“Through our curriculum, we allow students to understand how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate.”

KS4 Specification

AQA GCSE Geography.

National Curriculum

Gladesmore Community School prides ourselves on delivering the breadth and ambition of the National Curriculum.

Curriculum Intent

Geography at Gladesmore aims to inspire students and generate curiosity and critical thinking about the ever-changing world in which they live, its diverse people and their roles within it. The curriculum provides our students with knowledge and understanding about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with an understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

With our students coming from nearly fifty different feeder schools, their experience of geography at Key Stage 2 is varied. As a result, in Key Stage 3, we provide students with the foundation skills and knowledge to deepen their understanding of the physical world as they continue their study of geography into Key Stage 4 and beyond.

Our geography provides the powerful knowledge, understanding and skills that combine to form an understanding of how the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and change over time. Through our curriculum, we allow students to understand how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes (e.g. rivers), environments (e.g. desertification) and the climate. Our threshold concepts (development, sustainability, diversity, etc.) are embedded into our schemes of work and - through these – we enable our students both to think geographically and to engage with key environmental issues and concerns of our time.

We recognise that, whilst many of our students will have had access to different cultures, societies and physical environments, others may have had more limited opportunities to encounter the world outside that of their own immediate experience. We therefore enable students to carry out fieldwork at Key Stage 3 as part of their study of their local environment, and visit both Stratford and Regent’s Park at Key Stage 4 in order to show an understanding of both physical and human geography. Our curriculum hence ensures that students learn about their local geography (e.g. how Tottenham has changed) and that they are also able to engage in current debates of both geographical and societal significance (e.g. how the UK will produce its energy in the future) and international geography (e.g. how South Asia is being transformed).

Geography at Gladesmore seeks to take students beyond the limits of their personal experience of the world around them, building resilience, encouraging cooperation and fostering independence through their study, as they do so. In this way, we strive to engender and develop an awareness of and critical engagement with our place in the world.

Curriculum Summary