Teacher of Geography

Geography is a strong and successful department, with its work recognised positively during the School’s most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2022, where our Quality of Education was rated as Outstanding. The department strives to be at the forefront of teaching and learning in the School and is passionate about teaching Geography in a dynamic way. The core idea of the Department of Geography which governs the attitudes towards education and decision making is celebrating geographical thinking. We want to inspire in our students a wonder about the world, and a need to know. To create opportunities which will inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. The department is well resourced, working in four spacious classrooms. There is a wide variety of media to support teaching and learning. At Key Stage Three the department has a bespoke, innovative curriculum of engagement for KS3 students. Coupled with our progression framework, we aim to enact, in the Ofsted vernacular, an “imaginative and stimulating geography curriculum” skillfully designed to match the full range of pupils’ needs and to ensure highly effective continuity and progression in their learning”. In Year 7 our geographical journey begins with a foundation year for students, equipping them with developing capabilities to understand places, explore how places are interconnected and how they change, and how to enquire and communicate effectively. In Year 8 we focus on global issues and sustainability in order to understand concepts such as change, risk, pressure, development, and inequality. Year 9 focuses on key geographical processes and concepts to consolidate studying geography at Key Stage 3, but also to act as a preface to GCSE Geography, should students choose this route. Here we study more classic fields such as weather and climate, but also apply more contemporary thinking from Geographies of disease. Classes in year 7 have three 1 hour periods per fortnight. Classes in year 8 have four, 1 hour periods per fortnight. Classes in year 9 have two, 1 hour periods per fortnight. Geography is the most popular option at GCSE level in recent years, with five teaching groups in Year 10 and Year 11. At GCSE level, students follow the OCR B syllabus. Key Stage 4 students have five 1 hour periods per fortnight. At GCSE students have the opportunity to go to Sicily to study hazards. Students also go to Cambridge for their Human fieldwork and Hunstanton for their Physical fieldwork. At A-level we follow the OCR specification. There are two teaching groups at A-level in Year 12 and Year 13. All Year 12 students have the opportunity to participate in fieldwork to Snowdonia London and Sheffield as well as local fieldwork. All the fieldwork opportunities help develop skills to prepare the students for their NEA. Grades are excellent at both GCSE and A-level. The last set of results we had a