Geography
At Clayton Hall Academy, the International Studies Faculty has been established to serve the needs of the community by nurturing a multi-lingual, multi-literate and multi-cultural experience, preparing students to be thoughtful, engaged and educated citizens of a globally aware society.
This is underpinned by Gold Standard Quality First Teaching meaning high quality inclusive teaching, together with our continuous whole school processes for assessing, planning, implementing, tracking, monitoring and reviewing student’s progress, we specifically pledge to develop:
- Student autonomy
- Actively involved and engaged learning
- Cultural enrichment and awareness
- Communication capabilities and
- Skills specific to the study of International Studies
Gold Standard Teaching and Learning across the Faculty
- Effective seating plans to be available, highlighting students who are PP, SEN and G&T
- Assessment maps, interweaved with PLC’s, to be integral in developing a students’ autonomy and understanding of their own progression and target setting
- Regular use of subject specific terminology (supporting Tier 3 Language Skills) to be used by the teacher and students, across both Key Stages, so that the students retention skills are developed, supporting the higher grades at GCSE Level. This is a key focus for 2019 – 2020.
- To foster a sense of Geographical Enquiry via the following 4 key areas: a) Creating a need to know, b) Confident use and manipulation of data, c) Making sense of and d) Reflecting on learning and being able to analyse with effective reasoning. What do each of these 4 key areas cover in more specific detail?
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- Creating a need to know: students are encouraged to be curious, to speculate, to hypothesise, to use their imagination and to identify issues.
- Using data: students should be able to locate evidence, collect evidence, select evidence, sort data, classify data and sequence data.
- Making Sense: Students are taught how to relate existing knowledge to new knowledge, describe and explain, compare and contrast, interpret, analyse values and reach conclusions.
- Reflecting on learning & being critical about: students will be able to apply these skills when using data sources, when making judgements, when considering what has been learnt and how, when considering how enquiry could be improved and developed, when evaluating the value of what has been learnt.
Alongside all of the above, the following general pedagogical techniques are also crucial:
- Appropriate differentiation
- Stretch and challenge through questioning, modelling (both student and teacher) and via the variety of tasks set
- Assessment for learning
- Effective use of summative data to inform short, medium and long-term planning
- DIRT
- Pair work, group work and independent work
Long Term Assessment Plan – Key Stage 3
Year 7
| When | What we are Assessing
e.g. Topics/ Skills etc |
How we are Assessing
e.g. Extended writing, Project, exam etc |
| Autumn 1 | Where in the World? Lessons on basic Geography skills and explaining different types of Geography.
Baseline test Choosing the site for a settlement |
Exam
Extended Writing |
| Autumn 2 | Settlements and Population. This looks at how settlements start and grow, the impacts of growing populations and then explores why people migrate between countries.
Refugee Assessment |
Extended Writing |
| Spring 1 | A Watery World. Students learn about the hydrological cycle, river landscapes and effects of flooding.
Enquiry Task – Infiltration rates |
Enquiry Cycle (Mini Fieldwork Project) |
| Spring 2 | Africa is not a Country! Students learn about different aspects of life in Africa, especially in Kenya. | Exam |
| Summer 1 | Ecosystems. Following on from Africa, they learn about deserts, rainforests and coral reefs. | GCSE ‘Style’ Exam |
| Summer 2 | Why does it Always Rain on Me? Students learn about the weather, for example different types of rainfall and explore some of the extremes like hurricanes.
Weather and Climate |
Climate Graph Interpretation Task |
Year 8
| When | What we are Assessing
e.g. Topics/ Skills etc |
How we are Assessing
e.g. Extended writing, Project, exam etc |
| Autumn 1 | Shake, Rattle and Roll. Students learn about the structure of the Earth and how it affects our lives through earthquakes, volcanoes and Tsunamis.
Plate tectonics |
Extended Writing (Zona Rosa) |
| Autumn 2 | Development. This unit explores how we compare countries in different ways and how they change and develop over time.
Comparing Development Indicators |
Practical assessment on producing and interpreting graphs (either by hand or on excel) |
| Spring 1 | It’s getting hot in here! Students learn about different environmental concerns relating to global warming and debate whether or not it is really happening,
Glaciation and global warming |
Storyboard/Extended Writing (Climate change impacts) |
| Spring 2 | Going Global. Following on from global warming students will explore other environmental issues like plastic waste and impacts of major sporting events.
Impact of Plastics |
Extended Writing |
| Summer 1 | Holiday. Students learn about the positive and negative Impacts of tourism in different environments, for example in the UK, Europe and Kenya. | Extended Writing ** |
| Summer 2 | Beside the Seaside! Students will learn how the sea is shaping the landscape, by eroding and depositing material. They will also learn about how we can manage the coastline.
Coastal Management |
Decision Making Exercise (DME) ** |
Long Term Assessment Plan – Key Stage 4
Year 9
| When | What we are Assessing
e.g. Topics/ Skills etc |
How we are Assessing
e.g. Extended writing, Project, exam etc |
| Autumn 1 | Key Idea 1.1: Urbanisation in contrasting global cities
|
Baseline Assessment – Is Sydney a global city? |
| Autumn 2 | Key Idea 1.1: Urbanisation in contrasting global cities
|
Extended writing (Mumbai) |
| Spring 1 | Key Idea 2.2: Shaping the landscape – rivers and river management | Extended Writing (Boscastle) |
| Spring 2 | Key Idea 2.2: Shaping the landscape – rivers and river management
|
Exam Questions (Unit Review) |
| Summer 1 | Key Idea 1.2: Urban and rural processes and change in the UK
|
Extended Writing (Greenfield vs Brownfield sites) |
| Summer 2 | Fieldwork Study Task and Focus Visit. | PPE 1 Reduce Component 1 Paper
Enquiry task (Fieldwork 1) |
Year 10
| When | What we are Assessing
e.g. Topics/ Skills etc |
How we are Assessing
e.g. Extended writing, Project, exam etc |
| Autumn 1 | Key Idea 2.1: Shaping the landscape – coasts and coastal management | DME |
| Autumn 2 | Key Idea 2.3: Patterns of weather and climate (inc. Extreme Weather) | Exam Questions |
| Spring 1 | Key Idea 2.4: Climate change – cause and effect | PPE 2 Reduced Component 1 Paper |
| Spring 2 | Key Idea 3.4: Desertification – Causes and Effects | Extended Writing/Map Skills |
| Summer 1 | Key Idea 3.3: Water resources and management | Exam Questions |
| Summer 2 | Fieldwork Study Task and Focus Visit | PPE 3 Component 2 Paper
Enquiry task (Fieldwork 2) |
Year 11
| When | What we are Assessing
e.g. Topics/ Skills etc |
How we are Assessing
e.g. Extended writing, Project, exam etc |
| Autumn 1 | Key Idea 1.3: A global perspective on development issues | Exam Questions |
| Autumn 2 | Key Idea 1.3: Ecosystems and their functions and threats | PPE 4 – Component 3 Paper |
| Spring 1 | Key Idea 3.1: Ecosystems Management | Exam Questions
Skills Review (Fieldwork) |
| Spring 2 | Catch-up time and revision lessons | PPE 5 – Component 1 Paper |
| Summer 1 | Revision Lessons/ Exam Practice | Revising/practicing exam questions in revision |
Key Stage 4 Examination Overview
Exam Board Details: Eduqas GCSE Geography 9-1 Specification B
Qualification Details: Component 1 (1hr 45min Exam), Component 2 (1hr 30min Decision Making Exam), Component 3 (1hr 30min Fieldwork Exam)
What resources could I buy or borrow that will help my child?
WJEC EDUQAS GCSE (9-1) Geography B Textbook (RRP £26.99)
WJEC EDUQAS GCSE (9-1) Geography B Workbook (RRP £5.99)*
My Revision Notes: WJEC EDUQAS GCSE (9-1) Geography B (RRP £9.99)
Geographical Skills and Fieldwork for WJEC GCSE Geography and WJEC EDUQAS GCSE (9-1) Geography A and B (RRP £14.99)
*Highly recommended for revision from Year 10 onwards.
What are the key websites or Apps that my child could use?
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize – BBC Bitesize has an Eduqas section, which is good for revision notes and quick tests
www.senecalearning.com – Good for revision for a range of subjects, just remember to look for Eduqas GCSE Geography B
www.maps.google.com – Virtual visits to different parts of the world and mapping exercises.
What can I do to encourage my child to take further interest in Geography?
Any documentaries about the world we live in today, from nature to the UK housing crisis. Geography covers a range of topics so keep up to date with the news and current affairs.
Email Links
To find out more about the curriculum we are studying please contact staff via email