At IWEF, we want to provide pupils an interest about the world’s physical processes and its people that will remain with them. We will equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people and environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress throughout their time studying the curriculum, their growing knowledge about the world will help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes. Our key aims from the curriculum follow the federation’s ASPIRE strapline.

AMBITION – We want pupils to be ambitious to explore different parts of the world as well as future careers.
SUCCESS – Understanding their role in becoming a global citizen through challenging misconceptions and acting upon global issues.
PROGRESS – Knowledge and understanding of key geographical skills and concepts allows pupils to grow into global citizens and independent geographers.
INSPIRATION – Inspired by global and local environments and cultures, both in physical and human geography.
RESPECT – In geography, an environment of respect is created. This is respectful of all people in the classroom as well as respect for our natural world and other cultures we may be studying.
EQUALITY – Every pupil is given the same opportunities regardless of background. Through our curriculum, pupils appreciate their equality but recognise the inequality that exists locally and globally.

What do we expect students to get from Geography?

Students will gain an understanding of geographical issues on a range of scales; local, national and global.
They will be able to create well considered arguments to produce substantiated conclusions on geographical issues and will use and evaluate a wide range of geographical skills and techniques, which are transferable for the future.

How does learning develop over the five years?

Year 7:

Year 7 starts with the topic of ‘Where do we live?’, exploring life in the UK and how it contrasts between places, including the local area. This in terms of both the human and physical geography of the UK, including economic sectors. This leads into the topic of ‘Is Africa all the same?’ where contrasts are made with the previous topic. Here, we look at contrasting biomes in Africa and how the human landscape and culture also varies from place to place. We do this through a number of case studies and examine the reasons for these differences. This is followed by ‘Why are places divided?’. This topic investigates the causes and impacts of borders and migration in different parts of the world, starting with migration from North Africa to Europe. This is a contemporary issue and therefore up to date case studies are used throughout to give pupils an idea of current migration patterns. Following this, we investigate ‘Why are places different?’. This topic offers an insight into the reasons for the location of many settlements and the differences between them. We look at both local examples of varying settlements before moving onto a global example of Mumbai and how urbanisation has impacted life in the megacity. We then move onto ‘Are our lives sustainable?’. This topic has a focus on how sustainable our lives are. This is in relation to resource use, including energy. There is a focus on decision making in this topic, with pupils making a decision on the most sustainable outcome for the Isle of Wight’s energy use. There is also an opportunity to introduce fieldwork by running a decision making exercise around the school based on waste. We finish year 7 on ‘How is our coastline changing?’. This topic starts by introducing key coastal processes and human interactions with the coast with an Isle of Wight focus. There will then be an opportunity for fieldwork where pupils will go through an enquiry process, collecting data, presenting this and finally drawing conclusions based around the enquiry question.

Year 8:

Year 8 starts by looking at ‘Extreme Environments’. Students will look at contrasting extreme environments, including tundra, taiga, coniferous forest ecosystems with a focus on Russia. Comparisons of these will be made ending with desert ecosystems which will then cross over into the following topic. There is then a focus on the human interactions with deserts before looking at different countries in the Middle East, linking how some people in the Middle East live in desert conditions as well as other geographical issues found here. Then there is a real focus on Middle East resources and how this has greatly influenced the region. Following this, we look at the ‘Geography of Crime’. Using statistics including those from the Index of Multiple Deprivation, police crime data and from the census, there will be a local enquiry into crime in Newport. This will be based around where would be the best place to locate CCTV in the town. This includes map work, plotting the best locations and justifying these decisions. The next focus is on ‘Southeast Asia’. Through this topic, we look at contrasting human and physical geography in China and India and culture also varies from place to place. We do this through an investigation of these two emerging countries as well as looking into the future influence and impact of these countries into the future. This topic leads nicely into looking at ‘Tectonic Hazards’. This topic firstly covers the different types of natural hazards, then focusing on the structure of the earth, plate boundaries and how this leads to contrasting types of volcanoes. When looking at volcanoes, we look at how they form, what makes places more vulnerable than others and then finally look at two contrasting examples in Asia to apply the learning in previous lessons. We finish year 8 looking at ‘Rivers’. The rivers topic looks at the key river processes of erosion, transportation and deposition and how this influences features found on different parts of the course of the river. We then look at human interactions with rivers including how we use them, change them and protect ourselves from them. We look at a range of different rivers during this to embed the learning of these key processes and interactions.

Year 9:

Year 9 starts with a ‘Weather and Climate’ topic. This looks at the causes of contrasting weather and climate systems globally, followed by a focus on the UK and the Isle of Wight. There will then be a microclimate enquiry based around the school grounds using data collected by the pupils as well as school weather station data. This leads nicely into the ‘Climatic Hazards’ topic which firstly recaps the different types of natural hazards, then focusing on climatic hazards, mainly tropical cyclones. When looking at tropical cyclones, we look at how they form, what makes places more vulnerable than others and then finally look at two contrasting examples to apply the learning in previous lessons. The examples we look at are Typhoon Haiyan and Hurricane Katrina. Following on from this, we continue to look at hazards with a focus on ‘Earthquakes’, with a link into ‘International Development’. This topic firstly recaps the different types of natural hazards, the structure of the earth, plate boundaries and how this leads to earthquakes and tsunamis. When looking at earthquakes, we look at what makes places more vulnerable than others and then finally look at two contrasting examples to apply the learning in previous lessons. This leads onto a focus on international development, with this being why the impacts of hazards vary between locations. The theme of international development continues and leads into the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’. This topic uncovers what development is and how it varies across the world. As geographers, we look at how we can measure how developed a country is and reasons for contrasting levels of development. We then look at solutions to close the development gap with a focus on the sustainable development goals and whether these will be successful or not. As part of these goals, we then look at ‘Climate Change and Biomes’. In this component, students will develop their knowledge and understanding of the processes and interactions between people and environment and investigate related issues at a variety of scales. Some of the main themes that run through this topic are sustainability and climate change. Finally, we finish KS3 looking at the biggest geographical issue of climate change further, but how this will impact the UK and Isle of Wight.

Year 10/11:

Changes to the specifications at GCSE and A-level have been key factors in developing the geography curriculum. A full specification investigation across different exam boards was carried out and it was determined that the Edexcel B specification due to the wide variety of topics covered.

The geography curriculum is distinctive as students will travel the world from their classroom, exploring:

• Current case studies in the United Kingdom (focusing on the local changes within the city of London).
• Investigating emerging countries (such as India) and megacities (such as Mumbai).
• Studying topics including: climate change, poverty, deprivation, global shifts in economic power and the challenge of sustainable resource use.

Students are also encouraged to understand their role in society, by considering different viewpoints, values and attitudes.

How is the timetabled curriculum supplemented or enriched by other approaches to learning?

Fieldwork and enquiry opportunities are given to every year group, examples include coastal fieldwork in year 7, river walk in year 8, trip to the Natural History Museum in year 9 and compulsory coastal and urban fieldwork in years 10 and 11. This allows students to apply their knowledge and understanding to interpret, analyse and evaluate information and issues related to geographical enquiry. Additionally, students use these enquiry skills in school for on site fieldwork e.g. microclimate surveys.

The department has developed strong links with universities through the careers office and is developing links with employers such as the Environment Agency to enrich learning. Humanities are also leading on facilitating a Fairtrade Action Group, gaining a Fairtrade award.

In what ways does our curriculum help to develop students?

• Cultural diversity and identity: studying a range of case studies globally, examining varying cultures and lifestyles.
• Physically and mentally healthy lifestyles: field trips involve healthy exercise.
• Community participation: the department has developed links with universities and employers.
• Careers and enterprise: the department has developed links with universities and employers.
• Technology and the media: students are encouraged to develop their research skills using the geographical websites such as Digimaps.
• Creativity and critical thinking: Decision making activities and project based activities encourage students to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.

What forms do assessments take? What is the purpose of assessment?

Formative assessments include class based self and peer assessments, including 3 formal assessment points and termly shorter knowledge retrieval tests. These are all resource based assessments.

Informal assessments take place on a lesson by lesson basis, using Rosenshine principles to guide retrieval practice and critical thinking based tasks.

How do we know if we have a successful curriculum?

Student Voice will provide information on the success of the curriculum and Assessment data will provide information on progression.

How do we support ‘High Attaining’ pupils?

By always teaching to the top, scaffolding down to those who need extra support. We provide intervention strategies for students who are targeted to achieve the highest grades. Targeted questioning in class to push and extend the knowledge of those who are high attaining.