Geography

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The Geography Department is composed of 7 members of staff and is housed in ‘D’ Block along with Economics Department. Facilities consist of four main classrooms all complete with interactive iBoards and associated equipment.

The aims of the Geography Department are as follows:

the Department seeks to enable students to gain access to and knowledge of Geography, through the development of an understanding of key skills and concepts which underpin the subject by taking on responsibility for their own learning;
in addition, the Department strives to allow all students to achieve their highest potential in Geography whether at Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, or at A level;
it is recognised by the Department that much successful learning and understanding arises through the provision of fieldwork, an area of academic study which is strongly emphasised;
within its teaching, the Department seeks to create international understanding between students of differing nationalities so that they may learn to appreciate and value the cultures of other people;
in all its work the Department endeavours to develop students' understanding of the local environment (Dubai and the United Arab Emirates).

Lower School

The Key Stage 3 curriculum introduces students to Geography at secondary level by providing foundations in Year 7, consolidating in Year 8 and introducing the GCSE course in Year 9. A range of areas are studied in the curriculum with a focus on both themes and locations including the local area. Fieldwork is an important area which takes place in and around the rapidly changing city of Dubai.

Curriculum

Students should consolidate and extend their knowledge of the world’s major countries and their physical and human features. They should understand how geographical processes interact to create distinctive human and physical landscapes that change over time. In doing so, they should become aware of increasingly complex geographical systems in the world around them. They should develop greater competence in using geographical knowledge, approaches and concepts [such as models and theories] and geographical skills in analysing and interpreting different data sources. In this way students will continue to enrich their locational knowledge and spatial and environmental understanding.

Students should be taught to:

Locational knowledge

extend their locational knowledge and deepen their spatial awareness of the world’s countries using maps of the world to focus on Africa, Russia, Asia (including China and India), and the Middle East, focusing on their environmental regions, including polar and hot deserts, key physical and human characteristics, countries and major cities

Place Knowledge

understand geographical similarities, differences and links between places through the study of human and physical geography of a region within Africa, and of a region within Asia

Human and physical geography

Understand, through the use of detailed place-based exemplars at a variety of scales, the key processes in:

physical geography relating to: geological timescales and plate tectonics; rocks, weathering and soils; weather and climate, including the change in climate from the Ice Age to the present; and glaciation, hydrology and coasts
human geography relating to: population and urbanisation; international development; economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors; and the use of natural resources
understand how human and physical processes interact to influence, and change landscapes, environments and the climate; and how human activity relies on effective functioning of natural systems

Geographical skills and fieldwork

build on their knowledge of globes, maps and atlases and apply and develop this knowledge routinely in the classroom and in the field
interpret Ordnance Survey maps in the classroom and the field, including using grid references and scale, topographical and other thematic mapping, and aerial and satellite photographs
use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to view, analyse and interpret places and data
use fieldwork in contrasting locations to collect, analyse and draw conclusions from geographical data, using multiple sources of increasingly complex information.

Middle School

Key Stage 4 GCSE AQA Geography (8035)

The Department achieves outstanding results at GCSE with 50% of students achieving a level 9 and 100% achieving Level 9 to 7 in 2018 and 94% in 2019.

Fieldwork is conducted locally and in the Hajar mountains to the east of Dubai. In 2019 we started our inaugural annual overseas trip taking 50 GCSE students to Iceland to experience the ‘Land of Fire and Ice’. A further trip is planned when international travel will be allowed.

Aims and learning outcomes

Courses based on this specification will encourage students to:

develop and extend their knowledge of locations, places, environments and processes, and of different scales including global; and of social, political and cultural contexts (know geographical material)

gain understanding of the interactions between people and environments, change in places and processes over space and time, and the inter-relationship between geographical phenomena at different scales and in different contexts (think like a geographer)

develop and extend their competence in a range of skills including those used in fieldwork, in using maps and GIS and in researching secondary evidence, including digital sources; and develop their competence in applying sound enquiry and investigative approaches to questions and hypotheses (study like a geographer)

apply geographical knowledge, understanding, skills and approaches appropriately and creatively to real world contexts, including fieldwork, and to contemporary situations and issues; and develop well-evidenced arguments drawing on their geographical knowledge and understanding (applying geography).

Sixth Form

A level Geography Pearson Edexcel Specification (9GE0)

This qualification is linear. Linear means that students will sit all their exams and submit all their non-exam assessment at the end of the course.

With an A*-A pass rate of 50% and an A-B pass rate of 100% it is clear that students are very successful at A level Geography.

Fieldwork takes place at a variety of locations around the UAE and a residential trip is planned for 2021-22 to incorporate geographical skills and NEA preparation.

Course content:

Paper 1