Geography

Course summary

The Geography department is staffed by a team of committed and enthusiastic specialists whose love of the subject has helped to inspire many students across the Key Stages. Working both inside and outside the classroom, we aim to foster an appreciation and understanding of the diverse world in which we live. Geography teaching, at all levels, is based on themes that investigate physical environments, social and economic activities and the relationships between people and places. In our teaching, these themes are illustrated through studying a variety of places at different scales, from the local to the global. We aim to engage students by applying their lived experiences of places to the theories and concepts that we are studying. We use a range of case studies, from the amazing landforms of the Jurassic coastline and the extreme environments of the Arctic and Antarctic to the natural hazards that The Philippines, Nepal and New Zealand are exposed to. We explore how the world is now but also how it may look in the future with population growth, food security, disease outbreaks and climate change all shaping how our society will look in the next generation. Through these studies, students are encouraged to develop a holistic understanding of environmental systems, as well as the importance of sustainability and global responsibility. At A-Level, pupils will follow the OCR specification. Students engage critically with real-world issues and places and apply their geographical knowledge, theory and skills to the world around them in topics such as Migration, Power and Borders, Disease Dilemmas and Climate Change. As well as four days of compulsory fieldwork throughout the South West, Year 12 students will embark on an extra-curricular trip overseas.