Geography Policy Document Introduction

At KS3 we follow the National Curriculum guidelines. Schemes of work are provided by the textbook and support material of the Geog.123 publications At KS4 we follow the AQA Specification A syllabus for GCSE Geography, the full course (with the short course option offered for the last time in June 2013). The main textbook used is OUP GCSE Geography. This is supplemented with assorted videos, websites and other research materials in the class e.g. Global Eye, Development and National Geographical magazines. Programme of Study Planning, teaching and assessment aims to help pupils make progress in several areas: Stimulating pupils interest in geography, developing a sense of place and an appreciation of the environment, which should lead them to learning to act in an informed and responsible way . Acquiring knowledge and understanding of a range of places, environments and patterns in geography; at a range of scales from local to global; and acquiring an understanding of the physical, human and environmental processes which affect the development of these places Understanding the significance and effects of decision-making of/on places, people and environments. Developing awareness of the way people and environments interact; the opportunities, hardships and challenges that people experience in different places and environments and the importance of sustainability of decisions and actions regarding these interactions Appreciating the dynamism of Geography in terms of the study of the changing physical and environmental world, but also on the level of continually deepening of understanding of the subject Acquiring the skills and techniques needed to study the subject and conduct an independent enquiry; including map work, fieldwork, ICT and data presentation and analysis

Fieldwork Fieldwork is seen as an essential part of Geography and wherever possible we try to take every year group to study an area of geography in the field.

Assessment
Long term Mocks in January Controlled assessment 25% ; the first term of year 11 Final exam 75% - June of year 11

End of unit assessments Tests Project assignments e.g. internet research, fieldwork etc. Ongoing assessment Written homework exercises in textbook, worksheets, internet research Debates and other class discussions Teacher questions in class Aim of assessment: to find out if each pupil, to their own ability, had the opportunity to: Study a range of places Study a range of themes and contrasting environments Study these at local, regional national and where appropriate, international scales Show they can: o Describe o Explain o Distinguish between o Make comparisons o Draw conclusions o Tackle issues o Evaluate their own work Acquire the skills needed to accomplish the above. ICT IN GEOGRAPHY Used: to study distant places to study themes e.g. earthquakes for data presentation for word processing research using internet, CD roms. Demonstration and explanation