Geography
Head of Department: Mrs L Banerjee
View a photo gallery of images from a Fourth Form trip to Costa Rica, and read about it here.
As a department, we aim to foster a keen interest and awareness of key contemporary global issues. Pupils enjoy Geography because they find it is both interesting and relevant to them as young adults.Geography is part of the core curriculum from First to Third Form. About 100 pupils opt for the subject at GCSE each year and 40 at AS, almost all of whom continue at A2. Several pupils go on to study Geography at leading universities each year.
Geography is a spatial and temporal study of patterns, trends and issues. At its core is an understanding and knowledge of place: physical features, climates, vegetations, soils, populations and settlements. It is both a science and social science which focuses upon the relationship between man and the environment. Through this it contributes widely to educating pupils in concepts of sustainability, citizenship and global interdependence. Skills are also important in the context of project and research design and planning, data collection, presentation, analysis and interpretation of results, discussion of conclusions and limitations.
Fieldwork is fundamental to the subject, and all pupils from First Form to the Sixth Form go on curriculum-based residential or day field trips involving map skills, local river studies, coastal exploration or local urban studies.
Outside of the classroom, we have regular meetings of the Geography Society, gearing talks to both junior and senior members. Our most recent speaker was Alastair Humphreys who has cycled round the world and is shortly to recreate Scott's trip to the South Pole. Third Form pupils recently participated in Cambridge GA’s Worldwise Quiz and came fourth out of 16 schools. They narrowly missed out on the prize-winning places by a mere 1.5 points. We also run a popular inter-school Geography Forum for the Sixth Form, hosted in rotation by Stamford Schools and Uppingham, with pupil-led talks and seminar discussions.
The department is staffed by:
Mrs L. Banerjee BSc, MEd
Mr J.R. Hammond-Chambers BA
Mr J.G. King LLB
Mr C.W. Symes BSc
Mr J.M. Taylor BA MA
Mrs M.S. Turner BA MBA
Mr J.R. Wake CertEd
Course content
GCSE
During the Fourth and Fifth Forms, we follow the Edexcel IGCSE course which
we feel offers a vigorous and varied curriculum that will stimulate our pupils.
Key topics include the rise of the global economy, the issues surrounding
managing migration, the global warming debate, issues of social deprivation
and poverty in cities, the rising demand for energy and managing hazards such
as hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The curriculum has a balance
between human and physical aspects and allows the theory to be discussed in
real life contexts through case study examplars. We study six overarching
themes across the two years: coastal environments, hazardous environments,
economic activity and energy, urban environments, fragile environments, globalisation
and migration.
Throughout the two years, we integrate ideas of fieldwork skills and techniques
including two days out in the field, one looking at coastal fieldwork and
another at urban fieldwork. Our aim is that pupils finish the course with
a love of the subject along with a solid grounding in key aspects of geography
linked with key issues affecting the world today.
A Level
At A Level we follow the new AQA syllabus. Over the course of the two years,
pupils study two AS units and two A2 units. Four key themes are studied at
AS, namely rivers and their management, population change and its issues,
hot desert environments and health issues. Key issues within these themes
include flooding and its management, ageing and growing populations, life
on the edge of desert regions such as the Sahel and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
These all relate to current events across the globe. In the second year, we
look at similarly up-to-date material including the nature of conflict (case
studies include the Afghanistan conflict and the Basque separatists in northwest
Spain), weather and climate (including how and why climate varies globally)
and hazards, including both those associated with weather and climate and
tectonic based hazards. Alongside the main content themes mentioned, there
is a strong fieldwork and skill base which is threaded throughout the course,
and links to a residential field trip to Malham Tarn Field Studies Centre
in the Lower Sixth Form.