The Geography Department is located on the ground floor of the Senior School main block and comprises four specialist rooms. The Department is well equipped with electronic whiteboards in every room, maps, atlases, fieldwork equipment, an extensive DVD and video catalogue and a wide range of reference books. We subscribe to the major Geographical journals such as ‘Geography’ from the GA and ‘Geographical’ from the RGS. We also receive ‘Geography Review’ and ‘Wide World’ student magazines and encourage our students to subscribe to these.
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Geography Trips
We run field trips on a regular basis, mainly related to GCSE Coursework and A Level exam work. These take place in Bromley and Dorset respectively. The Bromley trip looks at land use within an urban area in preparation for GCSE coursework and is a day trip. The Dorset trip is a 4 day residential visit to Magdalen Farm where a wide range of fieldwork techniques are studied to prepare candidates for Paper 2 at AS. In the Lower School we the National Maritime Museum in the summer with year 7 to research project work on the Great Explorers. Year 9 visit the Olympic site to assess the impact of urban regeneration in the area.. We also run an annual expedition to either Iceland, Sorrento or Morocco where pupils can experience some of the most impressive landscapes on the planet.
Geography in the Sixth Form
In the Sixth Form Geography remains popular, with on average 20 - 30 pupils in both the Lower and Upper Sixth studying the subject. The Lower Sixth program of study includes the workings of rivers and their management as well as looking at the role glaciation has played in developing the landscape of the UK. We also look at the issues presented by rapid population growth and migration and examine the geography of health in the UK and globally. In the Upper Sixth we focus on geomorphological processes such as plate tectonics, atmospheric processes and hazards and how we manage urban growth. There is also an opportunity to look at development and globalisation related issues.
We follow AQA Specification A at AS/A2 Level:
http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/humanities/geography_noticeboard.php?id=10&prev=10
Geography in the Middle School
Currently, Geography is optional at GCSE although the majority do opt to study the subject – around 70 pupils every year. Topics of study include population, coasts, plate tectonics, the living world, tourism and development. Through studying these topics we aim to enthuse pupils about the subject and to encourage them to think about the issues that we face as a global community. We follow AQA Specification A at GCSE.
The following link will take you to the AQA website for GCSE specifications:
http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/newgcses/geo_landt/geography_index.php?id=09&prev=09
Geography in the Lower School
The first three years at Colfe’s is aimed at stimulating interest in the subject and providing the necessary foundation for GCSE work. Indeed, pupils in Year 9 will begin to study subject matter that will be examined as part of their GCSEs should they opt for the subject in Year 10. Throughout their Geographical studies at Colfe’s pupils will be expected to develop their knowledge of places. A wide variety of physical and human geography topics are studied. For further details see the attached topic summary sheets.