Geography

At GCSE level the students follow the AQA GCSE Geography course. The students will study a range of different geographical themes during the
course at scales ranging from local to global as well as completing fieldwork in the local area including a trip to Birmingham. The themes are:

Natural Hazards

This involves the nature and distribution of natural hazards such as hurricanes, volcanoes and floods ,the processes responsible for the natural hazards and the effects of these hazards on people.

The Living World

This unit looks at ecosystems ranging from small systems like ponds to tropical rainforests. Our case study for this unit is on deserts , which examines the challenges and opportunities of living in a hot, dry environment.

Rivers and Coasts

This is a physical geography unit where we study physical processes and land forms related to the dynamic landscapes of rivers and coasts, looking at how humans interact with these systems and how rivers and coasts are managed.

Urban Issues and Challenges

This theme looks at how towns and cities have developed and why so many people now live in cities. We use the example of Rio de Janeiro as our case study, learning about what it is like to live there for both rich and poor.

The Changing Economic World

This interesting theme includes industrial activities and systems, economic activity, growth and change and international disparities, trade and interdependence. It looks at why some countries are much richer than others and how this problem could be resolved.

Resource Management

This topical theme examines how we exploit natural resources and the damage this causes as well as the unfair distribution of resources and the problems caused by this.

For further information see Mrs Burton.

Post 16

The skills and knowledge acquired when studying geography at GCSE are used when studying many courses post 16 and provide genuine pathways into employment in many different areas as geography is suitably recognised by employers as having intrinsic value.