Geography
RATIONALE
The Geography curriculum at Cloughwood Academy has been designed to meet the needs and support students who may have missed a significant amount of learning in this subject. Pupils may have experienced disrupted or no experience in this subject and may arrive, no matter what year, with gaps and misconceptions that this curriculum will address.
The Geography curriculum aims to broaden students' understanding of the world and the life skills that will come in handy.
Practical and contextual – The learning in Geography will be applied to real life scenarios and will look at real/ current events going on in the world to ensure that students understand the value of what they are learning.
Skills in Geography will be taught in a spiralised approach. Skills will be introduced on a basic level and developed over the years.
Topics are organised thematically, collecting together different aspects of both physical and human geography.
INTENT
Our intent is to provide a Geography Curriculum that is:
Engaging, accessible and meaningful for learners who may be disengaged by Geography and may have lost confidence in the subject.
The Geography curriculum will engage learners by looking at real life scenarios and skills that can be transferred to things they may need to know and skills they may use in their future.
Learning will be done in the context of real world issues and contexts and look at focussing on their interests to create a sense of purpose in their learning.
Skills and prior learning will be revisited throughout all years to help learners develop and build their confidence. Learners will also be able to develop communication skills within Geography and exercise levels of independence in their work.
IMPLEMENTATION
Each student in KS3 will have one 50-minute lesson a week of Geography.
Each student who chooses Geography GCSE in KS4 will have three 50-minute lessons a week.
Lessons will begin with a short retrieval task (recapping previous knowledge), followed by the introduction of new content through direct instruction and interactive activities.
Over a term, students cover one thematic unit, e.g. Rivers, Urbanisation, Climate Change, moving from foundational knowledge to more applied enquiry and case study work.
Fieldwork or project-based tasks are often scheduled once per term to give practical application of classroom learning.
The curriculum follows a spiral structure: key concepts (place, space, scale, environment, interdependence) are revisited across year groups at increasing levels of complexity.
Within each year, units are arranged thematically (e.g. Physical Geography, Human Geography, Environmental Issues) but are sequenced to build both knowledge and geographical skills.
Skills such as map reading, data interpretation, and geographical enquiry are embedded throughout rather than taught in isolation.
In Geography there will be a mix of scaffolding (writing frames, model answers), visuals (maps, GIS, diagrams), retrieval practice (quizzes, recall tasks), fieldwork, and discussion/debate to build knowledge and enquiry skills.
In Geography lessons there will be differentiated tasks, scaffolded supports, small group working and connections to students’ local contexts to ensure all learners can access and extend their learning.
A wide range including maps, atlases, GIS, real-world datasets, fieldwork equipment, multimedia resources, case studies, and structured knowledge organisers.
Geography will be assessed based on informal methods (questioning, discussions, retrieval activities) and formal methods (end-of-unit tests, fieldwork reports, exam-style tasks).
IMPACT
Progress is tracked through a combination of assessments, teacher observations, classroom questioning, and work samples that evidence both knowledge and skill development.
Increased participation in discussions, greater willingness to attempt challenging tasks, positive feedback in student voice surveys, and improved independence in completing enquiries demonstrate growing confidence and engagement.
Regular low-stakes quizzes, retrieval activities, marked work, and behaviour/engagement logs provide a clear picture of how students’ knowledge, geographical skills, and learning behaviours are improving over time.
Students apply learning through fieldwork, real-world problem-solving, cross-curricular links (e.g. maths in data handling, science in ecosystems), and functional tasks like interpreting maps or evaluating sustainability issues.
The curriculum builds progressively towards exam-style skills, fosters independent enquiry and research, and equips students with transferable skills (analysis, critical thinking, data interpretation) that support future study, employment, and life transitions.