Key Stage 3 – Geography

AIMS AND PURPOSES OF GEOGRAPHY

A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Pupils should be equipped with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world should help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.

Aims

The WES Geography Course is based on the aims of the national curriculum for geography and aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
• understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time
• are competent in the geographical skills needed to:
• collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
• interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
• communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.

Subject content

During Key stage 3, pupils consolidate and extend their knowledge of the world’s major countries and their physical and human features. They understand how geographical processes interact to create distinctive human and physical landscapes that change over time. In doing so, they become aware of increasingly complex geographical systems in the world around them. They also 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.

The main focus of the geography curriculum consists of:

• Locational knowledge
• Place Knowledge
• Human and physical geography
• Geographical skills and fieldwork