Geography
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 that underpin the subject. Students take on responsibility for their own learning so that they can achieve their highest potential in Geography.
The Department believes that successful learning and understanding arises through the provision of fieldwork, an area of academic study which is strongly emphasised, and by creating international understanding between pupils of differing nationalities so that they may learn to appreciate and value each other’s cultures. In all its work, the Department endeavours to develop pupils' understanding of the local environment.
Regular field trips take place throughout the year to a variety of locations. These include the beach, local parks, the Hajar Mountains on the East Coast and the desert areas between the coast and the mountains. There is a department blog and increasing use is being made of Cloud computing including document sharing with and between students. This information can be accessed at:
http://geographydc.blogspot.com/
The Department also has permanent weather station downloads data to a laptop.
Course outline for Key Stage 3
The curriculum is based on the National Curriculum of England and Wales but has been adapted to reflect the local geography of the area. In brief, the key focus of Year 7 is mapwork, the geography of Dubai and the UAE, rivers and flooding and hazards. Year 8 students study coasts, Brazil, ecosystems, weather and climate. Year 9 students study oceans, coffee, fashion and China.
Course outline for GCSE
The course seeks to develop students’ prior knowledge and skills. Specifically, students will develop their cartographic, graphical, geographical enquiry, ICT and GIS skills and have a greater understanding of the environmental issues of climate change and sustainable development. In addition, they will study the physical geography of coastal and river landscapes. Finally, students will examine population change and tourism.
The fieldwork unit involves students completing a fieldwork investigation and report. They must complete one of the tasks provided by the examination board on one of the following themes: coasts, the countryside, the environment, rivers, tourism, transport and urban areas.
More information can be found by clicking on the following link:
www.edexcel.com/quals/gcse/gcse09/geography/a/Pages/default.aspx
Course Outline for A Level
The course seeks to develop student's understanding of physical and human geography, their geographical skills and it will assess contemporary geographical issues. Two of the papers involve answering short and extended questions based on candidates’ fieldwork investigation and fieldwork skills as well as the option of taking an Geographical Issues paper.
Further details about the course can be found by clicking on the following link:
web.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/humanities/geography_noticeboard.php