With a team of geography graduates and situated, as we are, in the beautiful Wye Valley AONB, the geography department seeks to foster a curiosity and love for the world around us amongst all our students. Where possible and practical we aim to take students outside the classroom in order to ‘bring learning to life’. This may take the form of microclimate fieldwork on the school field in Year 7 or culminate in the week long A level residential in Exmoor.

To offer an engaging and exciting curriculum which is more than just memorising places on a map. We want students to develop a curiosity about the world, and the people and cultures that inhabit it. We aim to inspire students to become global citizens who advocate for change and value their responsibility in the long-term sustainability of the planet. We endeavour to foster a lifelong love of geography through varied activities and prepare well-rounded, resilient students who are equipped with the geographical skills needed to access the next step of their journey, beyond JKHS.

 

Teaching staff

• Mr Greg Calderbank: Head of Department gregorycalderbank@jkhs.org.uk
• Mr Rob Wallace
• Miss Lauren Jones

 

Key Stage 3 Geography

In KS3 students will study a variety of topics that will introduce them to the diverse nature of the subject. We aim to provide our students with as broad a range of study as possible, with a balance between both physical and human geography. At JKHS, our programme of study is closely linked to the requirements of the National Curriculum, whilst at the same time ensuring the best possible foundation for those students who will go on to study geography further at GCSE and post 16. We use a variety of teaching methods that includes group work, presentations, IT and fieldwork.

Year 7 Local Geography & Map Skills Rivers Weather & Climate

Year 8 Biomes Urbanisation Coasts

Year 9 Energy & Climate Change Natural Hazards Globalisation & Development

 

kEY STAGE 4 GEOGRAPHY

Exam board: Edexcel – Spec B

What topics are covered?

Students will study a total of nine topics over the two years of the GCSE course. All nine topics will be examined at the end of Year 11 in three papers of varying length and weighting. In each area of study candidates will consider the values and attitudes of decision makers, consider their own values and attitudes to the issues being studied and support their learning of ideas through the study of specific case studies. JKHS students will also develop a variety of geographical skills, which will broaden and deepen their existing knowledge and be employed with a greater degree of independence.

Paper 1 (37.5%) will cover the following topics:

• Tectonic hazards
• Development dynamics
• Challenges of an urbanising world

Paper 2 (37.5%) will cover the following topics:

• The UK’s evolving physical environment
• The UK’s evolving human landscape
• Geographical investigations – A river study and urban study

Paper 3 (25%) will be based on a resource booklet and will test students synoptic understanding of the final 3 topics:

• People and the biosphere
• Forests under threat
• Consuming energy resources

Through the use of contemporary material and examples, students will be required to use the information in the resource booklet to make a decision about an issue and to justify that decision with evidence and arguments produced on the back of the material provided.

Specification: Geography B (9–1) from 2016 | Pearson qualifications