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Welcome to the Geography Department.
In Geography we want our students to have a love of the natural world and of the people in it – so that they become responsible global citizens. Students will gain a sense of place in an ever-changing environment and develop transferrable skills that equip them for the wider world.
Geography isn’t about flags, capitals, countries and ox bow lakes. Here at Dormston, Geography is about providing students with a mindset to ‘think like a Geographer’. To think like a Geographer means that you are a thoughtful / responsible citizen, that you understand what is going on in the world around you and you know how to make a difference.
The Geography team comprises of three subject specialists.
Mr Perry (Teacher of Geography and Head of Department)
Mrs Williams (Teacher of Geography and Strategy Leader for Year 10)
Miss Goldie (Teacher of Geography)
KS3 is designed over a 3-year model. There are numerous factors that have been taken into consideration when designing this important part of our curriculum at Dormston school.
KS4
GCSE is designed to build on the skills and curiosity developed at KS3. It is taught over a 2 year period and we study the AQA GCSE specification. AQA offers great support for students, a broad and balanced qualification and it truly caters for all ability levels. AQA also offers a variety and range of assessments from multiple choice / short answer, through to extended written work which requires case study justification. Students have a choice in certain areas of the curriculum in terms of what they wish to learn.
Geography at KS4 offers a broad range of topics, case studies and deals with complex global issues. This is a subject that prepares learners for a rapidly changing world and develops transferrable skills that can be used both in and our of school. More than anything, GCSE develops the curiosity of learners to question the world around them.
Exams
Students will sit 3 exams at GCSE:
Paper 1 ‘Living in the Physical Environment’ 1 ½ hours (35% of the course)
Paper 2 ‘Challenges in the Human Environment 1 ½ hours (35% of the course)
Paper 3 Geographic Applications 1 ¼ Hours (30% of the course)
How we assess
In the Geography department, we assess the learning of pupils in two different, but over-lapping, layers.
Formative Assessment: This is on-going, ungraded and focusses on smaller-chunks of our curriculum. Examples may include: quizzes, multiple choice questions, verbal questioning, comprehension tasks. This helps us to identify gaps in student knowledge as well as overall strengths and weaknesses in order to adapt teaching to help pupils progress.
Summative Assessment: These are bespoke and engaging assessments, demonstrating a number of different skills as well as ‘testing’ knowledge gained. These assessments range from ‘baseline assessments’ in Year 7, letters to Mr Dixon, development of a Facebook Page, newspaper articles, decision making exercise , formal ‘GCSE style’ Exams, ‘Big write’ on a complex issue as well as June assessments for each year group to assess the year’s studies.
Subject specific websites to support independent learning and revision
BBC Bitesize KS3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zrw76sg
BBC Bitesize GCSE AQA https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/zy3ptyc
National Oak KS3 https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/key-stage-3/subjects/geography
National Oak KS4 https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/key-stage-4/subjects/geography
Cool Geography https://www.coolgeography.co.uk/
The Wild Classroom https://thewildclassroom.com/
Trips & Visits
Our intention is to develop and build visits into each year group.
Year 7 Black Country Museum
Year 8 Eden Project / Birmingham Botanical Gardens
GCSE Human and Physical Fieldwork – Cardingmill Valley, Shropshire
In addition to this we would like to run international trips to Iceland and Italy
Knowledge Organisers
‘For our students to have a love of the natural world and of the people in it – so that they become responsible global citizens. Students will gain a sense of place in an ever changing environment and develop transferrable skills that equip them for the wider world’