Geography

Head of Department: Sebastian Ballard

E: sballard@bohuntfarnborough.com T: 01276 702540

Geography

Our Vision
We firmly believe that all children, irrespective of their starting point, are entitled to a broad,
balanced and inclusive Geographical curriculum. We aim to equip our students with the ability to
develop interpretations of spaces & places around them and promote tolerance and respect in a
diverse world, enabling them to develop deeper knowledge, wider understanding and the necessary
geographical skills to meet the challenges and take an active role in a dynamic and ever changing
future.

Students are challenged to question, which will allow them to develop critical thinking and apply their
understanding to a range of differing Geographical contexts. We aim to create students who can
become the ‘game changers’ of the future.

KS3: At KS3 our main priority is to give students a full and well-rounded education if they were to
finish their geography journey at the end of year 8, yet give them the building blocks of key
knowledge and skills needed for them to succeed at GCSE. The progression of skills is built into a
spiral curriculum which are revisited throughout the content.

The curriculum is routed in five geographical strands; Space & Place, Interrelationships, Sustainability
& Stewardship, Future Change & Challenge and Game Changers. Regular assessments promote
literacy, skills, processes, interactions and enquiry and enable us to check their understanding.
The curriculum is designed to ensure that the boundaries between units (learning bridges) help
students understand the ever changing nature of the subject.

In Year 7 students study four units; UK Physical Landscape, Population & Migration, Weather &
Climate and then finally Urban Sustainability.

In Year 8 students study four units; Ecosystems, Development, Natural Hazards and Global Issues.

KS4: We follow the AQA GCSE Geography (8035) specification over a three year period.
Students start their GCSE journey in Year 9 where we revisit our key skills and equip our students
with the further skills they need to succeed. Students move on to looking at Ecosystems, Tropical
Rainforests and Hot environments. After Christmas we explore Resource Management with a focus
on Food, we then finish Year 9 learning about Rivers.

In Year 10, pupils will look at issues relating to urbanisation both in the UK (Bristol) and elsewhere in
the world (Rio de Janeiro). They then investigate the challenge of natural hazards and climate change
and finish the year with a focus on the UK coastal environment.

In Year 11, pupils will study ‘challenges in the human environment’. Pupils will look at the
complexities of the interaction of humans, place and space. They will find out about the changing
economic world before developing their understanding of economies in the UK and Nigeria.

History

Head of Department: Debs Lovelock

E: dlovelock@bohuntfarnborough.com  T: 01276 702540

History

Intent

The fundamental objectives of the History department at Bohunt Farnborough are based on a profound belief in the importance of history both as an academic discipline and its value as a  foundation stone of our identity. On so many levels understanding history helps us live a productive and successful life beyond the classroom.

Please see the curriculum overview and maps for a more in-depth explanation for each year group.

Key Stage 3

At KS3 we have adapted the National Curriculum to offer a challenging curriculum that enables students to understand the history of Britain and the wider world.  Our curriculum is a coherent, chronological narrative, starting from the earliest times to the present day.  It  teaches students to use abstract terms such as ‘empire’ and ‘monarchy’ and be forensic when using historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance.  Students learn skills to make connections, draw contrasts and write their own structured accounts such as written narratives and analyses.  We also use work towards developing presentation skills.

Key Stage 4

At KS4 students build on the skills of KS3 and study one British depth study, the Normans, analysing interpretations.  Living under the Nazis is our European study, interrogating sources. The Making of America as a wider world depth study, which is knowledge based. We study the historic environment by visiting Portchester Castle, and a development study in Crime and Punishment.  We have selected the OCR SHP specification because it suits our students and our ethos – that history must be hands-on, enjoyable and purposeful – students ‘do’ history like a real historian does!