Empower
Educators

13·Geography · KS3 to A Level

Grounded Geographers,
Confident Schools

One book for the whole department — the head of geography who has to fund fieldwork and defend the curriculum, and the teacher explaining longshore drift to a wet Year 9. Built on what the specifications actually say, read from the current documents.

  1. 1Curriculum
  2. 2Place
  3. 3Process
  4. 4Enquiry
  5. 5Standard
Preview — first 14 pages

67 pages · 64 sections · 🔒 53 more pages unlock on purchase

Cover of Grounded Geographers, Confident Schools

Geography is two subjects in one department — the physical and the human — and a scheme of work that treats them as interchangeable topics costs marks in both. The content looks modular, which is exactly why so many curricula are a rotation rather than a sequence.

This booklet is written for the whole department at once. A head of geography can read it as a curriculum and quality-assurance document; a teacher can open it at the page they need before a wet Year 9 lesson on coasts. The specifications were read from the current documents, and fieldwork is treated as what the boards actually examine: a way of reasoning, tested on data the student has never seen.

Written to
The current GCSE and A Level geography specifications, read in full
Intended for
For department CPD, planning and curriculum review
Extent
67 pages · 64 sections

·Look inside

Real pages, straight from the PDF

Click any page to see it full size.

·Contents

All 64 sections

Taken from the booklet's own contents page, so the page numbers are the real ones.

THE CASE

01Two Subjects, One Departmentp3
02What Geographical Thinking Actually Isp4
03Where Geography Departments Driftp5
04What Excellent Geography Teaching Looks Likep6

THE THEORY

05Pillar 1 — Curriculum: What Builds on Whatp7
06Pillar 2 — Place: Case Studies That Do Somethingp8
07Pillar 3 — Process: Explaining How, Not Just Whatp9
08Pillar 4 — Enquiry: Fieldwork Is a Way of Reasoningp10
09Pillar 5 — Standard: One Department, One Mark Schemep11

CURRICULUM

10Key Stage 3: The Three Years GCSE Depends Onp12
11The GCSE Two-Year Sequencep13

PHYSICAL

12Rivers and Coasts: The Same Three Processesp14
13Hazards: Why the Same Event Kills Different Numbersp15
14Weather, Climate and the Living Worldp16

HUMAN

15Population and Migration: Teaching a Contested Topic Wellp17
16Urban Geography: Growth, Inequality and Regenerationp18
17Development, Trade and the Resource Questionp19
18Climate Change: Teaching Certainty and Uncertainty Togetherp20
19Teaching Contested Issues Without Losing the Roomp21

FIELDWORK

20Planning Two Enquiries That Meet the Requirementp22
21Data Collection, Sampling and the Decisions Students Should Makep23
22Presentation, Analysis and the Anomalyp24
23The Fieldwork Questions in the Written Paperp25

SKILLS

24Maps: A Quarter of the Marks, Taught in Year 7p26
25Data, Graphs and the Statistics Students Avoidp27
26GIS and Digital Geography, Used Properlyp28

THE BOARDS

27The Boards Compared, from Their Own Specificationsp29
28Command Words, Paper 3 and the Issue Evaluationp30

TEACHING

29Explanation, Modelling and the Diagram Problemp31
30Questioning and Extended Writingp32
31Retrieval in a Subject With Too Much to Rememberp33

ASSESSMENT

32Assessment That Matches the Objectivesp34
33Feedback, Data and Impactp35

EVERY STUDENT

34SEND, EAL and Access to Geographyp36
35High Attainers and the Scale Movep37

FOR LEADERS

36The Head of Geographyp38
37Quality Assurance and the Department Rhythmp39
38Developing Geography Teachersp40
39Technology, GIS and AI in Geographyp41
40Inspection and the Geography Departmentp42
61The Geography Department Improvement Planp63

WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE

41Curriculum, Teaching and Skillsp43
42Fieldwork, Assessment and Leadershipp44

OUTSTANDING LESSONS

43Year 7: The Drainage Basin as a Systemp45
44Year 9: Two Earthquakes, Same Magnitudep46
45GCSE: Reading an Unfamiliar OS Extractp47
46GCSE: Somebody Else’s Fieldwork Datap48
47GCSE: The Issue Evaluationp49
48Inclusive Geography: Same Demand, Different Routep50

THE TOOLKIT

49Templates 1–4 — Curriculum and Planningp51
50Templates 5–8 — Fieldworkp52
51Templates 9–12 — Case Studies and Placesp53
52Templates 13–16 — Skills and Datap54
53Templates 17–20 — Teaching and Discussionp55
54Templates 21–24 — Assessment and Leadershipp56
55Template 25 — Department Self-Evaluationp57

TROUBLESHOOTING

56Common Geography Department Problems — Teachingp58
57Common Geography Department Problems — Departmentp59

QUALIFICATIONS

58The Geography Qualification Landscapep60
59International Geography and the Fieldwork Questionp61
60Progression, Destinations and Honest Advicep62

CLOSING

62Recommended Reading and Where to Check Thingsp64
63References and Evidence Basep65
64One Department, Two Disciplines, One Argumentp66