Geography

Aims and philosophy

Curriculum by year-group

GCSE: Candidates acquire and develop a wide range of skills, including those of selecting and extracting data from different sources, interpreting maps, photographs, satellite images and graphs, and the use of ICT. Areas of study include: People and the Physical Environment (studies of plate tectonics, rivers and coasts); People and the Places in which they live (studies of population and settlements); People and their Needs (studies of quality of life, economic activities and energy); People and the Environment (studies of global and local environmental problems caused by man). A major element of the GCSE is coursework: data is collected by candidates during the Summer term of the Remove year or in the summer holidays and the coursework is written up during the first half of the Autumn term of the Fifth Form.

AS: Throughout the course a particularly wide range of skills is enhanced, including those of literacy, numeracy, observation, analysis, mapwork and ICT. The syllabus includes the hydrological system, ecosystems, the atmosphere and the lithosphere; population, rural and urban settlements; and the skills necessary for the practice of geographical investigation. Some fieldwork will be done within the School grounds and the local area. The Lower Sixth will also be taken on a residential field course run by the Field Studies Council at their centre at Slapton, South Devon.

A-level: The Upper Sixth course to A-level provides the opportunity for study in greater depth by studying options in both physical and human geography and to provide links between these physical and human aspects of the subject. Two options are studied: coastal environments and agriculture. Two environmental options are studied from a list including managing hazardous environments, managing urban environments and managing rural environments. The skills of fieldwork and the ability to handle primary data collected at a local scale to produce a geographical investigation.

Outside the classroom

Lower Sixth go on a week-long residential field trip to Slapton in Devon.

Several lectures are held every year. The most important lecture is the Strangford Lecture which is an annual event held in the Autumn term. The department aims to get leading figures in the subject to speak. Previous speakers include: Professor Andrew Goudie, Dr Rita Gardner, Professor Denys Brunsden, Professor John Clarke, Dr David Keeble, and Professor Philip Stott.