Lisnagarvey High School

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Overview

Staff

Subject Leader Miss K Campbell (email – kcampbell102@c2kni.net)

Teaching Staff Mrs J Harrison

Miss L Diffin

Departmental Aims

· To develop a sense of place and understanding of where we are in the world in relation to others.

· To develop an understanding of the physical world in which we live and how it works.

· To explore the relationship between human beings and the physical world.

· To investigate how human beings interact with each other at local and global scales.

· To encourage students to consider up-to-date local, national and global issues and develop informed opinions.

An overview of the Key Stage 3 curriculum

At Key Stage 3, the Geography department offers a broad and dynamic programme of study which ranges from the global to the individual level.

In Years 8-10 pupils study 3 periods of Geography per week.

The following is an outline of the topics studied – more information can be found in the ‘What are we learning?’ section for each year group.

Year 8

· Who Am I?

· Map Skills

· Wicked Weather

· Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Year 9

· Ecosystems

· Rainforests and Deserts

· Where in the World?

· People and where they live

Year 10

· The Environment

· Development Issues

· Extreme Geography – the impact of natural disasters

· Rivers and Coasts

Skills Development

We develop a range of skills across Key Stage 3 that are useful in other subject areas and in life outside school:

· Map work skills

· Enquiry skills

· Data handling skills

· General management skills

We aim to encourage creativity and independent work using computer and paper-based projects in each year. These projects allow pupils to develop their self-management skills and be involved in the assessment process by developing their own success criteria and participating in peer and self assessment exercises.

An overview of the Key Stage 4 curriculum

At Key Stage 4 we follow the Northern Ireland CCEA specification. Pupils in Year 11 and Year 12 have 4 periods per week, usually in the form of 2 double period classes. GCSE Geography is studied over 2 units, each containing 3 themes. The course is laid out below – for further details please see see the relevant year group in the GCSE section.

Year 11

Unit 1 – Understanding Our Natural World

· Theme A – The Dynamic Landscape

· Theme B – Our Changing Weather and Climate

· Theme C – The Restless Earth

Year 12

Unit 2 – Living in Our World

· Theme A – People and Where They Live

· Theme B – Contrasts in World Development

· Theme C – Managing Our Resources

Coursework

Coursework is worth 25% of the final grade and is a 2,500 report based on a fieldwork study. The study is selected from a list issued by CCEA each year. It is completed under controlled conditions in school over limited time.

Departmental Facilities

All rooms are fully equipped with interactive whiteboards and full audio/visual display units. Department staff also make good use of the school’s excellent ICT suites.

Geography isn’t just about textbooks. We use a range of resources as we learn such as computers, maps and atlases, interactive whiteboard activities, photographs and videos, physical models and of course – our most valuable resource – the world outside the window.

Geography