Key Stage 3

Throughout Year 7 and 8, students are encouraged to develop portable skills designed to encourage them to think like a geographer. The Key Stage 3 curriculum plan ensures students have an introduction to Physical and Human Geography throughout the topics studied. Within some topics, elements of fieldwork are introduced which not only teaches vital skills for use in compulsory fieldwork in Key Stage 4 but also provides students with an insight into the geography of their local environment. 

The portable skills they develop are revisited through various physical, human and environmental geography topics. Key map and graphical skills are introduced to students in Key Stage 3 and are revisited throughout the curriculum to ensure that students can develop and extend their learning into Key Stage 4.  Within the Geography Curriculum there is a great emphasis on key words and terms, reinforced throughout Key Stage 3 in order to ensure that they are fully embedded in students’ long-term memory. 

In Years 7 and 8, students have two lessons of Geography per week and learning opportunities are extended through frequent home learning tasks to further engage pupils in the topics studied

Key Stage 4

Students who choose to continue Geography in Years 9, 10 and 11 will follow the OCR B GCSE Geography specification. The course is delivered over one double and one single lesson a week. 

GCSE Geography is divided into 3 components: Our natural world, people and society and fieldwork and geographical exploration 

Students gather many invaluable skills through their study of the Key Stage 4 Geography curriculum; they will learn to collaborate with others, think analytically and evaluate effectively whilst experiencing the world around them and investigating different areas and cultures. 

Year 11 students are invited to attend regular ‘Zone’ sessions whereby students can spend more time on GCSE Geography topics within the specification. Furthermore, home learning is regularly planned within the curriculum to provide students with an opportunity to practice, embed and apply the knowledge and skills developed during lessons.  

Enrichment Opportunities

Students are offered two optional enrichment clubs. Key Stage 3 students are offered a club focusing on the historical and geographical context of Basingstoke, allowing students to apply the skills developed in Humanities lessons to be applied to their own locale. Key Stage 4 are also offered a Current Affairs club which identifies and contextualises global issues to offer an understanding of cultural issues across the world.  

Students are also offered a range of fieldwork opportunities, including a trip to the New Forest in Year 8, human and geographical fieldwork in Lee-on-the-Solent in Year 10 and the opportunity to visit Naples in Years 9-10. At Key Stage 3, students are also able to visit the Natural History Museum as part of Rewards Week in the summer term.  

Assessment

Exam 1: Our Natural World: Global hazards, changing climate, distinctive landscapes, sustaining ecosystems and physical geography fieldwork. There will be questions on all topics. This exam is worth 35% of the GCSE.  

Exam 2: People and Society: Urban futures, dynamic development, UK in the 21st century, resource reliance and human geography fieldwork. There will be questions on all topics. This exam is worth 35% of the GCSE.  

Exam 3: Fieldwork and Geographical Exploration: This question paper has questions focusing on assessment of material from a range of topics across both Our Natural World (Exam 1) and People and Society (Exam 2) and will feature a decision-making exercise. This exam is worth 30% of the GCSE.