Geography : Brinsworth Academy

There has never been a more important time to study Geography. By studying Geography, you develop your understanding of the world. Geography explores how the world works and how humans interact with it.

The Geography Department at Brinsworth Academy know that geography is more than memorising where places are on a map, geography is about helping our students to understand the world that they live in. This involves learning about how physical and human processes shape our world and how to address the challenges facing humans and our world today such as climate change, conflicts and development.

Our department includes five specialist geography teachers with a range of specialisms. We pride ourselves on forming good working relationships with our students and have created a strong and positive learning environment within which students can achieve excellence and share our love for our subject.

In addition to work completed in school, students will be set a range of home learning tasks. These tasks include short recall activities via Show My Homework which use subject knowledge organisers to review content and additional tasks set by class teachers specific to their class. In addition, at KS4 and KS5, students are guided to complete written practice and wider research and preparation where relevant.

The Curriculum

KS3 Years 7 & 8

Each topic at Key Stage 3 encourages students to consider and answer some of the biggest questions in our world today. Opportunities to develop fieldwork skills are also included. We hope that students will continue to study with us through GCSE and A-Level Geography, but if they choose not to study Geography further, we hope that they continue their exploration of the world in their future.

Year 7

Topic 1 – African Adventure
Topic 2 – Natural Hazards
Topic 3 – Coasts and Oceans
Topic 4 – The UK Uncovered
Topic 5 – Weather and Climate
Topic 6 – Ecosystems: travelling along the 120° line of latitude
Fieldwork investigations – The plastic problem

Year 8

Topic 1 – Climate Change: Is climate change our biggest challenge?
Topic 2 –Who are the BRICS countries? (Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa).
Topic 3 – Along the River Ganges
Topic 4 – Conflict around the world
Topic 5 – The Middle East
Topic 6 – Resource management and sustainability
Fieldwork investigations – sustainability

KS4 Years 9, 10 & 11

At GCSE, we follow the Edexcel Specification A and teach the following topics in Year 9 – 11.

Year 9

Ecosystems: tropical rainforests and deciduous woodlands
Weather and Climate: weather hazards tropical storms and droughts
Changing Cities: Sheffield as a case study of a major city in the UK and Mexico City as a major city in an emerging economy

Year 10

Global development: Mexico as a case study of an emerging economy (changing to Pakistan for 2023 examinations)
Resource Management: focusing on energy
The Changing Landscape of the UK: coasts
Physical fieldwork: a river landscape – Burbage Brook.

Year 11

UK challenges
Human fieldwork: an urban environment – Sheffield.
Revision and exam preparation

KS5 Years 12 & 13

At A-Level we follow the Edexcel specification and teach the following topics in Year 12 and 13.

Year 12

Physical Geography Topics:

Dynamic Landscape: Tectonic Processes and Hazards
Landscape Systems, Processes and Change: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Human Geography Topics:

Dynamic Place: Globalisation
Shaping Places: Regenerating Places

Year 13

Physical Geography Topics:

Physical Systems and Sustainability: The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity
The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security

Human Geography Topics:

Human Systems and Geopolitics: Superpowers
Global Development and Connections: Health, Human Rights and Intervention