At Holyport we believe that Geography is, in the broadest sense, an education for life and for living. Through studying Geography at Holyport we aim to equip students with the knowledge and skills to interact with and understand the world around them. Geography plays a crucial role in understanding our world. It makes a vital contribution to our knowledge of the rapidly changing environmental and social challenges facing us and how we should tackle them.
In Geography we study places and the relationships between people and their environments. Geographers explore both the physical properties of earth’s surface and the human societies spread across it. They also examine how human culture interacts with the natural environment, and the way that locations and places can have an impact on people. Geography seeks to understand where things are found, why they are there, and how they develop and change over time.
12
Human Geography
The water cycle and water insecurity
Superpowers
The carbon cycle and energy security
Health, human rights and intervention
Tectonic processes and hazards
Globalisation
Glaciated landscapes and change
Regenerating places
Independent investigation
Independent investigation
Year
Term 1
11
Changing cities and investigating human environments
Term 2 Resource management and energy resource management UK Challenges
Term 3 Revision GCSE exams Ecosystems, biodiversity and management
The changing landscapes of the UK Coastal Environments
River environments Weather hazards and climate change
Global challenges
Ecosystems
Development and Globalisation
Population and Migration
8
Coasts Touism
Weather and climate Restless Earth
Mapping festivals
7
Fantastic places Exploring the UK
Icy environments Flood Alert
The Geography of Work
10
9
Investigating river environments
Climate Change, Energy, Resources and Waste
Basic written skills
13
Physical Geography
Specific examination skills
Year
Skills
Map and Graphical Skills
Knowledge
Year 7 Geography provides an introduction to the concept of place, and the importance of location in determining its physical features and the resulting human influences. Students develop their map skills at various scales and are introduced to physical processes that shape upland environments. They also investigate the causes and impacts of the physical process of flooding on the human and physical environment. They will then have a grounding in economic geography and how the world of work has changed and is shaping todays world.
Term 1
Topic
Fantastic Places What makes a place fantastic? An Introduction to human and physical geography, how various factors interplay to make a place “fantastic.�
Summary of Content
Looking at the impacts of human activity on our fantastic places.
Term 2
Exploring the UK How does the physical and human landscape of the UK vary? Through the use of maps of various scales, including OS maps, students will explore the physical and human geography of the UK.
Icy Environments
Term 3 Flood Alert
The Geography of Work
How does ice shape the landscape?
Is flooding an inevitable disaster?
How and why has the geography of work changed?
Students will look at how weathering and erosion processes caused by ice masses have shaped landscapes.
Building an understanding of how changing physical and human processes bring about flooding.
An introduction to economic geography through categorising different sectors of work and looking at how they have developed and changed within the UK.
How flooding causes economic, social and environmental impacts.
In addition they will investigate how this has affected and continues to How flooding can be managed. impact human activity.
Examining the impact of the industrial revolution and the subsequent global shift. How the global supply chain works. The location requirements for tertiary industries, particularly looking at the design of business parks in the UK.
Assessment
Decision making
Trial
Test
Trial
Trial
Year 8 Geography takes their knowledge of physical processes and applies it to looking at the changing coastal landscape, before then investigating how changes in global tourism, aimed at increasing sustainability, are affecting economic systems and the environment. Students then receive a grounding in meteorology and use their prior mapping skills to investigate climatic variations. They will also study the theories of plate tectonics, and the impacts that tectonic events have on both the physical and human environment. In the summer term they build on their map skills to investigate physical and human features of settlement locations.
Term 1
Topic
Summary of Content
Assessment
Coasts
Term 2 Tourism
How and why do coastlines vary?
What impact does tourism have globally?
Developing knowledge of key processes in coastal environments, including erosion, transportation and deposition.
Investigate different types of holiday, focusing on the physical and human processes that influence tourism.
How these processes interact with geology to result in beach formation and both erosional landforms (e.g.: caves, arches, stacks and wave cut platforms) and depositional landforms.
Developing knowledge about how tourism affects environmental interaction and sustainable development and the interdependent nature of an industry that increasingly relies on other countries, near and far, to supply its workforce and to widen its markets.
Decision making
Trial
Weather and Climate
Term 3
Restless Earth
Why does the UK have such variation in it’s weather?
How do tectonic processes affect landscapes?
An introduction to meteorology through looking at a variety of methods for measuring and predicting the weather.
A study of the various processes that enable tectonic plates to move and magma to intrude within the bedrock.
Studying why the UK has the weather that it does, looking at the science behind weather processes and events. How climates are monitored and compared.
Investigation
Investigating two case studies of volcanoes in contrasting countries to develop an understanding of how wealth plays a role in the impact and responses.
Trial
Mapping Festivals How do location features affect the siting of festivals? An introduction to the study of settlements and their location features. Developing students' map skills through the contemporary topic of Music Festivals. Using maps to explore wider issues in relation to festivals, such as environmental impacts and flooding and planning constraints.
Trial
Year 9 Geography addresses the environmental, social and economic challenges currently facing the world and assesses the ways in which they can be sustainably managed. They investigate the process of globalisation and how this has impacted on global development, populations and migration patterns. Students also use their knowledge of climates to understand the global distribution of ecosystems and the survival challenges they face.
Term 1 Topic
Global challenges What are some of the major challenges facing the world today? Developing an understanding of human and physical challenges that the world faces.
Summary of Content
Students will explore a range of challenges from how to feed the growing population to how globalisation has caused the spread of diseases. Students will compare the challenges and justify which they think are the most significant challenges.
Assessment
Decision making
Term 2
Development and Globalisation
Ecosystems
How has development Why do different and globalisation impact- ecosystems exist? ed the world we live in? Developing awareness of Students will study ecosystems and different ways to measprocesses including, ure development globally interactions between comparing a range of human needs, such as resource extraction and countries. energy use and physical Studying inequalities processes such as the globally and how this nutrient cycle and affects quality of life. climate patterns. Develop awareness of Students will investigate globalisation and the tropical coral ecosystems many ways it influences and tropical rainforest our daily life and how ecosystems modern technology has led to this increased connectivity.
Trial
Test
Term 3
Population and Migration How population structure and migration affect countries? Through studying population change globally pupils will be able to analyse population pyramids, compare places and justify reasons for differences between the population patterns. Students will investigate different types of migration, studying benefits and problems it can create for host and source countries.
Trial
Climate change, energy resources and waste How is the exploitation of energy resources and creation of waste affecting climate change? Developing awareness of waste and how the amount of waste is increasing. Exploring different strategies to deal with the increase and reducing the environmental impacts studying local and global case studies. Investigating different case studies as the human need for resources puts increasing pressure on the environment. Students will study a range of energy sources, thinking about the energy mix in the UK and how the increasing demand and environmental impacts affects policies. Trial
Year 10 Geographers study our physical environment and investigate the impacts of human interaction with environmental processes. Through studying the changing landscapes of the UK they learn how the underlying geology and previous tectonic activity have influenced the way in which river and coastal processes have been able to shape the land. In addition they investigate how human activities have influenced these processes. To develop their fieldwork skills and understanding of river environments students are taken on a one day field trip to conduct primary research into the factors influencing river processes.
Students then move on to investigate the atmospheric systems which shape global climates, looking at how and why climates have changed in the past and are likely to change in the future. They study the causes and impacts of weather hazards, including tropical storms and droughts, and how the effects vary according to a countries level of development. Applying their knowledge and understanding of climates students then investigate how weather systems influence ecosystems and the nutrient cycles that exist within them. They study the features of tropical rainforests and deciduous woodland ecosystems and the ways in which organisations are attempting to sustainably manage them in order to reduce human impact.
Term 1
Topic
The changing landscapes of the UK A geological overview of the landscape of the UK.
Summary of Content
Assessment
Coastal environments How UK coastal landscapes have been shaped and continue to be altered by coastal processes. Challenges facing UK landscapes as a result of coastal processes.
Test
Test
Term 2 River environments
Weather hazards and climate change
Term 3 Ecosystems, biodiversity and management
How UK landscapes are shaped and influenced by river processes.
How the atmosphere operates to create global climates.
An overview of the global biosphere.
The different challenges posed by rivers in the UK to human activity.
The causes and impacts of tropical cyclones and droughts.
A detailed study of the features and value of tropical rainforests and deciduous woodlands and how they are under threat.
Test
Test
Test
Investigating river environments Fieldwork investigation into how and why rivers change along their course.
Test
Year 11 Geographers study our human environment and the issues arising from increasing populations and human activity. Students begin by studying the complex nature of cities and how they have evolved. They investigate Reading as their major urban settlement in the UK, conducting primary data collection during a field trip in addition to secondary research in order to ascertain how and why it has grown, the issues it currently faces and how different players are attempting to manage those issues sustainably. Students then study Mexico City as an example of a major city in an emerging country, comparing it to Reading in terms of how and why it’s grown, the challenges it faces and how these are being tackled. Applying their knowledge of the growth and development of cities students then study the concept of development, and how this has varied globally, in addition to the different ways in which it can be measured. They examine the causes and consequences of uneven development and the variety of solutions being used to try and reduce the development gap. Through using India as a case study of an emerging country students take an in-depth look at the unique development challenges it has and is continuing to face and the various methods currently being employed to address these issues. Students then move on to look at the issue of the exploitation of resources, including water, food and energy, and the global imbalance in the availability of these resources. They then conduct an in-depth study of energy resources. Students study the use and impact of the exploitation of a variety of energy sources before looking at case studies of sustainable energy management at different scales and in countries at different levels of development.
Term 1
Topic
Summary of Content
Changing cities and investigating human environments A study of urbanisation globally and within the UK. Case studies of a major UK city (Reading) and a city in a developing country to examine the impact of globalisation.
Term 2 Global Development
A study of the causes and consequences of uneven global development. A detailed case study of the development challenges facing India.
A study of how food, energy and water resources are managed at a global scale and within the UK.
Test
Test
An investigation into the evidence of change in an urban environment
Assessment
Test
Resource management and energy resource management
UK Challenges
A synoptic investigation into the challenges facing the UK
An in depth study of energy use and management within the UK and in countries at different stages of economic development
Test
Term 3 Revision GCSE Exams
Lower sixth Geographers study both Physical and Human Geography concurrently. In Physical Geography they begin by developing their understanding of the complex causes of tectonic activity before investigating and evaluating the myriad of approaches that can be used to mitigate the impacts of the many hazards resulting from tectonic processes. In addition they assess the evidence to determine the factors that have increased the vulnerability and exposure of populations to tectonic events.
Topic
Summary of Content
Assessment
Term 1
Term 2
Term 3
Tectonic processes and hazards
Glaciated landscapes and change
NEA - independent investigation
Tectonic hazards – earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and secondary hazards such as tsunamis – represent a significant risk in some parts of the world. This is especially the case where active tectonic plate boundaries interact with areas of high population density and low levels of development. Resilience in these places can be low, and the interaction of physical systems with vulnerable populations can result in major disasters.
Ice sheets and glaciers operate within a landscape system as glacial processes of erosion, transport and deposition combine with meteorological and climatological processes and interact with geological and lithological processes to produce distinctive landscapes. The landscapes can be both present day and relict and can occur in both upland and lowland areas. These landscapes are being changed by both physical processes and human activities which pose unique threats due to the low level of resilience found in these areas.
Students take part in 5 days of fieldwork to prepare them to undertake an independent investigation.
An in-depth understanding of the causes of tectonic hazards is key to both increasing the degree to which they can be managed, and putting in place successful responses that can mitigate social and economic impacts and allow humans to adapt to hazard occurrence.
Half termly tests
The focus of the investigation must be derived from the specification the student is studying. The student defines a question or issue relating to the compulsory or optional content. The student’s investigation will incorporate fieldwork data (collected individually or as part of a group) and own research and/or secondary data. The student’s report will evidence independent analysis and evaluation of data, presentation of data findings and extended writing.
Coursework
Students then move on to examine the influence that ice has had on our landscape, particularly through the creation of distinctive glacial landforms, many of which have affected modern urbanisation. They then investigate how changing climatic conditions and human activity are changing these landscapes and evaluate the approaches that are being taken to mitigate the damage and ensure sustainability.
Topic
Summary of Content
Term 1
Term 2
The water cycle and water insecurity
The carbon cycle and energy security
Water plays a key role in supporting life on earth. The water cycle operates at a variety of spatial scales and also at short- and long-term timescales, from global to local.
A balanced carbon cycle is important in maintaining planetary health. The carbon cycle operates at a range of spatial scales and timescales, from seconds to millions of years.
Physical processes control the circulation of water between the stores on land, in the oceans, in the cryosphere, and the atmosphere.
Physical processes control the movement of carbon between stores on land, the oceans and the atmosphere.
Changes to the most important stores of water are a result of both physical and human processes.
Changes to the most important stores of carbon and carbon fluxes are a result of physical and human processes.
Water insecurity is becoming a global issue with serious consequences and there is a range of different approaches to managing water supply.
Term 3 Revision A Level Exams
Reliance on fossil fuels has caused significant changes to carbon stores and contributed to climate change resulting from anthropogenic carbon emissions. The water and carbon cycles and the role of feedbacks in and between the two cycles, provide a context for developing an understanding of climate change. Anthropogenic climate change poses a serious threat to the health of the planet. There is a range of adaptation and mitigation strategies that could be used, but for them to be successful they require global agreements as well as national actions.
Assessment
Half Termly Tests
Exams
Lower sixth Geographers study both Physical and Human Geography concurrently. In Human Geography students begin by unpicking the concept of globalisation and the many factors that have created the global interdependence that exists in today's world. Students evaluate the reasons why globalisation is experienced differently across the world. They assess the economic, environmental, cultural, social and political impacts of such interconnectivity and examine its potential sustainability.
Topic
Term 1
Term 2
Globalisation
Regenerating places
Globalisation and global interdependence continue to accelerate, resulting in changing opportunities for businesses and people.
Local places vary economically and socially with change driven by local, national and global processes. These processes include movements of people, capital, information and resources, making some places economically dynamic while other places appear to be marginalised. This creates and exacerbates considerable economic and social inequalities both between and within local areas.
Inequalities are caused within and between countries as shifts in patterns of wealth occur. Summary of Content
Assessment
Cultural impacts on the identity of communities increase as flows of ideas, people and goods take place. Recognising that both tensions in communities and pressures on environments are likely, will help players implement sustainable solutions.
Urban and rural regeneration programmes involve both place making (regeneration) and place marketing (rebranding). The relative success of regeneration and rebranding for individuals and groups depends on the extent to which lived experience, perceptions, and attachments to places are changed.
Half termly tests
Term 3 NEA - independent
investigation
Students take part in 5 days of fieldwork to prepare them to undertake an independent investigation. The focus of the investigation must be derived from the specification the student is studying. The student defines a question or issue relating to the compulsory or optional content. The student’s investigation will incorporate fieldwork data (collected individually or as part of a group) and own research and/or secondary data. The student’s report will evidence independent analysis and evaluation of data, presentation of data findings and extended writing.
Coursework
Students then move on to look at the process of regeneration, particularly examining how it can be used at a variety of scales to help a place change its identity. They assess the impacts of industrial decline and investigate the need for regeneration. Students evaluate the variety of approaches used to regenerate places whilst investigating what success actually means through examining a range of local and international examples.
Topic
Term 1
Term 2
Superpowers
Health, human rights and intervention
Superpowers can be developed by a number of characteristics. The pattern of dominance has changed over time. Superpowers and emerging superpowers have a very significant impact on the global economy, global politics and the environment. The spheres of influence between these powers are frequently contested, resulting in geopolitical implications. Summary of Content
Traditional definitions of development are based largely on economic measures but have been increasingly challenged by broader definitions based on environmental, social and political quality of life with many new measures used to record progress at all scales in human rights and human welfare.
Term 3 Revision A Level Exams
There are variations in the norms and laws of both national and global institutions that impact on decisions made at all scales, from local to global. These decisions lead to a wide range of geopolitical interventions via international and national policies, from development aid through to military campaigns. The impact of geopolitical interventions on both human health and wellbeing and human rights is variable and contested, with some groups appearing to benefit disproportionately, which can lead to increasing inequalities and injustice.
Assessment
Half Termly Tests
Exams
Underpinning our knowledge rich curriculum are essential skills. Both knowledge and skills intertwine to enrich the learning experience of our students at Holyport College. Our curriculum has been designed to ensure the students acquire the knowledge and skills that they need and gives them opportunities to practice and apply them over time, in order to master them. The following skills are vitally important and are assessed at regular intervals throughout each academic year.
These skills will be developed throughout a students journey through the Geography curriculum;

Map and Graphical Skills Constructing graphs and maps of different scales to present various types of data Interpret graphs and maps to understand and analyse data
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Investigative Skills Design original investigations through conducting background research, developing hypotheses, creating methodologies, presenting and analysing the data.
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Evaluative and Analytical Skills Evaluates and assesses the complexity of people-environment interactions at all geographical scales and explains how they underpin understanding of some of the key issues facing the world today
Link to full A Level and GCSE Skills Assessment Grid for Geography