Geography
With a key focus on the contemporary environmental issues facing the world, students are educated on the changes within the eco-system.
Pupils study and analyse the physical changes in the atmosphere pivoting on the geographical nature of Britain. A component of the English Baccalaureate, Geography is core to the academic progression of the students at TIBHS.
Studying Geography will allow pupils to understand their place in the modern world. Our curriculum will give pupils a complete understanding of our world’s physical, human, and political environments. As pupils progress, they will deepen their understanding of the links between physical and human processes.
Geographical knowledge, understanding and key skills provide the structure that will explain how the Earth’s features – at different scales – are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
Pupils study geography by understanding unique human and physical environments, both on a local and global level.
To underpin the locational and spatial knowledge, pupils use atlases, google maps and models to allow them to develop a link to human and physical topics they learn in the classroom. From cold environments in Svalbard to the rainforests of Malaysia, pupils also learn locational knowledge about Antarctica, Kenya and China.
Geography is also studied outside the classroom through enrichment fieldtrips to Formby national reserve to study coastal defences and sand dunes formation, river erosion in the Lake District and for in depth look at social inequality in urban areas.
KS3 focuses on studying places at a variety of different scales, by looking at the human and physical processes that shape and change them. Geographical skills are developed to enhance and deepen geographical thinking. Pupils will start the year learning about OS maps and geographical skills as these are the bedrock topics that are needed across all key stages. Pupils will learn about sustainable development of rainforests, how Kenya and Africa have developed over time, and how the Sefton Coastline can be managed.
Year 8 and year 9 builds on the strong foundation of year 7 and provides pupils with the opportunity to become more confident in analysing information from a variety of sources to form conclusions about a range of issues and processes that affect people, the environment, and the natural landscape at a variety of scales and across a range of places. Pupils become increasingly confident in making cross-curricular links. Pupils will learn about the last wilderness, Alaska and Antarctica, Natural hazards through the lens of the Gorka Earthquake, Climate Change and how rivers can be managed.
| AQA |
At KS4, pupils follow the AQA GCSE Geography programme of study. This builds on the foundation they have developed throughout KS3 and is spread across three different papers. Paper 1 focuses on the physical landscape and how humans are interconnected and affected by the earth’s physical processes. There are three topics, UK Physical Landscapes (rivers and coasts), The Living World (tropical rainforests and cold environments) and The Challenge of Natural Hazards.
Paper 2 focuses on issues in the human environment through studies of Urban Issues and Challenges, The Changing Economic World and Managing Resources.
For Paper 3, pupils demonstrate their geographical skills and developed ability to ‘think like a geographer’ to explore fieldwork investigations and a contemporary issue evaluation and decision-making exercise.
At Tauheedul boys, pupils are offered a wide range of enrichment through fieldtrips. Pupils get to see Geography in action by studying coastal defences at Sefton in Formby Beach, completing a river study in Blencathra, and looking at social change in Liverpool, Blackburn and Manchester.
Geography can open the doors to many careers and provides a range of skills that can help pupils enter different fields. Jobs in Geography include:
- Cartographer
- Climate Change Analyst
- Climatologist
- Emergency Management Specialist
- Geomorphologist
- Geospatial analyst
- GIS specialist
- Hydrologist.
Pupils with SEND are offered a wide, aspirational and ambitious curriculum across all subject areas through the All Stars Succeed strategy which emphasises the importance of Quality First Teaching. Every teacher has been trained on the understanding of pupil needs and implementation of high-impact adaptive strategies to enable pupils with SEND to make excellent progress, such as the use of High 5 strategies (informed by research conducted by the EEF) to create an inclusive environment in their teaching spaces. Moreover, the subject-specific All Stars Succeed charters allow for the implementation of subject-specific support in the classroom to help pupils overcome their barriers.
Collaboration between Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) and classroom practitioners on MS Teams before, during and after a lesson is a pivotal mechanism to ensure there is a coordinated approach towards support for pupils with SEND. This is evidenced with a purple pen in student books.
Star Maps are created in collaboration with the SENCO, class teachers, pupils and parents advising on strategies to help break down any barriers to learning. Strategies include adaptive teaching methods that are specific to a particular need as well as subject-specific adaptive teaching methods for subjects in which a pupil may find additional challenge due to his need. Star Maps are reviewed on a termly basis strategies by teachers, parents and pupils. These meetings are led by members of the senior leadership team. Star Maps support pupils with a variety of needs including, visual impairment, cognition and learning difficulties, physical disabilities, speech, language and communication difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder, dyslexia, and social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
Ancillary aids and assistive technologies are also utilised to enhance provision and ensure access. Learning aids are deployed to specific pupils with SEN, particularly those with visual impairments and difficulties with writing. Pupils are provided with a mobile learning device to aid research, independent working and innovative approaches to learning. Pupils are also given access to a Virtual Learning Environment through Microsoft Teams and Microsoft
OneNote to access resources and complete learning at school and at home with a device.
Specialist careers advice is provided by New Directions to prepare pupils with SEND for further education and transition to adult life.
Geography offers great potential for leadership; be that through teamwork in lessons and stepping up to present the group’s findings or the completion of projects during the year and taking ownership by presenting to the class. This is shown through the leadership framework by:
They show civic and moral leadership by Learning about their environment and the responsibility they have in protecting the environment. We teach out pupils to be stewards of this Earth and teach those and pass on the message of providing a sustainable future for all.
Working together to collect primary and secondary data, group work on fieldtrips, working together on class projects on coastal management.
Geography incorporates real life experiences as the knowledge and topics covers modern day issues such as climate change, recycling, and pollution of our oceans. Pupils use a wide range of resources such as GIS (Geographical Information Systems), hands on resources such as globes, model volcanoes and model rivers, this helps bring the learning to life in the classroom.
We also have special days such as World Earth Day, where Geography takes over the school, with special events across other subjects that helps to link learning with a geographical theme.
Geography Learning Journey 2023-24
In your son’s exercise book, you will find a number of key documentation:
Visual Learning Journeys – An overview of the key knowledge he will study from Y7-11 (vertical) and in your son’s specific year for each subject (horizontal).
Lesson specific Learning Journey – You will also be able to access a learning journey in your son’s exercise book which will allow him to articulate the bigger picture and make links between topics and lessons. This document includes the lesson outcome/s and key knowledge components for each lesson in the half term. This will serve as the reference point for all key learning and revision topics for the given half term whilst helping him to know more and remember more over time.