We are a friendly and vibrant part of the UCC community, offering many opportunities for our students to get involved in the wider world. Geography is a living subject which impacts on all our day to day lives; from the weather determining what we wear each day to where we go on holiday. Our staff are subject specialists with a range of interests in geography from coasts, to how places change, to plate tectonics, to global travels. The news each week informs our lessons and we endeavour to make real world events part of our studies. Recently this had led onto the development of case studies, promoting recycling and becoming movers and shakers in the fight against plastic pollution. Our expedition to Mexico with Operation Wallacea is a great opportunity to develop key skills in conservation and biodiversity mapping. Geography takes you places!
Key Stage 3
At Key Stage 3 we aim to give all pupils a wide variety of both physical and human geographical knowledge and skills. This includes local fieldwork and literacy and numeracy skills. The subjects covered range from volcanoes and earthquakes, population challenges, river flooding, urban issues in Rio, coasts, tropical storms, mapping skills, resources and globalisation, development and world biomes. Pupils develop research skills and become increasingly independent in their learning.
Key Stage 4
Geography GCSE follows the AQA specification. It covers many aspects of both physical (paper 1) and human (paper 2) geography. Within each topic, there are opportunities to master key geographical skills such as graphing, mapping, evaluation and explanation alongside the subject-specific content. Paper 3 is designed to test your thinking skills and ability to use evidence to inform your decision making. The fieldwork undertaken helps with this. We have visited Silloth, St Bees, Keswick and Penrith.
Key Stage 5
Our A level is designed to challenge your previous learning and enables you to ask more questions about familiar topics like natural hazards or how we use specific places and is full of synoptic links between one aspect of geography and another. This brings us full circle from the basics at KS3, to a real understanding of our place in the world and how we affect change around us. The course allows each student to find their niche passion within the subject and research it further, as part of the independent fieldwork investigation.
Staff
- Dr B Leathers (Head of Department)
- Mr R Moss
- Mrs R James
- Miss J Tingle
- Mr G Priestley
Intent & implementation
UCC geographers should be curious about the world outside Penrith. They will be confident to ask questions and apply their understanding to a variety of settings and scales. Geography will be learned inside and outside the classroom. Our geographers will develop a fascination of other cultures and develop a sense of empathy with people around the world. They will cultivate a sense of belonging and responsibility to the Earth. We will encourage a questioning mind and develop transferable skills. UCC geography will ‘take you places’.
UCC Geography instils knowledge and promotes understanding and a creative curiosity in KS3 which leads to further study and development of understanding and enquiry at KS4 and KS5. We aspire to implement this through imaginative lessons and mastery of topics and key geographical skills. At KS3 we enable all students to fill the gaps in their knowledge due to variation in our feeder schools’ delivery of geography; whilst revisiting and expanding on prior learning in areas covered at KS2.
Human and Physical Geography is weighted equally and students will journey through various timescales, continents, climates and peoples. Lessons are accessible and engaging for our students. They become problem finders and problem solvers by thinking like a geographer. Schemes of work ask questions about the world we live in and our students apply their knowledge and understanding to answer them and to form opinions.
Curriculum Maps
To find out what we are learning about in geography and why, please see the appropriate curriculum map:
KS3Year 10Year 11Year 12 Paper 1Year 12 Paper 2Year 13 Paper 1Year 13 Paper 2
Developing Cultural Capital
The development of cultural capital is inherent in the geography curriculum at UCC. We ensure that our students develop the essential knowledge to become educated citizens. Through careful planning and teaching we ensure this is framed in the local, national and global context. We encourage students to explore social, economic, political and environmental issues across this range of scales, ensuring that students have access to the best geographical thinking to support this.
Extracurricular opportunities
Having had a fantastic time on our Mexico Operation Wallacea trip in 2019, we have another 2021 expedition which will give fantastic opportunities for exploration and experience to our Geography students. We also run a Geography Club every Wednesday lunch time in C6 exploring geography in a range of creative and fun activities.
Careers Education
Careers education is an important part of the geography curriculum. In Key Stage 3, all students complete the topic “Work, Rest and Play in the UK” which explores the world of work and the changing employment structures in the UK. In Key Stages 4 and we explore wider-ranging economic ideas such as globalisation and muilti-national organisations and the role that they play in changing the UK labour market. We also focus on key employability skills such as analysis, presentation of information & data and decision-making. Furthermore, we explore jobs that are directly related to geography and have a long-standing relationship with local geomatics company, allowing students to learn about hi-tech applications of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills.
