in the context of real-life situations and through exploring detailed case studies. Pupils are also given the opportunity to investigate the world around them with practical investigations and field trips to geographical locations, improving their self-confidence and underpinning future learning.   

We want pupils to love geography and know that they will get stimulating lessons with the support and care provided by the department. Geography is all around us and as such is an ideal subject to prepare pupils for future challenges, be it further study or entrance to the world of work.    

Intent KS3

At Mount Carmel, pupils receive two hours of geography lessons per week at Key Stage 3, the course aims to develop students human and physical understanding of the world and the develop the skills and knowledge to support students to compete with students from the most privileged backgrounds.  

KS3 Curriculum 

At Mount Carmel, pupils study a varied curriculum at Key Stage 3 which has been planned to cover the national curriculum and provides pupils with the knowledge and skills needed to understand the world around them. Our curriculum is focused on providing a strong foundation for inspiring well-rounded and well informed life-long learners. 
We aim to teach a combination of physical, human and environmental topics whilst supporting the development literacy and numeracy skills which are a key part of geography. 

Topics taught

The topics taught at Key Stage 3 have been carefully selected and sequenced to allow pupils to make connections and build powerful knowledge overtime. We aim to build up pupils’ use of map skills, field work skills and to increase their knowledge of the World. Students study a range of topics and themes both in the UK and around the world to build students cultural capital and develop well informed global citizens. 

Year 7 Topics: Exploring the United Kingdom, Weather and Climate, Russia, Settlements and The Yorkshire Dales.

Year 8 Topics: Natural Hazards, Coasts, Marine Environments, Food Resources and Himalayas.

Year 9 Topics: Rivers, Biomes, China, Industry and The Middle East

How will the subject be assessed? 

At key stage 3, assessment takes place formatively through low-stakes testing and extended writing tasks. Summative assessments take place through three PPE assessments during the year. Assessments are used to measure progress, inform teaching and identify areas for continued development.

Intent KS4   

KS4 curriculum

At key stage 4, pupils work towards the AQA GCSE in geography.  This course allows more of a focus on UK geography which we feel suits the majority of our pupils’ needs. It also allows us to develop fieldwork skills with the aim to promote a greater uptake of geography and related study in further education. Students study a range of human and physical topics throughout the course which are sequenced to support strong progress. 
 

How will the subject be assessed?

Paper 1: Living with the physical environment

What's assessed:  The challenge of natural hazards; the living world; physical landscapes in the UK; geographical skills.

How it's assessed:
• Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes
• 88 marks (including 3 marks for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology (SPaG))
• 35% of GCSE

Questions:
• Section A: answer all questions (33 marks)
• Section B: answer all questions (25 marks)
• Section C: answer any two questions from questions 3, 4 and 5 (30 marks)
• Question types: multiple-choice, short answer, levels of response, extended prose

Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment

What's assessed:  Urban issues and challenges; the changing economic world; the challenge of resource management; geographical skills. 

How it's assessed:
• Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes
• 88 marks (including 3 marks for SPaG)
• 35% of GCSE

Questions:
• Section A: answer all questions (33 marks)
• Section B: answer all questions (30 marks)
• Section C: answer question 3 (coasts) and question 4 (rivers) (25 marks)
• Question types: multiple-choice, short answer, levels of response, extended prose

Paper 3: Geographical applications

What's assessed: issue evaluation; fieldwork; geographical skills.
How it's assessed: 
• Written exam: 1 hour 15 minutes
• 76 marks (including 6 marks for SPaG)
• 30% of GCSE
• Pre-release resources booklet made available 12 weeks before Paper 3 exam

Questions:
• Section A: answer all questions (37 marks)
• Section B: answer all questions (39 marks)
• Question types: multiple-choice, short answer, levels of response, extended prose

Enrichment and / or extra curricular activities    

•    GCSE classes have a compulsory field trip to Cleveleys Beach and Salford Quays as part of their course.
•    There is a geography trip for each year group at KS3 related to our curriculum content. 
•    Geography is strongly linked to the Eco Club 

Impact:

Next steps (College, University, career)    

What can the subject prepare me for?

The course is designed to prepare learners for further qualifications in geography and earth sciences, including: environmental science, geology, biology, chemistry, physics and engineering.  In addition, learners will develop a broad knowledge of the human and environmental elements of the world around them, including: business, trade, finance, climate issues, population and the economy.

The following transferable skills are present throughout the geography curriculum:
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Research
•    Problem solving
•    Graphical skills
•    Statistics
•    Self-assessment
•    Evaluation
•    Leadership
•    Presentation
•    Literacy skills, including extended writing
•    Map skills
•    Internet based research
•    Geographical locations

Additional resources:    

AQA GCSE geography specification at a glance : 

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/geography/gcse/geography-8035/specification-at-a-glance

For geography students and to help answer exam questions:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zkw76sg

Support for the geographical applications element of the course: 

https://www.geography-fieldwork.org/gcse/

Support for geographical knowledge (both physical and human):

https://www.internetgeography.net/