Geography
The Geography Curriculum at RTS has been carefully designed to give students an understanding of the world around them, ranging from our local area to the global scale, and helping to challenge preconceptions and misconceptions about people and places. Through the team of specialist and passionate Geography teachers we enable students to have a deeper understanding of the modern world around them, giving them a platform to be informed global citizens with the confidence to question and enquire about their planet. Geography teaching at RTS covers a variety of topics that include the investigation into Earth’s physical processes, human actions and how these interact over time and space in order to create a series of challenges that young people must be prepared to tackle, prevent or adapt to in the coming decades. With an exciting and engaging offer of a variety of fieldtrips, investigations, case studies and extra-curricular activities we aim to develop students curiosity and fascination about the world in which they live and hope that this stays with them beyond their time at RTS and into later life.
Embedded throughout the curriculum are essential geographical skills. Through a series of up-to-date examples and case studies, students develop their cartographic, graphical, ICT and GIS skills, whilst through fieldwork and investigation opportunities students are empowered to enquire and develop critical thinking skills about the world around them. Geography is an essential bridging subject for young people, harnessing skills from a variety of different subjects. Whether it be the quantitative skills of Mathematics, creativity and extended writing skills of English or the investigative process of the Sciences, Geography has the ability to bring together the learning of young people in a powerful way that gives them a crucial insight and understanding into their ever-changing world.
Curriculum Content
Assessment Summary
In Key Stage 3 (Years 7-8) and Year 9 students will complete one assessed piece of work each half term. This assessment will be based on a particular aspect of the topic that has been studied during that half term, and will take the form of extended written responses, project work or assessment of a specific geographical skill. Student’s will be given a half-termly progress judgment by their teacher, reviewing their performance in their Geography lessons.
In Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11) students will complete at least one assessed piece of work each half term. This assessment will be based on an end of unit assessment or synoptic assessment (bringing together knowledge from a variety of lessons or topics) that have been studied during the GCSE course, and will take the form of GCSE style past paper questions (to include: extended written responses, multiple choice questions, use or completion of diagrams, problem solving or assessment of a specific geographical skill). Student’s will be given a percentage score and reported against a school average.
Y9 Bridging Year
All students in Year 9 will study Geography through our Wider Modern World curriculum, offering them an insight into key, current geographical issues across the world and enables them to critically analyse the potential solutions to these issues whilst giving opportunity to make links into other subjects.
For students who opt for GCSE Geography the Year 9 curriculum is a carefully planned and sequenced scheme of work entitled ‘Geography for the 21st Century’. This depth study, backed by extensive research by the Royal Geographical Society, develops student’s abilities to make synoptic links between a variety of topics across human and physical geography whilst embedding core geographical skills. There are exciting opportunities for fieldtrips and fieldwork incorporated into the Year 9 curriculum, such as visiting Hornsea on the East Yorkshire Coast, that helps bring to life the content of the classroom. Furthermore, we enrich student knowledge and understanding by going beyond the National Curriculum in completing depth studies of local, national and international case studies and experiencing essential geographical skills that equip students with the ability to handle the transition to GCSE Geography.