Geography
At Foundation level, we aim to captivate our students interest for geography as well as scaffold integral skills essential for the success at Mastery and Advanced level. The purpose of the high quality geography curriculum at Uxbridge High School is to inspire a curiosity and fascination about the world and the people in students. Students will be equipped with knowledge about diverse places, resources and people togetherness with a deep understanding of the Earth’s physical, environmental and human processes. We have decided to base all Foundation curriculum with a backdrop to the 17 SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) developed by the UN on how to make our world a better place. Students will be able to discover the world they live in and take actions towards the SDG within the school, at home and within their community.
The geographical knowledge, understanding and skills provide frameworks and approaches that explain how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time. As students transition for Year 7 to Year 13, their ever-growing knowledge about the world will empower students to become active citizens of our global community.
“The best thing about geography is that you learn general knowledge about the world, and you know why the world is as it is. When you learn geography, it encompasses history, politics, sociology, maths, science, business and economics. This means that I have an overview of concepts and can link all these subjects together. For example, in Business lessons, I used my knowledge of Superpowers and the Cold war to understand the economic system of Europe. It is a very underrated subject, but it is the best, I have no regrets in picking Geography, as it has helped me develop my passion for Urban Planning that I will study at University. ”
Hazeem Jailani, year 13.
The opportunity for students to dive into fieldwork is a vital and compulsory phase of the student’s geography school experience. Learning not just in the classroom, but directly in the untidy real world. Geographical skills extended here are transferable life skills. Geography opens up many career opportunities including those in the following fields: architecture, conservationism, education, GIS, local council, engineering, scientific research and development, field studies, aviation (flying/piloting), travel and tourism, healthcare etc. We offer fieldwork at each level to develop the understand of geographical research and discoveries. For example, year 7 will have the opportunity to go to the Living Rainforest in Surrey, the year 8 and 9 will use geographical study to understand the world of globalisation and urban regeneration in their local area. Year 10/11 and 12/13 will have the opportunity to research river management, coastal management and urban regeneration at the Olympic park and Docklands area.
We want to make sure that students can develop their independent learning and we make certain that students are able to develop their research skills, revision skills and creativity, in addition to honing their geographical reading and writing skills, with breath of documents from Geofiles to GIS. This is achieved through the careful planning of home-learning projects, workbooks and on-line revision tools which complement our units of work across all year groups.