Staff
Mr H Breese – Head of Department
Mrs M Downton – Teacher of Geography
Mrs K Evans – Teacher of Geography
Department Aims
We are committed to providing our students lessons which inspire them to understand the amazing world we live in. We want students to develop a range of transferable skills that will help them achieve success in the future. The Geography department at The John Frost School provides a variety of opportunities from Year 7 to 11 to both develop an understanding of our dynamic planet and also to inspire our young people as future citizens, academics, decision makers and travellers. This is more important in today’s world than it has ever been.
Key Stage Three
We thrive on how our young Geographers bring their ideas from Primary School and how excited they are to share and discuss, and to build upon basic concepts. We are also amazed by their ability to research and discover, as they use new resources. In order to foster this enthusiasm throughout Key Stage 3 and beyond we teach a variety of topics in order to develop students’ understanding of the world they live in. Students will engage in a variety of topics that cover both human and physical aspects of the curriculum, whilst incorporating many skills that are linked to the subject, such as: numeracy, literacy and digital competency. There will be opportunity to embed knowledge taught in the classroom with fieldwork activities undertaken across all year groups.
| Year 7 | Link to GCSE Specification | Learning Hours | Term |
| Theme: Discovery – United Kingdom & Wales | Unit 1 – Core Theme 2 (Rural-Urban links) | 9 | Autumn 1 |
| Theme: Discovery – Rise of China and Africa | Unit 2 – Option Theme 7 (Social Development Issues) | 9 | Autumn 2 |
| Theme: Transformation – Volcano and Earthquakes | Unit 1 Option Theme 3 (Tectonic Hazards) | 9 | Spring 1 |
| Theme: Transformation – Tsunami / Tornado / Hurricane | 9 | Spring 2 | |
| Theme: Exploration – Weather and Climate | Unit 2 Core Theme 5 and Theme 8 (Weather and Climate – Environmental Challenges) | 9 | Summer 1 |
| Theme: Exploration – Skills project – Environmental Challenges | 9 | Summer 2 |
| Year 8 | Link to GCSE Specification | Learning Hours | Term |
| Theme: Commitment – Tropical Rainforest and Ecosystems | Unit 2 Core Theme 5 (Ecosystems) | 9 | Autumn 1 |
| Theme: Commitment – Development Dilemmas
|
Unit 2 Core Theme 6 (Development) | 9 | Autumn 2 |
| Theme: Voyage – Globalisation | Unit 2 Core Theme 7 (Social Development Issues) | 9 | Spring 1 |
| Theme: Voyage – River Processes
|
Unit 1 Core Theme 1 (Physical Processes) | 9 | Spring 2 |
| Theme: Freedom – Population and Migration | Unit 1 – Core Theme 2 (Rural-Urban links – Population) | 9 | Summer 1 |
| Theme: Freedom – Development (Children’s Rights)
|
Unit 2 Core Theme 7 (Social Development Issues) | 9 | Summer 2 |
| Year 9 | Link to GCSE Specification | Learning Hours | Term |
| Theme: Global Warming & Climate Change
|
Unit 1 Core Theme 1 (Physical Processes) | 9 | Autumn 1 |
| Theme: Coasts
|
Unit 1 Core Theme 1 (Physical Processes) | 9 | Autumn 2 |
| Theme: Crime
|
Unit 1 – Core Theme 2 (Rural-Urban links – Population) | 9 | Spring 1 |
| Theme: Rise of India
|
Unit 2 Core Theme 7 (Social Development Issues) | 9 | Spring 2 |
| Theme: Environmental Impacts – Local/Global
|
Unit 2 Core Theme 5 (Ecosystems) | 9 | Summer 1 |
| Theme: GCSE enquiry
|
9 | Summer 2 |
Key Stage Four
At Key Stage 4, students who choose to take Geography as an option will be following the WJEC Geography course. WJEC Geography develops and extends students’ knowledge of locations, places, environments and processes, at a range of different scales. GCSE study is an enquiry approach to the study of geographical information, issues and concepts. Throughout the course we study a variety of engaging geographical concepts that will allow the students to immerse themselves within the complex science of the world in which we inhabit. There will be opportunity to undertake fieldwork studies that are an important part of the WJEC specifications. Students will be given the opportunity to visit sites of important geographical interests across the continent.
WJEC GCSE Geography Specification
| Unit 1: Changing Physical and Human Landscapes | Learning Hours | Term | Scheme of Work | Assessment |
| Core Theme: Landscapes and Physical Processes
|
20 | Autumn 1/2 – Year 10 – 5hrs | WJEC Specimen Paper – Every Month (Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec) | |
| Core Theme: Rural-Urban Links
|
20 | Spring 1/2 – Year 10 – 5hrs | WJEC Specimen Paper – Every Month (Jan/Feb/Mar) | |
| Unit 1: Changing Physical and Human Landscapes | Learning Hours | Term | Scheme of Work | Assessment |
| Option Theme: Coastal Hazards and their Management
|
12 | Summer 1 – Year 10 – 5hrs | Mock Exam – Hall – Full WJEC Paper 1 | |
| Unit 2: Environment and Development Issues | Learning Hours | Term | Scheme of Work | Assessment |
| Core Theme: Weather, Climate and Ecosystems
|
20 | Summer 2/Autumn 1 – Year 10/11 -5hrs | WJEC Specimen Paper – Every Month (Jun/Jul/Sept/Oct) | |
| Core Theme: Development and Resource Issues
|
20 | Autumn 2/Spring 1 – Year 11 – 5hrs | WJEC Specimen Paper – Every Month (Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb) | |
| Unit 2: Environment and Development Issues | Learning Hours | Term | Scheme of Work | Assessment |
| Option Theme: Social Development Issues
|
12 | Spring 2 – Year 11 – 5hrs |
Key Stage Five
At A level we also follow the WJEC syllabus. It is a four unit course taught over two years. The specification encourages students to understand a global world, its complex challenges such as climate change , shifts in economic power, poverty and deprivation and sustainability
“ Geography helps me understand what’s going on in the world and the processes that have shaped the world that we live in. We learn about inequality and how our actions affect our planet “ Tom Lynbeck