Geography

Geography quote

Intent

Geography allows us as humans to survive on, and make sense of, our home planet, Earth. Without geographical knowledge and understanding, the systems that underpin modern society would falter. Today, these systems are becoming increasingly under threat due to population increase, climate change, geopolitical tensions and ecosystem degradation. Our very survival on Earth depends on our understanding of it. It is imperative humanity does not lose powerful geographical knowledge, making it a vital part of the Meridian curriculum.

Learning hours

Year group	7	8	9	10	11
Learning hours per week	2	2	2	3	4

Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

Geography skills

5 year learning journey

Learning-Journey-Geography-5-year.pdf

Specification

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/geography-a-2016.html

Careers

Geographers are multi-talented people. We consider how the past influenced the present and how we might shape the future. We are literate and numerate. We have good oracy skills. We are always fair as we present both sides of the argument before reaching our decision. We empathise (consider the views and opinions of others). We are skilled at presenting data in maps, graphs and charts. We have good ICT skills which we use to research and present data.

Careers in geography poster

Assessment

To measure the impact of our teaching we assess students in three summative ways which capture our four objectives for geographical education:

Big Quizzes – Each term, our young geographers answer 50+ MCQs in class to check knowledge recall. This is supported by their knowledge quizzes for their prep. (Great Knowledge)
Topic challenge questions – Each unit, our young geographers answer at least one challenge question using the knowledge and understanding they have learned across the unit. These questions use exam command words to get students used to the terminology, starting with describe and explain before progressing to high-order commands such as assess, evaluate, examine and discuss. (Outstanding Judgement)
End of unit/year assessments – For each unit our young geographers complete an assessment. In addition, students complete an end of year assessment that covers all the topics they covered across the year. These tests focus on conceptual understanding and skills. (Excellent Explanations and Great Geographical Skills).

The outcomes for these three summative assessments are then combined to produce a grade that is evaluated against their target grade to check their geographical progress.

In addition to summative assessments, geography uses a range of different formative assessments in class including planned and targeted questioning and low-stakes quizzing.

Feedback

Students are provided with three pieces of feedback/marking each half term. This includes:

2 x whole school marking sheet where students focus on improving their vocabulary and recall
1 x personalised feedback to a challenge question where students receive formative feedback on how successful they have been on the question and have set questions to complete to improve.

Feedback for end of year/topic assessments is combined with the whole school marking sheet.

Geog 1