Year 7 Unit Titles

Year 8 Unit Titles

• Location, location, location – exploring different maps and developing map skills
• Population, migration and refugees – an investigation of how migration has changed the world with a focus on the impacts of refugees in different countries
• Natural hazards – looking at different tectonic hazards, this will include the physical geography of these hazards and their impacts on people and the environment
• Environmental hazards – based on current issues, we will review climate change and plastic pollution and find out how this affects weather, people and other living things
• Africa – a broad look at the different human and physical characteristics of the continent of Africa
• Weather and climate – describing and explaining different types of weather with the opportunity to carry out fieldwork in the school to look at microclimates

• Development – discussing different causes, impacts and consequences of development around the world
• Cold Environments – looking at different cold environments to understand their characteristics, use and why they need to be protected in the future
• Asia - a broad look at the different human and physical characteristics of the continent of Asia, this unit will focus on trade and how it changes across the continent
• Superpowers – evaluating the major political powers of our time and drawing conclusions about how their geography promotes their influence around the world
• Physical processes – developing an understanding of how water and wind shape both our coastal and our river landscapes around the UK
• Geographies of Crime – focusing on Afghanistan and Somalia, students will investigate how geographical factors are linked to international crime

 Brief description of the departments homework policy for pupils in year 7+8

Throughout Year 7 and Year 8, students will be given 2 pieces of homework per unit of work. These tasks will be based on their knowledge organisers and will involve range of different tasks and skills.

Students will be given between 4 and 14 days to complete their work depending on their timetable. Students are encouragesdto be responsible for their learning and need to ensure that they see their teacher if they have lost any of their homework and attend Humanities Homework Club (every Thursday) if they are unsure about their work.

Year 7 Homework Tasks (sample)

Year 8  Homework Tasks (sample)

• Use information on the knowledge organiser to label a map of the UK
• Complete grid references activity on the knowledge organiser
• Describe an image/graph on the knowledge organiser based on the previous lesson
• Use knowledge organiser to revise diagrams to be assessed in the following labels (learning key features and labels)

• Complete a series of key questions from the knowledge organiser
• Read and highlight a section of the knowledge organiser to prepare for next lesson
• Revise key words for quiz
• Using the knowledge organiser to carry out an extended research task

Paper 1 - Living with the physical environment

What is assessed:

• This unit is concerned with the dynamic nature of physical processes and systems, and human interaction with them in a variety of places and at a range of scales. The aims of this unit are to develop an understanding of the tectonic, geomorphological, biological and meteorological processes and features in different environments, and the need for management strategies which allow humans to live with risks posed by the physical environment.
• Pupils will study the following topics:

3.1.1 The challenge of natural hazards

3.1.2 The living world

3.1.3 Physical landscapes in the UK

3.4 Geographical skills such as using OS maps

How will it be assessed:

• Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes which is sat in the summer of pupils’ year 11.
• The paper is worth 88 marks - including 3 marks for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology (SPaG) on extended 9-mark questions.
• Paper 1 represents 35% of the Geography GCSE course.

Paper 2 -  Challenges in the human environment

What is assessed:

• This unit is concerned with human processes, systems and outcomes and how these change both spatially and temporally. They are studied in a variety of places and at a range of scales and must include places in various stages of development, such as higher income countries (HICs), lower income countries (LICs) and newly emerging economies (NEEs).

• Pupils will study the following topics:

3.2.1 Urban issues and challenges

3.2.2 The changing economic world

3.2.3 The challenge of resource management

3.4 Geographical skills

How will it be assessed:

• Written exam: 1 hour 30 minutes which is sat in the summer of pupils’ year 11
• The paper is worth 88 marks - including 3 marks for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology (SPaG) on extended 9-mark questions.
• Paper 2 represents 35% of the Geography GCSE course.

Paper 3 – Geographical Applications 

What is assessed:

• The Geographical applications unit is designed to be synoptic in that students will be required to draw together knowledge, understanding and skills from the full course of study. The first section of this exam is called the ‘Issue Evaluation’ and an in-depth case study is released by the exam board 12 weeks before the paper 3 examination. Pupils will also be expected to complete two local fieldwork studies before the exam, one on a Human Geography topic and one on a Physical Geography topic. 

• Pupils will study the following topics:

3.3.1 Section A: Issue Evaluation – this information is released by the exam board 12 weeks before the paper 3 examination.

3.3.2 Section B: Fieldwork

3.4 Geographical skills

How will it be assessed:

• Written exam: 1 hour 15 minutes which is sat in the summer of pupils’ year 11
• The paper is worth 76 marks - including 3 marks for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology (SPaG) on extended 9-mark questions.
• Paper 3 represents 30% of the Geography GCSE course.

Please provide a brief description of the departments homework policy for pupils at KS4

Throughout years 9, 10 and 11 pupils will also be given regular homework tasks to support their in class learning such as conducting their own research into Geographical topics, completing questions on Knowledge Organisers and revising for exams.