STAFF
Trevor Rowell Head of Department
Simon Hill
Gilly Hamilton
Gordon Woods
Katherine Platt
Staff | Curriculum | Morocco Field Trip
The Geography Curriculum
Geography is a very popular subject at Glenalmond with over 90 students opting for it in the Sixth Form alone. It is a compulsory subject at 2nd and 3rd Form level but students can select it as a GCSE option at 4th form level. The OCR syllabus is followed for GCSE, AS and A2 level. These courses offer students the opportunity to study a wide range of geographical topics – see specific information below.
Junior Entry Geography
This course is very flexible and its content is directed by both the teacher and the students. Last year students have followed a course that has included World Geography – selecting individual countries for case study material, looking at social, political, physical and human aspects to Geography. Glaciation has also been covered with students looking at local Glacial features in the nearby valleys including Sma Glen. During the summer term the course follows a local theme again, studying Perthshire and the Glenalmond Valley.
Students do extensive local fieldwork on settlement hierarchy along with landuse and the physical Geography of the local environment.Students are encouraged to develop their presentation skills through presenting their World Case Studies to the rest of the class. Group work is conducted along with individual studies and access is given to computers and the internet in an attempt to develop the idea of researching topics and developing study skills.The idea of the course at Junior Entry is to follow topics which appeal to the students and which are less likely to be repeated higher up within the school. This ensures that students gain the most from their teaching whilst using the local environment to its fullest use. As much fieldwork as possible is carried out so that students get a real feel for the subject and understand their local environment.
3rd Form
During this year students embark upon topics that are part of their GCSE course. The idea behind this is to give students an introduction to the GCSE course so they can get a feel for whether they would be interested in continuing it through the examination years. By stretching the course over three years it also means there is plenty of time for revision in the Fifth Form. The 3rd form comprises of 4 lessons a week during which topics such as Tourism, Water Pollution, National Parks and Ecosystems are covered. A lot of emphasis is placed upon student-led work with case studies, posters and articles being produced both individually and as group work. Students are taken into the field to do local fieldwork on environmental geography and ecosystem studies.
4th and 5th Form
During these two GCSE years students are taught 4 periods of Geography a year. Material covered during these lessons is taken from the OCR syllabus A and includes both Human and Physical topics. A piece of GCSE coursework is carried out locally in Perth at the start of the Fifth Form and submitted for marking at the start of the Trinity term. The coursework accounts for 25% of the overall GCSE with a further 25% coming from a Mapwork paper and the final 50% based on the main examination paper where questions are based on the topics covered throughout the GCSE course.
A level
The department is highly popular at AS / A2 level with over 90 students opting for it at present. All students are taught by two members of staff for 4 periods a week each and teaching is generally split into Human or Physical Geography. The course follows the OCR syllabus that requires students to sit three examinations in each year of the course.
AS Level
Students at AS level are taught to research topics by themselves and encouraged to share ideas through paired work and groupwork. Coursework is carried out on the local area of Perthshire and students are strongly encouraged to use the College Information Technology facilities to research and produce material. The AS course expects students to develop a good broad understanding of key geographical ideas and be able to put this across in a clear and concise manner. A 1000 word piece of coursework is produced within the year which forms the basis of the Investigations module.
A2 Level
The A2 course is a continuation of the AS course and at this level students are expected to ‘specialise’ in areas that at present include Arid Environments, Agricultural Systems, Hazardous Environments and Rural Environments. Students are examined in three different modules with the third comprising an Investigations Unit in which they are expected to be able to justify various geographical techniques and when and why they would be applied to differing projects or investigations. This module has its basis in a 1000 word project students complete within their Upper Sixth year.At A2 level students are expected to do a considerable amount of private studying and research in order to keep abreast of current developments and issues in geography. They are encouraged to use IT and library facilities in order to carry out background reading for all areas of this A2. All students are tested regularly under timed conditions in order for them to master the skill of producing convincing essays under timed conditions. Highers GeographyStudents follow the SQA Geography course over two years in order to achieve the best grade possible. Areas covered in the Lower Sixth year include both physical and Human Geography. All sections of the course are tested regularly and students are encouraged to further their knowledge and understanding through local fieldwork within Perthshire. All external examinations are undertaken at the end of the Upper Sixth year although there are internal examinations at the end of the Lower Sixth and regular NAB’s (assessments) to be completed as part of the course.
Staff | Curriculum | Morocco Field Trip
Morocco Field Trip
At the end of the Michaelmas term, A’level students headed off for 9 days of intensive Geography revision in Morocco . After careful consideration it was decided that the weather in Scotland was too unpredictable and so a sunnier climate was looked for, where students would be able to work in the field without too many interruptions!
It was a choice of Morocco or the USA since one of the Sixth Form units is Arid Landscapes and the students were unanimous in choosing Morocco . This is the Fourth time A’level pupils from Glenalmond have undertaken fieldwork in Morocco and as usual the weather was magnificent. A huge amount was crammed into the 9 days including visits and work in the Sahara Desert, the High Atlas Mountains and Marrakech.
Some of the highlights are shown in the photographs (©) on the left.
If you would like any more information on the fieldtrip, please do not hesitate to contact Trevor Rowell - trevorrowell@glenalmondcollege.co.uk
