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Geography
The Geography department at The Whitby High School aims to deliver an ambitious curriculum that equips students with powerful knowledge of both physical and human geography. Throughout their studies, students develop a wide range of transferable skills, including mathematical skills for data analysis, decision-making, problem-solving, and critical thinking. These skills are essential for interpreting and understanding complex geographical issues such as climate change, conflict, and sustainability.
In addition to academic skills, the curriculum encourages students to become global citizens who can engage critically with global issues. Students will be challenged to question traditional views and stereotypes, thereby increasing their awareness of the world around them. The curriculum also focuses on improving literacy, particularly in essay writing, comprehension, and the use of tiered language, to ensure students can communicate their geographical knowledge effectively.
Extra-curricular activities, such as the Eco-Club and field trips to local areas and places like Iceland, enrich students’ geographical learning. These experiences provide hands-on opportunities to explore environmental issues and observe geographical processes in real-world settings, deepening their understanding and sparking curiosity about the world around them.
The curriculum covers the National Curriculum’s core areas, including location and place, key physical and human processes, interactions, and geographical skills. Students are encouraged to build contextual knowledge of locations, exploring their features and understanding how these shape the processes that influence them. Students also investigate how these processes can create variations and changes over time. In KS3, the curriculum is structured thematically, helping students understand the purpose of their learning and their overall progression through school.
Key Stage 3
- Year 7: ‘Foundations of Geography’ builds core skills, from map reading to understanding different places and cultures.
- Year 8: ‘Global Environments and People’ investigates the incredible diversity of our planet, from ecosystems to how humans interact with them.
- Year 9: ‘Global Challenges and Connections’ tackles some of the most pressing issues of our time, such as climate change and sustainable development.
Key Stage 4
Our KS4 Geography curriculum, following the Eduqas A specification, aims to equip students with a deep understanding of the complex and dynamic world around them. Through the study of physical, human, and environmental geography, students will develop powerful knowledge that helps them to make sense of pressing global challenges, critically evaluate solutions, and become active, informed citizens.
- To develop conceptual understanding of key geographical processes and patterns, particularly those relating to weather, climate, rivers, coasts, ecosystems, development, urbanisation, and resource management.
- To prepare students to think geographically through critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving using real-world case studies that reflect both the UK and the wider world.
- To embed geographical skills, including cartographic, graphical, numerical, and statistical techniques, so students can interpret, analyse, and communicate spatial information with confidence.
- To provide meaningful opportunities for fieldwork, encouraging students to apply geographical enquiry methods in both physical and human landscapes, and reflect on the processes of collecting, presenting, and analysing geographical data.
- To ensure all students make excellent progress, regardless of background or prior attainment, and are well-prepared for further geographical study or future pathways where geographical thinking and awareness are valuable.
Key Stage 5
Our KS5 Geography curriculum builds upon prior knowledge from KS4, deepening students’ understanding and development of geographical skills. Students are encouraged to adopt a systems-based approach, exploring the interactions between physical and human processes.
Key areas of study include the complexity of global systems, the interconnections between different processes, and the ongoing changes within our world. The curriculum is designed to cultivate students’ independence, particularly through the Non-Examined Assessment (NEA). This component allows students time to develop a deeper understanding of coastal landscapes and changing places, which form the foundation of their independent investigation. The NEA helps students develop the important transferable skills of research, data analysis and evaluation. Contrasting fieldwork is undertaken, giving students the opportunity to engage with primary data collection.
As students progress in the course, more complex topics such as Global Systems and Global Governance are introduced. These units require a higher level of critical thinking and are explored in greater depth later in the course. Year 13 focuses on essay-based topics, including China, Tectonics and Ecosystems, which demand a broader, more interconnected understanding. These topics require students to provide more synoptic responses in their written answers.
The final section of the KS5 curriculum, 21st Century Challenges, integrates all prior learning. This component encourages students to apply skills such as evaluation, critical thinking, and analysis, preparing them for real-world decision-making and complex problem-solving.
Through this progression, students develop not only their geographical knowledge but also the key skills needed for further study or future career pathways, ensuring they are well-equipped to navigate the dynamic world around them.
Under review…
Under review…