Welcome to the Geography Department's web pages! The Geography department is a lively, friendly and dynamic department which enjoys both excellent examination results and strong and positive staff-student relationships. We believe in combining high quality teaching and learning which meets the needs of our students in their quest to achieve examination success with a genuine desire to instil in every student a lasting curiosity about the world in which they live that will remain with them long after they have left the school. 
We believe that geography makes a major contribution to our physical, intellectual, social and emotional development. It is a subject that provides locational knowledge and understanding of spatial relations - how places are interconnected - whilst enabling students to develop a knowledge and understanding of current events - from local to global.
Geography develops the skill of visual literacy - interpreting maps, graphs, diagrams, aerial photographs and satellite images - and also provides a meaningful context for developing the key transferable skills of literacy, numeracy, ICT, problem solving, team work, thinking skills and enquiry. It is a subject that challenges and empowers all young people to become active global citizens. And most of all, we believe that geography should be challenging, topical, motivating and fun!
Facilities
The Geography Department is located on the second floor of the Faculty Building, in three attractive, modern classrooms overlooking the school playing fields and the Green Belt land between Hagley and Stourbridge. We have a suite of 24 computers, the use of which is shared with students in History and Unlocking Learning lessons.
Courses
Key Stage 3
Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 follow a broad, balanced course based on the concepts and content of the revised national curriculum 2008. There is emphasis on skills, especially the development of thinking skills, but the more traditional aspects of geographical education are not neglected. Content includes core themes such as our place in the world, changing settlements and tectonic processes, interspersed with issues of topical and contemporary significance such as the geography of china, the global fashion industry and the role of the 2012 Olympics in the regeneration of east London.
Key Stage 4
Students in year 11 currently study the OCR Specification C (“Bristol Project”) GCSE course. This course has now been replaced for Year 10 students by the new OCR Specification B (commencing September 2009).
Sixth Form
Students in Year 12 study the new AQA AS Level Specification whilst those that continue to study in year 13 (as most do) study the new AQA A2 specification.
Field Trips
The Department currently organises two residential field courses:
- A Level - at Nettlecombe Court, Exmoor (in November of Year 13)
- GCSE - at Preston Montford, Shrewsbury (in July of Year 10)
Students in Year 12 carry out a one day field investigation in Shropshire; Key Stage 3 students also carry out fieldwork investigations in the local area.
