The Geography Department at Hanson has always
felt that our subject is the most important in the school. The
variety within the subject and its significance in the
understanding of current affairs mean that all pupils should
have the opportunity to follow the subject for as long as
possible. I have been Head of Geography since 1987 and have
thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The Department staffing has
been very stable and for 15 of those years there were virtually
no changes. At the moment we have 6 full time Geographers and
one member of staff who teaches PSHCE, Citizenship and
Geography. Members of the Department also teach some History,
General Studies and Religious Studies. The Department is part of
the Faculty of Social Science and we share office space with the
Historians and RS staff. All Geographers have their own desk in
this office, which enables us to exchange ideas on a daily
basis. There are 6 PCs in the office linked to the school admin
system and 1 linked to the curriculum network.
At Key Stage 3 the pupils are following the
National Curriculum and this year they have been set from
Christmas based upon our assessments, KS2 data and national
assessment criteria. Each year is split into 3 bands and each
band is then subdivided into 4 classes based upon ability. The
lower ability groups are much smaller than the others and we
have the support of some excellent and enthusiastic LSAs. In
year 7 we have tried something different this year. We have one
top set and three parallel second sets – we shall see if it
works and review the situation in July. We have tried to make
the subject more popular by streamlining the topics in years 7
and 9 and it is our intention to work on year 8 this summer when
year 11 have left. The visits programme is an area which needs
development so that there are perhaps two trips per year in
future. The need for popularity is even more important as
Geography has become a choice subject at GCSE competing with
many others.
At GCSE Geography has always been a popular
option and at present there are 9 groups taking the subject in
years 10 and 11. They are following the Edexcel Specification A
and the Department has been doing so for 5 years (NEAB A before
that). Recently GCSE results have been very disappointing –
below the school average. The Geography team, however, are fully
committed to raising levels of achievement and a number of
strategies have been put in place to augment results. The former
Geography advisor to the authority has had an input but we
struggle to convert Ds into Cs.
A consistent number of pupils follow the
subject in the 6th form and there are now 12 in year
12 and 5 in year 13. We chose to stay with the Edexcel Board
and follow Specification A. Year 12 is quite prescriptive but in
year 13 we choose Glaciation and Weather as Physical Units and
Rural/Urban studies and Development on the Human side. Our
Geographers tend to go onto University after year 13 and there
will always be at least one who chooses to follow a Geography or
Environmental Studies degree.
Fieldwork is an
integral part of any Geography curriculum and we run a number of
educational visits. At KS3 trips have been run to Flamborough
Head, Ingleton waterfalls and caves, Urbis in Manchester. Our
aim is to provide a day trip for each of the KS3 years. Our GCSE
coursework involves a day out at Malham in the Yorkshire Dales
and all pupils are taken. We have also run a residential visit
to Paris on 3 occasions in recent years and this is timetabled
for future years with Business Studies – it has to be noted that
the uptake on this trip has fallen away in recent years which is
a shame as it was a first class experience. Our A level course
involves a week in Norfolk (Kingswood, Cromer) with year 12
where they learn the basic skills of the Geographer and over the
past two years we have tried to produce a series of mini
enquiries for Paper 3 of the final examination. Year 13 has seen
us studying glaciers in Iceland (the high cost has meant that
this trip has not taken place for the last two years) and we
make a revision day visit to the Lake District in the Spring
Term. The pupils thoroughly enjoy their out of school
experiences developing skills far beyond simple Geography and
the residential visits are a constant source of reminiscence.
There are four dedicated Geography
classrooms, two of which have interactive whiteboards. Four of
our staff are based in their own rooms and the two other
mainstream Geographers, senior staff with restricted timetables,
move between them. Resourcing is good and we have a range of
textbooks for KS3. At GCSE all pupils have at least one
textbook of their own. Resources are also shared within the
consortium as we share 6th formers with Immanuel
School and Challenge College. Two years ago the Consortium G &
T coordinator for Geography organised a residential in Cornwall
which was extremely successful.
There are great
opportunities within the Geography Department at Hanson for
enthusiastic staff members as the ever-changing nature of the
subject provides exciting challenges. Moreover, there is
positive staff morale and a strong sense of job satisfaction
amongst the team that has created a supporting working
environment.
We hope you are
interested in this position and look forward to receiving your
application.
Jim Sidney
Head of Geography