Geography

Places, regions and countries are the stuff of Geography and pupils are encouraged to develop both awareness of and responsibility towards contemporary social, political and environmental issues.

The study of patterns and processes on the earth's surface is applied to current media controversies and dilemmas, not evading any need for moral judgements or radical perspectives.

Teaching Staff
Programmes of Study
Enrichment

Teaching Staff

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Expedition to Sri Lanka, Spring 2006

Mr K J D Richards (Head of Department)
Mr J A Hodgson
Mrs JA Hodgson
Miss A C Langdale
Mr B H Miller
Mr R T Sanderson
Mr G M Turner

 
Programmes of Study

The A2 course embraces a project based on local fieldwork. Tourism and rural, coastal and hazardous environments are the basis for in-depth research and enquiry. These topics provide excellent opportunities for discussion of current local and global concerns and issues.

The Shell (Year 9) course focuses on key global issues with an emphasis on creative and imaginative enquiry and problem solving. Investigations of Wilderness Antarctica, Siberia and Amazonia lead on to the study of international ecotourism, tsunami and hurricane hazards, mega-cities, global warming and global poverty. The Shell gain a vision of a dynamic and interdependent world but one in need of responsible stewardship and cooperative management.

The GCSE course follows the Edexcel A Syllabus. Project work is completed in Swindon CBD. Pupils are challenged to interpret coastal, glacial and river landscapes and to have a go at weather forecasting. Transnational high technology companies, modern farmscapes and population issues are key human topics. Pupils also study hurricane and tectonic hazards and the management of global cities like Los Angeles.

The OCR AS course is broad and varied and there is a healthy balance between social science, human geography, and more science-based physical topics. Pupils complete a practical module based on a Studland sand dune study.

The A2 course embraces a project based on local fieldwork. Tourism and rural, coastal and hazardous environments are the basis for in-depth research and enquiry. These topics provide excellent opportunities for discussion of current local and global concerns and issues.

Enrichment

Fieldwork is at the heart of our subject. There are two days of fieldwork at GCSE level. AS students take part in a local field day as well as a residential field course at Osmington Bay in Dorset. A2 students are informed by day trips to Bath and to Barton-on-Sea and Hurst Castle Spit; there is a further day of project work in Savernake Forest, Cirencester or on Cherhill Hill.

IT is an increasingly glamorous aspect of our subject: there is much exposure to exciting software, to rewarding internet research, to graphical and design challenges and to report and project publishing.

The Department has a dynamic tradition of running challenging and stimulating expeditions and field trips abroad. Destinations since 2002 have included Cuba, Myanmar, Eastern Turkey, the Sinai Desert, the Algarve and Sri Lanka. Trips to Namibia, Peru and Ladakh have been run jointly with other Departments. Trips have a combination of cultural, outward bound and nature based objectives. All trips emphasise the development of life skills including initiative, self reliance and leadership.

Additionally, there is an annual inter-house quiz for the Shell, and an annual Tourism Forum organised by U6th pupils. Trips to visit the RGS in London are encouraged. We invite speakers (both pupils and adults) to present academic challenges and to inspire an interest in nature, adventure and travel. Recently, we have enjoyed a very stimulating sequence of talks by outside speakers on polar themes.