Curriculum - Geography

Cultural Capital

Within Geography, we encourage students to strive to become global citizens and to ‘speak, think and write like a Geographer’. We want students to not only explore a diverse range of concepts which intertwine physical and human Geography, but to develop their resilience to explore different sources of information to formulate their own opinion.

Our rich curriculum aims to support students to develop a wider skill set which can transfer into the world of work. We aim to expose students to future careers within our units of study which provides context into how Geography is relevant to them; now and in the future.

We focus upon their strands of communication and how they can present and defend their opinion on global issues and encourage students to reflect upon their current actions. We aim to develop students' cultural awareness, exploring different continents and local perspectives on issues throughout our 5 year curriculum.

Curriculum Journey

This is a map to show the learning journey in Geography from year 6 through to further education and possible careers.

Geography Curriculum 2022-2023.pdf

Overview of the learning journey in Geography

Year 7

Students begin to look at the qualities required to be a good geographer. We look at the topic ‘where in the world am I’, which aims to develop the sense of place, locational knowledge and the concept of interconnectedness. This topic aims to build students' confidence from KS2 and to aid their connections with their prior knowledge. We continue to develop their exploratory skills as we examine contrasting biomes around the world and their impact upon the population.

In the spring term, we investigate coastal processes that occur as the land meets the sea. We explore the key landforms connected with the coastline and the decisions surrounding

where and when to protect the coastline. We shift our focus to what life is like on the African continent. Our key question ‘What is the danger of telling a single story in Africa?’ allows students to challenge any prior misconceptions and how we can overcome these as we look at the continent exploring Africa’s biomes and economic status.

Our final term explores the physical geography in the UK, focusing on the physical systems stemming from both ice and water. We explore glacial and fluvial processes and their impact on the Lake District’s landscape. We end year 7 looking at weather and climate and complete fieldwork to explore the key question; where is the best location to set up a picnic bench at the Colne Community School?

Knowledge Organisers for Year 7

These are the knowledge organiser used by students in lessons to support the learning and retrieval of key information.

Year 8

Students build upon the key concepts developed in year 7, first looking at the physical and human characteristics of Brazil, focusing on the Amazon Rainforest and Rio de Janeiro. We continue this term looking at student’s perceptions of a country’s development in our topic ‘uneven world’, with a key focus upon inequality and the causes and consequences of uneven development.

Our spring term is focused upon two contrasting places within the world. We look at the big question of ‘who owns the Arctic?’ focusing upon the Arctic’s physical characteristics and development of this unique landscape.We then explore the continent of Asia and what life is like in different parts of the continent. We look at the physical Geography and how it can influence settlements, globalisation and differing levels of development.

Our final term takes us back to the UK, where we explore the opportunities and challenges within the UK, using key physical and human threads of Geography to debate these opportunities and challenges. We finish the year looking at river systems in the UK and how surfaces can impact the flood risks.

Knowledge Organisers for Year 8

These are the knowledge organiser used by students in lessons to support the learning and retrieval of key information.

Year 9

Our first topic in year 9 discusses differing solutions to reduce the development gap between low-income and high-income countries. We look at case studies to support differing strategies such as fair trade, debt relief and tourism whilst debating which are more successful in the long term. This unit is designed to support decision making; a key skill in preparation for students who choose to study GCSE Geography. We will move onto a physical topic of extreme weather, with a clear focus upon tropical storms around the world and flooding in the UK. We begin to retrieve key prior knowledge linking climate change and its impact upon extreme weather.

In the spring we move on to evaluating the global issue of health. We will explore the impact diseases have around the world and their impact upon development. Our focus on oracy within this topic is prominent to support student confidence in undertaking debating and presenting their opinions. The next topic explores crime and conflict, with the aim to encourage students to question their sense of place and investigate their local area’s current crime rates. We focus upon careers throughout this unit and get students to evaluate how the media can influence their perspectives on prevalent crimes.

Our final term will explore the theme of natural hazards around the world. We will look at the formation and the impact of earthquakes and volcanoes around the world, comparing different countries and how wealth affects the damage caused. We transition into this last term looking at themes within the GCSE and will end on virtual fieldwork and an enquiry question. Our aim, whether students finish Geography in Year 9 or continue to GCSE, is to develop a confident global citizen who is passionate about the world around them.

Knowledge Organisers for Year 9

These are the knowledge organiser used by students in lessons to support the learning and retrieval of key information.

Year 10

Students will build upon their Key Stage 3 knowledge as they begin their AQA GCSE Geography course. Our focus for year 10 is our first paper ‘Living with the physical environment’ which begins with exploring Our living world; section B of the exam.

We explore food chains, interdependence and biomes before focusing on two key biomes; the tropical rainforest and hot deserts. Our case studies explore the Malaysian Rainforest and the Thar Desert, which develops student’s knowledge on adaptations along with methods to evaluate sustainable options to manage these fragile environments.

Students will intersperse one unit of the human paper- Section A: urban issues and challenges which explores two contrasting cities; Lagos and London as they navigate rapid urban growth. We compare the opportunities and challenges of this growth and look at how urban planning can reduce certain social, economic and environmental challenges.

We continue in the spring term to look at extreme weather events such as tropical storms and heat waves, reducing their effects and the effects of climate change. Finally, we prepare for section C of paper 1; fluvial and coastal processes and their impacts upon the landscape. We visit Walton on the Naze as part of our compulsory fieldwork in Paper 3, along with Essex University to look at the sustainability of their campus.

Year 11

We explore Paper 2’s key topics linking to human Geography. We begin Year 11 looking at resource management, section C of Paper 2. We explore the three main resources of food, water and energy and their place within the world. We explore why there is a change in demand and provision of these resources and how they can create opportunities and challenges within the UK. We look more closely at our option topic of food, exploring the causes, impacts and solutions to reduce food scarcity around the world.

Our second half term turns to the topic of ‘the changing economic world’, section B of paper 2. We contrast economic development of countries, focusing on their wealth and how this can impact quality of life in contrasting locations.

We finalised with the topic of rivers (paper 1) whilst interleaving revision strategies to assist student’s retrieval. We recall our Year 10 knowledge whilst exploring key case studies linking to AQA GCSE. Our final focus after Easter is to look at Paper 3’s pre-release material (released 12 weeks before Paper 3) and geographical skills which are embedded across all three papers.

Knowledge Organisers for GCSE

These are the knowledge organiser used by students in lessons to support the learning and retrieval of key information.

Cultural Capital

Curriculum Journey

Overview of the learning journey in Geography

Year 7

Knowledge Organisers for Year 7

Year 8

Knowledge Organisers for Year 8

Year 9

Knowledge Organisers for Year 9

Year 10

Year 11

Knowledge Organisers for GCSE

Paper 1

Paper 2