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"Castle School Education Trust is committed to high quality education across the primary, secondary and sixth form key stages. Our schools cover the South Gloucestershire area. We encourage independence within each school within a strong framework of values."

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Mangotsfield Secondary

  • Key Dates for Term 3: 05/02 Y10 In-person Parents Evening

Geography

Why do we study Geography?

Geography is essential in helping our students to develop a love for the planet they inhabit. We aim to inspire in our students a curiosity and fascination about the world, its natural wonders and human population, that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. We strive to open up our students' eyes and minds to the culturally broad world in which we all live and to appreciate and respect the role each and every person has to play in ensuring the future stability and sustainability of our planet.

Meet the team

  • Mrs R Cousins (Head of Geography) - 

    I fell in love with Geography from a very young age, through my immersion with our natural world on family trips to the Lake District, Peak District and Pembrokeshire. In my adult years, my travels across North America, Africa and Europe fully strengthened my passion for our physical and human world. Geography for me is the subject that holds the key to our planet and our future. It allows our students to understand how humans interact with the environment and the impact of our actions. We are building our students to be stewards of our future planet.

  • Miss E Leslie (ITT Senior Mentor/Geography teacher) - 

    Through my many years travelling the globe working in the travel and tourism industry, I was able to experience a range of diverse cultures and ethnicities from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean. Geography to me is about sharing my love of the world and opening the eyes of the next generation to its complex, ever changing dynamics. 

  • Mr L Evans (Geography teacher) - 

    For as long as I can remember, travelling the world and learning about the planet has been at the forefront of my curiosity. Studying and teaching Geography has allowed me to fulfil this, from fieldwork trips to China and India, spending a lengthy period of time travelling in south east Asia and Oceania. This has opened the doors to my own personal education on the ever changing physical and cultural aspects of the world. 

  • Mrs G Lenon (Deputy Head) - 

    My passion for geography was fuelled by first watching the Michael Palin “Around the World in 80 days documentary” when I was 7 years old.  This made me want to travel and learn about far flung places around the world and eventually led me to spending a year post university teaching  in Sri Lanka and then travelling around Asia, Australia and New Zealand.  Geography gives you the opportunity to study diverse places and understand how physical and human processes interact.  Geography has allowed me to be curious and I have always loved investigating the subject in a practical sense. I am lucky to have been given opportunities to conduct fieldwork in many different places to see how what I have learned in the classroom comes alive in the real world. 

KS3 Programme of Study

Year 7
Our Place

Water and Rivers

Tourism
Biomes

Fieldwork

 

Year 8

Coastal Landscapes
Urbanisation

Geomorphological Processes

Global Issues

Unique Places

 

Year 9

Natural Hazards

Population

Extreme Weather

Development and Globalisation

The Living World (GCSE)

Course: AQA GCSE Geography

AQA GCSE Geography 8035 (Grades 1-9)

Paper 1: Living with the Physical Environment.

1.1 The Challenge of Natural Hazards; 1.2 The Living World; 1.3 Physical Landscapes in the UK (Coastal Landscapes and River Landscapes); 3.4 Geographical skills.

  • Written exam 1hr 30 mins
  • 88 marks (3 for SPAG)
  • 35% of GCSE

Paper 2: The Challenge of the Human Environment.

2.1 Urban Issues and Challenges; 2.2 The Changing Economic World; 3.2.3 The Challenge of Resource Management and Water; 3.4 Geographical skills.

  • Written exam 1hr 30 mins
  • 88 marks (3 for SPAG)
  • 35% of GCSE

Paper 3: Geographical Applications.

3.1 Issue Evaluation; 3.2 Fieldwork - Seen and Unseen; 3.4 Geographical skills

  • Written exam 1hr 30 mins
  • 76 marks (6 for SPAG)
  • 30% of GCSE
  • Pre release resources booklet made available 12 weeks before Paper 3 exam.
  • Fieldwork opportunities x 2 (one Physical and one Human).

GCSE Programme of Study

Year 10:
The Living World

Natural Hazards

River Landscapes

Physical Fieldwork - Investigation into changing river variables along the River Lyd.

Urban Issues and Challenges.

Year 11:
Economic World

Coastal Landscapes

Human Fieldwork - Investigation into distance from open space and its effect on environmental quality.

Resource Management and Water

Paper 3 Pre Release.

Resources

At GCSE we recommend that you purchase the CGP AQA Geography revision guide. This can be purchased through Scopay for a reduced rate of £3.50. It is excellent at consolidating and condensing knowledge and uses exam questions to help students practice their knowledge and understanding of each topic.

In addition, all personalised revision resources are available on your child's Geography Google Classroom. This includes case study booklets, If I’m asked sheets, Specification guides with accompanying flashcard questions, GCSE Pods and past exam papers.

Homework

At KS3 students are set self quizzing on a fortnightly rotation basis based on retrieval of knowledge - this is set centrally in line with the schools KS3 homework programme of study. Students are asked to explore the knowledge organiser for their current terms learning and to self quiz a minimum of 10 questions on sections specified to them on the Google Classroom. This is checked on the Geography day (A week, Wednesday) by your childs’ mentor. 

At GCSE, students are set a range of homework which focus on retrieval of knowledge and consolidation of understanding. This is formatted centrally into a termly homework booklet which matches the current topic your child is studying in class. They have one task set from the booklet per week and this is checked on a day designated by your child’s specific teacher. These booklets contain knowledge retrieval tasks and exam question practice. 

In addition to the weekly homework tasks at GCSE, your child is also regularly directed to the Year 11/10 Geography Google Classroom on which revision materials are permanently posted for them to complete some independent study and revision.

Enrichment Opportunities

At KS3 we try to use our local area to develop the students' knowledge and understanding of the world around them. We use our school grounds for weather investigation, examine how our local area has changed over time through virtual fieldwork and use Google Earth to look at a variety of  diverse places on our planet. This knowledge is then built upon during our Challenge Days, for example with the Year 7 Walking Tour of Bristol which combines both Geography and History knowledge. 

At GCSE we undertake two different fieldwork days, which are a compulsory element of the GCSE course. In Year 10 we explore the changing river variables of the River Lyde in the Forest of Dean - this is a whole day trip. In Year 11 we explore how distance from open space affects environmental quality in our local area. Both of these trips include the full sequence of enquiry from setting a hypothesis, collecting data, presenting results, analysing data, drawing conclusions and evaluation.