Geography

Departmental Aims

To inspire students to cultivate their understanding of the world they live in and engage them with the contemporary issues facing us as a society.

Facilities

• Our humanities rooms provide a fantastic panorama of Bedford and the rural-urban fringe
• Dedicated teaching staff
• Rooms have whiteboards, globes, displays, speakers and overhead projectors.

A Level Curriculum

We follow the CIE A Level course which has ten modules. The course is a mixture of old and new themes.

The more traditional topics include:

• Hazards, Population, Settlements, Coasts, Globalisation, Rocks and Landscape, Hydrology, Migration, Economic Geography and Atmosphere
• Assessment is through both short answer questions and longer essays. There is no coursework element in this subject. Two teachers will provide support throughout the course
• Fieldwork forms an essential part of the course because it provides both in-depth case study material about specifically selected sites (a major ingredient in achieving a top grade) and practical experience using investigation techniques. We have recently visited Northamptonshire, Bedford and London, and our Sixth Form students have visited Iceland.

Co-curricular, Enrichment, Extension and Support

Geography drop-in is a non-compulsory session where GCSE and A Level students can come along for help with specific areas of the course.

Fieldwork

This is an essential part of the course, and all students are encouraged to participate. Field trips are arranged during the course of the year, including a visit overseas.