The Bishop Challoner Geography Department have a vision and a mission to instil a sense of awe and wonder for the physical and human environments in which our pupils find themselves. We would like to think that, through our challenging and stimulating programmes of study, we help pupils to find the answers to any questions they may have about the world around them and the organisms that live on it. After all, as a wise Geographer once said, "The world is our text book".
Why is the subject of Geography so important?
Geography encourages people to consider the importance of ‘place’ and peoples role on the planet.
Geography teaches students about important contemporary issues that affect local, regional and global communities.
Thinking geographically is a uniquely powerful way of seeing the world.
Learning about Geography improves young people's capability. This includes building knowledge and the capacity to think creatively and critically in society and in different environments.
Geography develops a wide variety of transferable skills including literacy, numerical, graphical, communication and ICT skills.
The role of school geography teachers is to develop systematic knowledge that helps children understand how physical and human phenomena are arranged and related. This makes geography distinctive as a national curriculum subject that bridges the sciences and the humanities.
Geography graduates are highly employable as they come with a variety of transferable skills that are of benefit to the workplace of many different sectors.
Our Key Stage 5 curriculum aims to:
- Promote a curiosity about the world for our students and encourages them to ask questions.
- Develop a holistic knowledge that will help students better understand the community and the world in which they live.
- Deepen students’ understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.
- Provide frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time.
- Engage students with contemporary geographical issues at a local and global scale.
- Support our learners to develop skills that are transferable across all subjects and in later life.
- Enable students to think like ‘geographers.
What is taught in Geography Key Stage 5?
At Key Stage 5 we follow the AQA (7037) specification and students sign up to complete the full two year full A level course.
Paper 1: Physical Geography
- Water and Carbon Systems
- Coastal Systems and Landscapes
- Hazards
Paper 2: Human Geography
- Global systems and global governance
- Changing Places
- Contemporary Urban Environment
Fieldwork Investigation:
A 3000 - 4000 word research project into an area chosen by the candidate.
The A Level Course:
The course consists of two exams at the end of Year 13 and an independent research project completed by students independently over the two year course.
At Key Stage 5 students will have two Geography teachers who each specialise in either Physical or Human Geography disciplines.
Students are equipped with a variety of revision resources which include a departmental revision guide, the recommended AQA revision guide, access to a digital textbook, access to articles and journals from the Geographical Association and Royal Geographical Society and access to banks of practice exam questions.
As part of the course students are expected to complete at least 4 days of fieldwork. We take students on a residential field trip to the Dorset coastline and also on day trips to local locations such as the Birmingham CBD, Birmingham University and Digbeth.
Where might Geography take me?
Geography is a broad based academic subject which is well respected by employers. Geographers enter a very wide range of career areas and put simply there is no such thing as a geography job, there are jobs that geographers do. Studying geography provides you with valuable skills and a firm base for life-long learning. A number of our A level students go on to study Geography or Geography related degrees at university.
Possible careers include: Volcanology, environmental consultancy, development, economics, finance, geology, resources, teaching, law, banking, geophysical engineering, location analyst, armed forces, conflict resolution, surveying, disaster management, planning, hydrology, climatology, GIS and many more.
Extra Curricular Opportunities:
- Geography Club
- Homework Club
- International Trips- Iceland
- Domestic Trips- Lapworth Museum, Natural History Museum London, Carding Mill Valley in Shropshire, the Dorset coast.
- Department charity fundraising
