Meet the team:

Head of Geography: Miss N Brown
Teacher of Geography: Mr D Cooke
Teacher of Geography: Miss O Wilson

At MCA Geography in a balanced framework of physical and human themes and investigates the link between. The teaching is delivered by a team of subject specialists. Students will travel the world from their classroom, exploring case studies in the United Kingdom (UK), Higher Income Countries (HICs), Newly Emerging Economies (NEEs) and Lower Income Countries (LICs). Topics of study include climate change, poverty, deprivation, global shifts in economic power and the challenge of sustainable resource use. Students are also encouraged to understand their role in society, by considering different viewpoints, values and attitudes as well as studying Geography skills and the Geography of the UK.

Upon completion of our KS3 curriculum and our GCSE AQA course, students will have the skills and experience to progress onto A-level and beyond.

Curriculum Intent

The Geography curriculum is designed to give all students the confidence and experience to help inform and shape ideas; investigating human and physical strands of the multi-faceted subject. This will enable students to become global citizens and have the cultural literacy to be role models for the future and set a trail for others to emulate. Considering themes such as sustainability, development and climate change in their everyday lives.

Geography offers the opportunity to study a range of topics that investigate the physical processes of our planet, human societies and the economic and environmental challenges within the local, national and global context. This gives students the confidence to interact with the wider world, leading to fulfilled and positive life experiences. The curriculum encourages students to ask questions, develop critical thinking skills, and layer a deeper understanding of complex concepts as the course navigates through the curriculum. We also aim to build resilience and revision skills via the use of interleaving as we prepare for assessments.

Geographical skills are embedded within units of work throughout all key stages. Students develop their cartographic, graphical, ICT and GIS skills. Fieldwork enquiries enable students to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding within both human and physical Geography. Geography bridges the curriculum from the physical process in Science, creativity in English, culture and people in history, to the numeracy skills of Mathematics. Students are able to use these connections to understand and exist in the wider world.

Geography bridges the curriculum from the physical process in Science, creativity in English to the quantitate skills of Mathematics. Students are able to use these connections to excel in the wider world.

At both KS3 and GCSE lessons interleave previous content so that the knowledge is always at the forefront of student’s memory. Students are drilled each lesson before introducing new content. This aids with memory recall, and allows students to strive to achieve the best results possible in Geography.

Overview of KS3

In Year 7 students cover both physical and human Geography through a variety of themes such as; Beautiful Brazil, Awakening Africa and Extreme Environments.

Moving into Year 8, students further develop their understanding of complex world ideas through a range of engaging topics: Climate crisis, Natural Hazard, impossible places, collapsing coasts and who wants to be a billionaire?

In the final KS3 year, year 9 students start by looking at Natural Hazards, including Tectonic hazards, before moving on to Advancing Asia and the development gap. Finishing with looking at Rivers and their processes to shape the land. 

Throughout KS3 students are developing their literacy skills through working on the quality of their explanation and then evaluation skills, whilst supporting their arguments with real-life examples; oracy plays a key role in helping students to develop reasoned points of view about a wide range of topical issues. Students also have the opportunity to build up their analytical skills through developing their ability to interpret information presented to them in a non-written form, for example through maps, graphs and photos.

Overview of KS4

GSCE AQA GEOGRAPHY

The GCSE course builds on the skills developed in key stage 3. There are 3 exam papers which cover the following topics.

Paper 1: Living with the physical environment. The challenge of natural hazards, the living world, physical landscapes in the UK. All sections will have geographical skills embedded.

Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment. Urban issues and challenges, the changing economic world, the challenge of resource management. All sections will have geographical skills embedded.

Paper 3: Geographical Application. Issue evaluation (a pre-release booklet 12 weeks before the exam), fieldwork, geographical skills.

How will I be assessed?

Paper 1 and 2 are 1 hour 30 minutes; they include a range of multiple-choice, short and long answer questions. Each paper is worth 35%. Paper 3 is 1 hour 15 minutes worth 30% of the GCSE, this has similar styles of exam questions and covers a pre-release element which asks students to answer questions about a particular Geographical issue. The second part of the paper covers fieldwork skills and is based on the fieldwork trips we carry out at the end of Y10/start of Y11.

Geography at Manor Croft offers students an ambitious curriculum, with the opportunity to investigate current and up to date topics that play a role in our students’ lives. For example, in light of the recent covid-19 pandemic, students have been investigating the impact of covid on globalisation and the knock on effects this will have on economies around the world, in addition to studying the effect it will have on the tourist industry. Furthermore, 2020 has seen numerous challenges to our world; from the wildfires in Australia at the start of the year, to changing political relationships with the EU and in America. Geography offers students the opportunity to discuss, investigate and challenge real world issues that we are faced with today.

We believe that students deserve a broad, progressive and ambitious Geography curriculum, rich in skills and knowledge. Which stimulates curiosity and a wonder of their world and prepares them well for future learning or employment.