A Visual Representation of the Key Stage 3 Curriculum and wider links to GCSE topics.

Rationale:

In Geography, our intent is for the curriculum to promote a curiosity about the world for our students. The curriculum will enable our students at JHNCC to be confident to challenge and ask questions about the world.

The intent is to develop a holistic knowledge of the subject at Key Stage Three in order to create a foundation to build on and develop at GCSE and beyond. This will be taught using places and theories as outlined in the diagram to the left and elaborated on in the below Long-Term plan. It is our intent for Geography to be learned inside and outside of the classroom which is why there are elements of fieldwork implemented across all key stages. If our students do not pick Geography at Key Stage 4, we want the impact of this curriculum to be that they take a responsible attitude towards the world and adopt a life-long learning approach. We will implement this by supporting our learners to develop skills that are transferable across all subjects due to their cross-curricular links and employment in later life such as problem-solving and critical thinking. We will develop knowledge in students to enable them to thrive in lessons and create schemata. Learning will be developed from the core subjects to develop

learners’ skills, knowledge and understanding. Learners will be inspired to continue the study of Geography Post 16. We want our learners to ‘think like geographers’ - critical and reasoned thinkers about the World and the intrinsically linked areas within. To do this they will study the world through places, ensuring they get a breadth of Geography across all 7 continents and learning about theories and processes within. The impact of learning Geography this way will mean that students are continuously exposed to the inter-connected theories that underpin Geography such as globalisation, development and the key physical processes.

Our curriculum aims to:

• Promote a curiosity about the world for our students and encourage them to ask questions.
• Develop a holistic knowledge that will help students better understand the community and the world in which they live.
• Deepen students’ understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.
• Provide frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
• Engage students with contemporary geographical issues at a local and global scale.
• Support our learners to develop skills that have cross-curricular links across all subjects and in later life

Our curriculum has been carefully mapped out to meet the requirements of the Department for Education's Geography curriculum whilst also reflecting the unique needs of our students at John Henry Newman Catholic College. We have taken a largely place approach to the Key Stage 3 curriculum to give students a wider understanding of ‘place’ and have built in the key concepts of space, scale, interdependence, physical and human processes, environmental interaction, sustainable development and cultural understanding and diversity. That being said, students still have the opportunities to explore key Geography concepts such as their disciplinary knowledge of maps and graphical displays of data whilst still reflecting our desire for learning beyond a classroom with specialised fieldwork units at Key Stage 3.

Semester 1 (September to February)

Semester 2 (March to July)

Year 7

Fantastic Places

**Map and Geographical Disciplinary Knowledge taught through locations in each continent.

This will cover:

• Continents and Oceans
• Compass Directions
• 4 and 6 figure Grid References
• Longitude and Latitude
• Relief and the use of contour lines on a map to show height and gradient.
• The use of scale on a variety of maps and how to interpret it.

Birmingham and the UK

• The UK in context - The 4 nations, major cities and rivers.

**- Highlands and Lowlands - The main highland and lowland regions of the UK.

• How physical landscape impact population distribution in the UK

**- Hydrology of the UK - The journey of a river and the impact on a UK landscape :River Tees, High Force Waterfall

**- Coastal landscapes of the UK - The threats to coastal landscapes and how these can be managed through hard and soft engineering

**- Birmingham Context - location, migration, importance and key features.

**- Changes in Birmingham using the regeneration of the train station as a theme

Weather and Climate:

• The difference between weather and climate

**- Major and Extreme weather in the UK

• Identifying weather on synoptic charts
• Global Climate and Biomes
• The Climate of the UK
• Micro Climate of a School Investigation

**- Climate change and its impacts locally and globally

• Causes of climate changes ( Including deforestation)
• Global impacts ( Including damage to ecosystems)
• UK risks and concerns
• Managing climate change

China

• The landscape of China
• The population growth and demographic in China
• **The consequences of rapid growth and urbanisation How China tried to manage population growth e.g. The One Child Policy
• **The growth of TNCs in China and the themes of globalisation
• A Case Study of Nike in China
• Global Super Power introduction

Year 8

Africa

- Misconceptions about Africa and introduction to the continent

-**Major biomes in Africa and the characteristics. Skills - how to read a climate graph

-The causes and consequences of Desertification

-**The causes of uneven development in Africa.

-**Contrasting countries of development in Africa: Ethiopia and Nigeria. Skills - Population Pyramid

-***Case Study of development in Ethiopia

-**Foreign investment from China in Africa

Restless Earth

** - Plate Tectonic Theory

• The emergence and features of volcanoes
• Volcanic hazards
• A case study of a volcano

**- Managing Hazards

• Tsunami as a hazard on Coastlines

**- Are natural hazards becoming more common?

The Middle East

• Physical Geography of the Middle East
• **Tectonic Activity in the Middle East
• **Biomes and adaptations
• Culture in the Middle East
• **Migration and Refugees
• **Extraction of Oil and global importance
• Poverty and Urban Poor
• **Conflict in the Middle East

Brazil

• **Amazon Rainforest - climate and features
• ***Amazon Rainforest – Adaptation
• **Fieldwork
• Threats to the Rainforest –

**Deforestation and wildfires

• **The growth of Favelas in Sao Paulo
• Brazil’s international pull - culture and opportunities
• Life in the Rainforest - Tribes

Year 9

India

• Location and Importance Globally
• Physical Features : Highlands.

**-Rivers of India (Ganges Delta formation)

**- Mumbai - a study of development in an NEE

**- Life in the slums

**- The impact on the urban poor

Russia

Russia’s location and importance

**Russia’s biome - polar and tundra areas GeoPolitics - Russia’s history with the USSR and their political importance

**The growth of nuclear energy and a ase study of disasters with Nuclear Energy and how to manage this.

Iceland

-A country shaped by Glaciation

-The importance of and life in Iceland

-**Living with hazards (Living life on the Edge)

-**Using Geothermal Energy and exploiting resources

Sustainable World

**- What is sustainability?

**- Types of sustainable energy

-** Sustainable food, water and energy

• The value of sustainability
• Sustainable cities: Curitiba

**- Sustainable UK : What have we done?

Semester 1 (September to February)

Semester 2 (March to July)

Year 10

Living World

• Ecosystems
• Rainforests
• Cold Environments
• Plant and animal adaptations
• Sustainability

PLOUK

• Erosion
• River Landscapes
• Coastal Landscapes
• Case study of flooding
• Case Study of coastal management

Urban Issues and Challenges

• Global patterns of urbanisation
• Rio de Janeiro - An NEE with many challenges, opportunities and life in the favelas
• UK City - Birmingham and its importance and development over time.
• Sustainable Urban Living

Natural Hazards+ Fieldwork

• Tectonic Hazards and Plate Tectonic Theory
• Global Atmospheric Circulation
• Fieldwork in human setting
• Fieldwork in physical setting

Year 11

Natural Hazards

• Tropical Storms
• Extreme weather in the UK
• Causes of climate change
• Impacts of climate change
• Managing climate change

Changing Economic World

• Global inequality
• Development indicators
• Causes of development
• Reducing the development gap
• Jamaica and Nigeria case studies
• UK Economy changes
• Rural landscapes in the UK
• UK and the wider world
• The UK’s changing infrastructure
• The North South Divide in the UK

Resource Management Mock exams and Fieldwork.

• Water as a resource for the UK
• Food as a resource for the UK
• Energy as a resource for the UK
• Impacts of energy insecurity
• Renewable and Nonrenewable energy
• Sustainable Energy - Peru
• Extracting Fossil Fuels - Gas

Revision and Pre-Release. Exam.

• PPE Practice
• Pre Release Paper released in March

• Review of content and Walking Talking Mocks

Semester 1 (September to February)

Semester 2 (March to July)

Year 12

Human

Changing Places

This section of our specification focuses on people's engagement with places, their experience of them and the qualities they ascribe to them, all of which are of fundamental importance in their lives. Students acknowledge this importance and engage with how places are known and experienced, how their character is appreciated, the factors and processes which impact upon places and how they change and develop over time.

Global Governance

This section of our specification focuses on globalisation – the economic, political and social changes associated with technological and other driving forces which have been a key feature of global economy and society in recent decades.

Physical

Hazards

This optional section of our specification focuses on the lithosphere and the atmosphere, which intermittently but regularly present natural hazards to human populations, often in dramatic and sometimes catastrophic fashion. By exploring the origin and nature of these hazards and the various ways in which people respond to them, students are able to engage with many dimensions of the relationships between people and the environments they occupy.

Water and Carbon

This section of our specification focuses on the major stores of water and carbon at or near the Earth’s surface and the dynamic cyclical relationships associated with them. These are major elements in the natural environment and understanding them is fundamental to many aspects of physical geography.

NEE

What is an NEE?

It is similar to coursework. Students are required to undertake an independent investigation. This must incorporate a significant element of fieldwork.

• Students will undergo core skills and analytical experience in Geography in order to prepare for the NEE.
• Students will go on 4 fieldwork days to create Mini-NEEs with staff support to model the processes involved in Geography Fieldwork Enquiries.

Forming NEE Titles

Beginning Preliminary Research

Sign off form from staff (Proposal Document) Beginning of independent fieldwork.

Year 13

Human

Contemporary Urban Environments

This optional section of our specification focuses on urban growth and change which are seemingly ubiquitous processes and present significant environmental and social challenges for human populations. The section examines these processes and challenges and the issues associated with them, in particular the potential for environmental sustainability and social cohesion.

Revision / Exam Walking Talking Mocks Revision of core areas

Year 13 PPEs

Physical

Coasts

This section of our specification focuses on coastal zones, which are dynamic environments in which landscapes develop by the interaction of winds, waves, currents and terrestrial and marine sediments. The operation and outcomes of fundamental geomorphological processes and their association with distinctive landscapes are readily observable. In common with water and carbon cycles, a systems approach to study is specified.

Walking Talking Mocks Revision of core areas Year 13 PPEs

NEE

Time dedicated to writing up the response. No teacher feedback available at this time

NEA Submission date finalised and internal moderation. Marks given back to students

Final submission to AQA Moderator.