The aim of the Geography curriculum at The Quest Academy is to provide students with a firm foundation of powerful geographical knowledge. The curriculum will aim for students to be taught around three key concepts within geography: world knowledge, understanding, and procedural knowledge. World knowledge will teach students where places are and what they are like, they will ‘know like a geographer’ and this will include studying places at a local, national and global scale. Understanding will enable the students to ‘understand like a geographer’ looking at the concepts of interdependence and helping them make sense of the complicated processes and interactions in the world. The final concept is procedural knowledge which is based on the students gaining transferrable skills including enquiry and critical thinking which will enable students to develop a deeper understanding of key geographical skills, making connections between the challenges of the human and physical environments. All of these concepts are embedded throughout the curriculum where it will engage students and promote creativity.

The curriculum has a range of resources which is linked to topical issues (current and relevant local, national and global issues). Each topic and lessons are based around an enquiry question which is to encourage questioning, investigation and critical thinking about the issues affecting the world and peoples’ lives. It is an important skill for the students to continually develop and consolidate key geographical skills of enquiry and graphicacy.

Students will be set weekly tasks to support and extend the learning in lessons. This will be through a range of home learning tasks that will help vary the skills that the students will gain in lessons, increasing the breadth and depth of the content and concepts which have been embedded from Year 7. This will enable them to gain a better understanding of the subject and both the human and physical interactions that surround us. Each of the year groups have the opportunity to participate in fieldwork both on and off the school site. It is a vital skill that students become familiar with enquiry fieldwork investigations which will provide them with the cross-curricular skills of data analysis, presentation and evaluation of the data collected.

We want our students to be life-long learners developing a sense of place and space helping them to gain a better understanding of the different types of geography that surrounds them. We also want them to be prepared for the future through the invaluable skills that our students will learn through their journey in Geography. Finally, we want our students to grow into responsible global citizens who are aware of the world that surrounds them. The Geography curriculum ensures the students leave with positive outcomes in both their examinations and personal development to prepare them for the future.

We use the following textbooks in Geography:-