WHY SHOULD STUDENTS CHOOSE geography?

The world in which we live is likely to change more in the next 50 years than it has ever done before. Our role in that change is more important than ever. If you want to make a difference in the world, choosing to study geography is a good place to start.

Geography focuses the minds of students on the geographical issues that are relevant to their generation.  It is a subject about the past, present, and the future; Geography gives a unique viewpoint combining political and economic aspects of our lives with an understanding of the natural world.

SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS

This course is suitable for students of all ability levels. Students with aspirations of Grade 7 and above can expect challenges and should always aim to complete ‘aim for 8’ extension tasks. This will often involve thinking in more detail about the causes, impacts and responses associated with key geographical events and the role decision-makers have in shaping the world in which we live. Students will be expected to think more deeply about the more complex interactions between people and the physical environment. We will be expecting the level of writing to be sophisticated and students will be able to write extended responses that show logical chains of reason, using key vocabulary with key geographical ideas explained and real case study information cited to illustrate the points they make.

Students aiming for Grade 4 and higher will be well supported with sentence structures to help craft written responses and core activities as part of a differentiated approach. We have a wide range of support materials to help revise key topics. We help support students with their connectives to structure sentences when attempting answers to questions that require longer answers.

As students approach their examinations, we offer both targeted and general revision sessions after school and at key times during tutor periods.

Course DEscription

This course is taught in three themes using an investigative approach to Geography, exploring key issues in an exciting and challenging way.

During the two-year course, you will learn about employment; industry; development; trade and aid; weather and climates; environmental hazards; landforms; coasts and rivers; ecosystems; environmental management and sustainability; water resources; urban and rural planning issues; global and megacities; newly industrialised countries and low-income countries; and the growth of settlements and development issues around the world, all of which are topical issues. Cartographic, research, investigation, data-handling, decision-making, debating, numerical skills, statistics, graphical and fieldwork techniques are just some of the skills you will learn to use during the course.

Fieldwork is an examined component of the GCSE and therefore fieldwork techniques and analysis of data are important in the course. A compulsory part of geography is that the school offers at least two free fieldwork opportunities (Portsmouth and Shoreham), which are organised during Year 10.

FURTHER EDUCATION AND CAREER PATHWAYS

Some jobs make direct use of geographical knowledge such as those in tourism, town planning and environmental management, sustainable business, and teaching. Geography is also useful for law, journalism, marketing, medicine and working in the media, for example, because it combines the understanding of the facts of the sciences with the perceptive skills of the arts. Geography careers offer opportunities to develop solutions to some of the most pressing problems for modern society, including climate change, natural disasters, overpopulation, urban expansion, multicultural integration.