Geography
Overview
Introduction
Westfield’s Geography Department aims to develop students’ understanding and appreciation of the world around them. As a department, we aim to equip students with a wide variety of skills and tools that help them to make sense of the ever-changing world in which they live.
Geography, namely through climate change, presents the most important challenge that faces our planet in the 21st century. Students need to understand their role in the causes, and more importantly, their role in managing such situations and possible role in finding solutions.
Course leader
Mrs R Siddall
Curriculum
Course content
Students find out about geography on a range of scales – local, regional, national and global. Geography has a significant role to play in broadening the minds (and horizons) of young people. The study of different places and cultures is essential in developing young adults who are tolerant and empathetic.
In the Geography Department at Westfield we aim to do this through the study of migration, development and the role of colonialism, conflict, the distribution of people and resources, among many others. These topics encourage students to identify and challenge bias while thinking critically about different viewpoints.
The key concepts explored through geography at Westfield are:
- a sense of place and locality
- understanding of the natural environments and physical forces that shape our world
- the role that humans have in changing the world around us and our responsibilities for ensuring a better future for our world and its inhabitants
- the role and importance of data and data presentation techniques in communicating key geographical ideas
Topics
Year 7
- What do geographers do?
- Is our world becoming more unequal?
- How are we influenced by the weather?
- Why are rocks important?
- How is the UK's economy changing?
- How can we improve our school environment?
Year 8
- Should we protect our coastlines?
- How is the population of the UK changing?
- Do volcanoes bring more benefits or problems?
- What is the future of our planet?
- How does ice shape the land?
Year 9
- How do we reduce the impacts of earthquakes?
- Why are rivers so important?
- Can we manage our resources sustainably?
- What is happening to our cold environments?
- What problems do our growing cities face?
Skills and requirements
Skills developed
Geographical skills are incredibly important and play an integral role in all lessons. Geography embeds a range of transferable skills that are applicable in later life. Fieldwork skills, literacy, numeracy, critical thinking, problem solving and communication are all skills that our lessons and field-trips embed in students. Geography students at Westfield develop enquiring minds by investigating a range of geographical phenomena, and understanding the causes, impacts and futures of such phenomena. We encourage students to ask questions about the geography they are learning to stimulate critical thinking.