GCSE Geography (AQA)

Entry Level Certificate (Edexcel)

• Key Stage 3 – Students undertake a baseline assessment.
• Key  Stage 4 – Students undertake an assessment based on examination style questions in their early weeks of study.

Our pedagogy is underpinned by:

• the regular use of live modelling and exemplar texts to demonstrate processes, standards and expectations
• a range of strategies to deepen knowledge so that it is committed to long term memory
• Marking and targeted feedback that informs planning and addresses misconceptions.
• Assessments and timely intervention.
• Using errors as a learning opportunity and building resilience.

The learners’ journey will encourage enquiry and discovery, as they are challenged to be curious, inquisitive, critical and to reflect upon the evidence witnessed in the world in which we live. An enquiring mind stimulates new and creative thinking, through which learners can gain a deeper understanding of the concepts underpinning geography and their application in local, national and global contexts. Such thinking can help learners to understand human behaviour and experiences, to think about why we live as we do and how we interact with the natura world around us.

• Baseline testing
• Stage not age approach at KS3
• Personalised learning approach
• Regular verbal and written feedback
• Targeted interventions
• TA support in class
• Wellbeing Wednesday sessions

The Geography curriculum helps to develop a wide array of skills which are at the core of many professions. Students are supported by the Careers and Work-Related Learning team to investigate post 16 pathways that incorporate these skills. A selection of the potential future careers include:

• Environmental Consultant:
  • Salary Range: Typically between £22,000 to £40,000 per year, varying based on experience, sector (private or public), and the employer.
• Cartographer:
  • Salary Range: Generally from £20,000 to £35,000 per year, but can vary based on experience, geographic information systems (GIS) skills, and the employer.
• Town Planner:
  • Salary Range: Typically between £25,000 to £40,000 per year for entry-level positions, with experienced planners earning from £40,000 to £60,000 or more per year.
• Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Officer:
  • Salary Range: Generally from £25,000 to £40,000 per year, but can vary based on experience, specialized skills in GIS software, and the employer.
• Conservation Officer:
  • Salary Range: Typically from £22,000 to £35,000 per year, varying based on experience, the size of the organization, and specific conservation projects.
• Landscape Architect:
  • Salary Range: Usually between £24,000 to £40,000 per year, but experienced professionals or those in managerial roles can earn from £40,000 to £60,000 or more annually.
• Teacher/Lecturer:
  • Salary Range for Teachers: Starting salaries for newly qualified teachers (NQTs) range from £25,714 to £32,157 per year. With experience, salaries can rise to £32,157 to £50,935 or more per year.
  • Salary Range for Lecturers: For higher education, starting salaries might range from around £30,000 to £40,000 per year. Senior lecturers or professors can earn significantly more.
• Politics or Non-profit Organizations:
  • Salaries in politics and non-profit organizations can vary widely based on roles and responsibilities. Entry-level positions might range from £20,000 to £30,000, while senior roles or specialized positions can earn from £40,000 to £100,000 or more per year, depending on the organization and sector.

These salary approximations are based on industry standards and might differ based on factors such as experience, qualifications, location, specific job responsibilities, and employer structure within these fields.

Intent

The Geography curriculum at James Brindley Academy is ambitious and takes its role of expanding the world beyond the pupils vista seriously. As a result, there is high aspirational challenge interwoven throughout all key stages. The subject, in its very nature, provides an inclusive curriculum that acknowledges cultural, social and economic differences that exist at the different scales of local, national and international. We commit to ensuring that all young people are able to access the curriculum in identifying and breaking down the barriers that could impact on their progress. We are mindful of providing a focussed, nurturing learning environment in order to keep our students safe and empower them to develop an array of skills such as analysis, evaluation and the ability to look beyond their own environment. These vital skills will transfer to a multitude of career pathways and support our young people to act responsibly as global citizens in order to make positive decisions towards the society in which they live today.  

Implementation

The Geography curriculum has been designed around the key concepts of location and place, cause, impact, systems, processes and management, planning and decision-making. These concepts are embedded throughout an ambitious three-year curriculum at KS3 and developed upon further if undertaken at GCSE. We are mindful of meeting young people where they are at on their journey of geographical understanding and creating opportunities to fill gaps in knowledge that may have occurred.

We are keen to ensure that the young people recognise their place in the world, as well as their impact now and in the future. We aim to foster an acceptance of different types of people across different lands and cultures and we encourage the young people to empathise with others by assessing the difficulties that they face due to their location or their situation. Practical learning is implemented whenever possible in order to consolidate the learning of some very big concepts and ideas.

  Specifically tailored schemes of work support the delivery of lessons across the academy and allow students to have access to a vast array of resources irrespective of which course they may follow. The Thrive model is used across all centres to provide a nurturing environment for all students. This allows us to enable our young people’s engagement and make adaptations to meet the needs of students with a range of diverse and complex needs.

Impact

In learning the subject of Geography, young people will be encouraged to be curious, to question, to think critically.  Some pupils will undertake the subject further to KS4 and will build on the foundations provided during KS3 and attainment is measured by the respective qualifications taken and progress tracked over time following baseline assessments. Regardless of where their end point is, we aim to foster a curiosity into the past whilst encouraging the young people to look to the future and consider how they can contribute positively to shaping the world in which the live.

Pupils should develop knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom and their locality. They should understand basic subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and begin to use geographical skills, including first-hand observation, to enhance their locational awareness.

Pupils should extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. They should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.

Pupils 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 pupils will continue to enrich their locational knowledge and spatial and environmental understanding.

GCSE specifications in geography enable learners to:

• actively engage in the process of geography to develop as effective and independent thinkers with enquiring minds.
• develop their knowledge and understanding of geographical concepts and appreciate the relevance of these concepts to our changing world.
• develop a framework of spatial awareness in which to appreciate the importance of the location of places and environments from local to global.
• appreciate the differences and similarities between people’s views of the world, its environments, societies and cultures.
• understand the significance of values and attitudes to the development and resolution of issues
• develop their responsibilities as global citizens and recognise how they can contribute to a future that is sustainable and inclusive
• develop and apply their learning to the real world through fieldwork and other out of classroom learning.
• use of geographical skills, appropriate technologies, enquiry and analysis.