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Geography  - it’s a world thing!

Geography at Bootham is quite rightly a popular and vibrant subject that is a common choice for both GCSE and A-level. We believe that Geography is a crucial subject for the new millennium and support the views held by QCA in their document on the new programme of study for KS3 published in March 2007:

The study of Geography stimulates an interest in and a sense of wonder about places.  It helps young people to make sense of a complex and dynamically changing world.  It explains where places are, how places and landscapes are formed, how people and their environments are interconnected.  It builds on pupil’s own experiences to investigate places at all scales, from personal to the global. 

Geographical enquiry encourages questioning, investigation and critical thinking about issues affecting the world and people’s lives, now and in the future.  Fieldwork is an essential element of this.  Pupils learn to think spatially and use maps, visual images and new technologies to obtain, present and analyse information.  Geography inspires pupils to become global citizens by exploring their own place in the world, their values and their responsibilities to other people, to the environment and to the sustainability of the planet.

Scotland October 2007

At Bootham we have a strong commitment to making Geography fun and relevant wherever possible.  We have students from many different countries and cultures and we aim to harness this excellent resource in our classroom for the benefit of all.  We always aim to keep our teaching topical and use the news, newspapers and teaching journals to enhance our lessons and keep them fresh and exciting. 

We also encourage students to share their experiences of geography with us.  Recent examples of this kind of sharing include College students returning from the summer holiday with a book about flooding in Lynmouth, Met. Office print outs to show Hurricane Bill and its progress across the UK and newspaper articles from the USA on how best to survive the aftermath of a hurricane. We want geography to become part of every student’s conscience so that what we do in the classroom really comes alive for them.  We aim to raise their awareness of their environment, whatever it might be. 

Geography should never be boring and our commitment to quality teaching as a Department and to the access to fieldwork for all year groups ensures that our students both value and enjoy this amazing subject.

Catbells Summit May 2008

Resources

We are lucky enough to have 5 excellent members of teaching staff in the Department which is in housed in two spacious and well-equipped class rooms.  Both rooms have interactive white boards, DVD, video recorders and computer terminals for student use and a wide selection of textbooks, maps and periodicals. 

We also have an interactive area in both classrooms allowing students to observe and handle rock and mineral samples as well as fossils and other geographical artefacts.

Fieldwork

As a department we are committed to taking students on field trips in all years.  We truly believe that the best geography is ‘learnt through the soles of the feet’ and there is a strong tradition of field trips at Bootham. 

Health and safety of pupils is paramount in our planning of trips and risk assessments are usually carried out by Bootham staff for local trips but for trips to field centres we have not visited we usually ask them to provide us with their own up to date risk assessment paper work.  We have our own procedures for travel risk assessments and staff have received training via whole school inset on their responsibilities to children on trips.

Current field trips include visits within the city of York to study Crime, shopping and changing urban geographies, whilst trips further afield include Lower Schoolroom visiting the Wolds, GCSE students visiting the Lake District and AS level students visiting the Aigas Centre near Inverness or the Eagles Nest in the Cevennes National Park in France.

New for 2010 – we can hardly wait to take a group of 23 students to Iceland in March.  Truly the land of Fire and Ice, this promises to be a thrilling and memorable experience.

Curriculum

Years 7-9

Currently the schemes of work loosely follow the National curriculum in line with the changes to the Geography Curriculum published in March 2007.  Whilst we see the need to keep abreast of the national changes in the curriculum so that we do not disadvantage students at GCSE level (or higher) we also value the opportunity to teach away from the nationally prescribed materials. 

Topic areas include:

• map work skills

• volcanoes and earthquakes

• rainforests

• weather, climate and global warming

• the geography of crime

• USA and Mexico

• Development

• Population

• Antarctica

• Flooding

• African savanna

• Globalisation

• The local area

Huggate to Fridaythorpe Spring 2009

GCSE

Currently our Upper Seniors are following the AQA syllabus C, issues based course in its final year.

Our Lower Seniors are following the new AQA  course (Specification B).  This course is designed to stimulate the students to take a real interest in the wider world whilst allowing them to consider more local issues too. The subject areas will include natural hazards (fire, earthquake, volcanoes and tropical storms) and their management; coastal environments, global tourism and water as a precious resource.  There are two Controlled Assessments for this course, worth in total 25% of the final GCSE grade.  One will be undertaken in the summer term of Lower Senior after a field trip to the Holderness Coast and the second will be undertaken in the November of Upper Senior.

'Problem Solving and Thinking Skills' in the classroom

AS/A2 level

We follow the new AQA syllabus.

Course content

The course is assessed by four module examinations, two taken at the end of College One leading to AS Geography.  These with the other two modules taken at the end of College Two complete the full A-level course.

The 2007-09 cohort of students are the last group to follow the AQA syllabus A course.   From September 2008 we will be following the new AQA syllabus.

AS-level Modules

Core Modules

• Rivers, floods and management
• Global population change

Students will also study two further units, one physical geography option and one human geography option from the following choices:

Assessment at AS level will take the form of a 2 hour examination on Physical and Human Geography (GEOG1) and a 1 hour examination (GEOG2) based on geographical skills and generic field work questions.

A2-level Modules

Students will study a total of four units two from the Physical options and two from the Human options.

Assessment at A2 level will consist of a 2½ hour examination (GEOG3) consisting of both short answer and essay questions and a 1½ hour examination (GEOG4B) based on an Advance Information Booklet evaluating a geographical issue.

Wider links

Bootham is used as a lecture venue for both the Royal Geographical Society and the York Branch of the Geographical Association.  The programme of lectures is extensive and topical.  Recent subjects have included  Management of the 2007 floods in Sheffield, The Geography of Iceland, Cycling home from Siberia  and  HIV/AIDS, sport and partnership working among NGO’s. The popular Sixth Form day conference is held every March and is run by specialists who deal with important geographical issues on a daily basis

Geography is a challenging and vibrant subject that helps equip our young citizens for the future.  If you have any queries about Geography please contact the Department and we will be happy to help you.

Always remember - Geography rocks!!

GA Lectures & Events

Throughout the year there are a number of prestigious GA events.
All of these events are held at Bootham in the main hall starting at 7.15pm.

Click here for a link to the GA Lecture 2008 on City Branding.

Click here to view a presentation from Mike Ball, (Chief Civil Engineer for the East Riding of Yorkshire) concerning the Holderness coast

Sixth Form Conference/Changing Climate in a Changing World

Monday 1st March 2010

Dr Alison Willows – University of Brighton/ Open University

A practical, issue-based session looking at climate change, carbon calculators and technological solutions to global warming.