Geography at The Levels School
The geography curriculum at The Levels School covers a range of physical and human topics and develops links between them. The National Curriculum for KS2 and KS3 has been adapted to increase accessibility through repetition of topics and building depth of knowledge through embedding links between topics within geography and other subjects This will enable students to access the AQA GCSE curriculum and achieve their potential in geography. Skills are embedded throughout the curriculum both in terms of geographical skills but also transferable and employability skills. Students are taught through a range of means, using assistive technology, with opportunities to delve deeper and research areas of interest to them within topics.
Key Stage Two
KS2 students are taught in mixed-age and mixed-ability groups consisting of children from Years 4 to 6. All KS2 children are taught the same history curriculum in a single year. To avoid repeating the same units, the KS2 curriculum has been mapped over three years, with students studying different units in years A, B and C.
As part of their studies of Rocks and Scenery, students in KS2 take part in a joint history-geography caving trip in Year C.
Key Stage Three
In Year 7, students take a trip to the River Holford on the Quantocks as part of their study of rivers. In Year 8, they go to Seaton to study coasts.
GCSE
At The Levels School, geography is an option which any student may choose to take at KS4. We offer AQA GCSE Geography (9-1), which is a challenging but immensely interesting and rewarding course. The GCSE combines physical and human geography which are assessed at the end of Year 11 in three exam papers, as outlined below.
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There are two trips in Year 10, both linked to Paper 3. Students go to collect data from Minehead and Street.
Paper 1: Living with the Physical Environment
Section A: The challenge of natural hazards
Section B: The living world
Section C: Physical landscapes in the UK
Holiday Activities
If you're looking to support your child's geography studies at home, try the following activities:
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Reading relevant books, such as "Prisoners of Geography", "Unruly Places" and "Horrible Geographies". The "National Geographic" magazine is also fantastic.
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Watch relevant films and documentaries, such as "The Impossible", "Slumdog Millionaire", "Into the Wild", "An Inconvenient Truth" and anything narrated by David Attenborough. Simon Reeve's series on BBC iPlayer is also excellent.
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Visit places - anywhere! Wherever you go, look at the human and physical features and processes, and look for interactions between the natural and human world.
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Play board games, such as "The London Game" and "Monopoly".
