Geography

Curriculum Intent

The Humanities Faculty comprises four core subjects: History, Geography, Citizenship and Religious Studies, alongside Vocational Travel and Tourism at Key Stage 4. Together, these subjects aim to cultivate informed, reflective global citizens with a strong understanding of the interconnectedness of past, present, and future events, and the world around them.

Our Humanities curriculum is designed to inspire curiosity and engage students with the complexity of the world. By studying the diverse topics within, History, Geography, Religious Education, and Citizenship, pupils gain an appreciation of the different cultures, values, and perspectives that shape our societies. The curriculum encourages students to explore their own identities, understand the challenges of their time, and critically assess the changes that have influenced human behaviour and societal development.

As pupils progress through the curriculum, they will deepen their understanding of the complex interactions between physical and human processes on Earth, exploring how these processes have shaped, and have been shaped by historical events and developments over time. Our curriculum is rich with opportunities to promote Spiritual, Moral, Social, and Cultural (SMSC) development, fostering empathy, tolerance, and respect for diversity, while encouraging environmental stewardship.

The aims of the Humanities curriculum are to enable students to:

• Think critically: Develop the skills to think, write, communicate, and read as experts in the fields of History, Geography, Citizenship , and Religious Studies.
• Broaden their understanding: Engage with a broad range of geographical, historical, and religious topics that expand students' knowledge of human behaviour, societal influences, and global issues.
• Develop a sense of identity and citizenship: Reflect on their roles as citizens of the UK and the wider world, embracing core British values and nurturing a sense of belonging and responsibility.
• Make informed connections: Grasp the key concepts of each discipline and apply them to draw connections, analyse trends, and pose relevant questions.
• Grow cultural capital: Participate in experiences both within and beyond the classroom that enhance their cultural awareness and understanding of the world.
• Prepare for future success: Equip students with transferable skills, independent study habits, and the resilience necessary for adult life, further education, and employment.

Our curriculum offers a holistic approach, preparing students not only for academic success but also for lifelong learning, active citizenship, and responsible global engagement.

Geography:

• Broaden and deepen geographical understanding: Study a range of geographical topics that enhance students' understanding of the world and the factors influencing human behaviour and societies.
• Develop geographical enquiry skills: Collect, analyse, and communicate geographical data, including conducting fieldwork that deepens students' understanding of key geographical processes and their real-world applications.
• Understand global interdependence: Develop a sophisticated understanding of the physical and human characteristics of some of the Earth's most globally significant places, and explore how these places are interdependent.

What your child will learn in KS3 Geography

Click on the topics for more information.

What your child will learn in KS4 Geography

 Exam Specification

 Geography SMSC Statement

SMSC and British Values play an integral part of the Geography Curriculum at Hathershaw College. From the moment students begin their study in Year 7, their lessons are filled with the lives of people, cultures and traditions from real places around the world. Within the Geography classroom all students sit alongside their peers from different religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. Students are regularly encouraged to work collaboratively with their classroom partners through activities such as Think-pair-share. All students know that a mutual respect and tolerance for those around them is essential to the classroom environment.

The curriculum is planned to maximise student interest with subject specialists collaboratively creating medium term plans in order to utilise areas of expertise. This enables students to develop a love and fascination of Geography. For example, in Year 7 students are able to learn about how cities are changing, why our climate is changing climate and how our landscape has been constantly changing due to Ice Ages, plate tectonics and human interference. As students’ progress through their 5 year journey they are faced with further challenging issues such as the human trafficking and the spread of diseases such as Ebola, each of which increases student interest and value of Geography.

Students are able to develop their understanding of other cultures, religions and values throughout their day to day study of Geography. For example the concept of ‘contrast’ runs through the Year 8 curriculum. This allows students to develop an appreciation of the similarities and differences between the UK and contrasting localities such as Africa and Asia. Through the theme of ‘challenging world’ in Year 9 students are asked to critically examine the world around them with a focus on topics such as population and sustainability in order to recognise the interdependencies of populations around the world, as well as recognising and accepting cultural differences. Throughout Geography, topics like this enable students to reflect and share their own experiences and make comparisons between other populations around the world. By studying real people, and real places students are constantly making links and able to develop spiritually.

Alongside this, the study of Geography intends to develop students moral understanding. Much of the Geography curriculum focuses on investigative issues, with students being encouraged to create evidence backed solutions to key geographical issues around the world. Examples of this include the impact of Human settlement on hazards and the ongoing affects of drought in areas of Africa. Furthermore this encourages students to investigate, debate and a take into consideration different viewpoints. For example when considering physical topics such as rivers, flooding and coasts consideration is given to how much these issues that arise are man-made and is because of exploitation. Similarly when studying issues such as the development gap, students are encouraged to consider why there is a huge gap in development of different countries around the world.

Throughout the curriculum there is a strong appreciation of the influences that have shaped the students’ own cultural heritage ranging from links to the development and emergence of settlement in UK and Oldham. Students are also encouraged to make comparisons to British democratic values and rule of law. For example, students make parallels to the UK rule of law when looking at the distribution of government support on issues such as the Syrian migration crisis and the demographic crisis in Russia.