Geography

Geography is the subject, which brings us closer to the world that we live in. Have you ever watched a flood or a tsunami on the news and wondered why it has happened? Have you ever looked at a mountain and wondered how it was formed? Are you concerned about the environment?

Geography is a chance to study all of these interesting themes

In Class

Classwork is varied and interesting. There will be some form of practical activity each week, which may involve bringing ingredients from home, or may be an investigation for example into the effect of different fats in pastry, for which ingredients would be provided. The theory work involves both individual and group work and covers Food Materials and Components, Food Product Design and Food Processes and Product Manufacture.  

During your two years of study in Geography you will take part in a number of activities. Tasks vary in Geography to incorporate independent study, group work, presentations and debates. With the new bank of laptops ICT is now used in a number of lessons and the Internet has become an important tool in researching and keeping up to date with geographical events all over the world.

Year 10 is spent studying how the earth has been formed and shaped by natural phenomena.

There are four topics covered in this unit
Tectonic Activity (earthquakes and volcanoes)
River Landscapes
Glacial Landscapes
Coastal Landscapes

In year 11 the focus changes to a human theme and we study the way that humans interact with the environment, how humans can influence the land and how the land can influence the people living on it

Three topics are covered in this unit.
Settlement
Agriculture
Managing Resources

At home

Like all GCSE courses homework will be set on a regular basis and will take many forms. For the first half- term of year 10 you homework will be based around your coursework. For the rest of the course you will be given homework which enables you to grasp a deeper understanding of the topics being covered in class and allows you to consolidate the knowledge that you have gained.
Homework is often based on past exam questions so that you are able to get used to the wording and the format of the questions as soon as possible.

Course Work

Year 10 gets off to a flying start with the fieldwork data collection day in Southport. The coursework is worth 25% of the total mark and is an opportunity for pupils to use their own initiative and originality. The coursework will be completed by January and motivated students of all abilities usually do especially well in this component of the course.

Exams

At the end of year 11 students will sit two geography papers which together with your coursework mark will make up your final geography grade. Paper One will be based around the topics taught in year 10 and Paper Two around those taught in year 11.

Keys to success

For you to achieve well in Geography you will need to be interested, determined and not afraid of hard work. You will need to be committed to your studies and willing to seek advice from your teachers.

History

 History is about how our world came to be and about why people acted the way they did. This makes it important to your future, to help you understand the world you live in and why people act in the way they do

 History is a very important subject in the workplace. A History qualification tells an Employer that you can solve problems, research and organise information, ask the right questions about information and communicate ideas clearly in writing and speech.

In year 10 we will study The History of Medicine (good and gory)! In year 11 either Elizabethan England or American West. Both are about why people in the past made the crazy decisions that they did. There will also be two pieces of coursework one on Warrington and one a modern world study.

History students’ get very good grades every year and your teachers offer a lot of help and support. Our students often say that History has helped them with other subjects too because we spend a lot of time on revision and study skills. Further support is offered by two fantastic trips, a weekly revision club and revision booklets written by your teachers to match the exam perfectly

In Class

History is taught in a lively way using a range of activities to suit all learning styles.  

This means you will help each other in pairs and groups and working as a class team, to solve problems. There will be lots of discussion and you will learn to back up your point of view with evidence. We also use videos, DVD, role-play, games and the Internet to help you learn. Now that we have the Smart board and lap tops in Humanities we can use ICT facilities regularly. Our favourite revision game at the moment is “Fling the teacher!”

At home

You will get homework every week and it is vital that you keep on top of it. Regular revision is especially important and explains why our students do so well each year.

Course Work
Coursework is 20% of total marks and includes a topic on local History, which many students really enjoy because you find out more about how your hometown developed and get the chance to show off ICT skills in producing a really smart project. Coursework is completed at the end of the year 10 when the exams are over, so is always well out of the way when you need to begin exam preparation.

Exams

Written exam takes up 80 % of total marks. There are 4 questions to answer, two each on Medicine and Elizabethan England. Each question will take half an hour, making a total time of two hours. We find that the questions are very straightforward.

Keys to success

Our students always enjoy the mixed ability groupings and find that they make new friends. We always have a good atmosphere in lessons, so it is important that you are prepared to work hard and work as a team with the rest of the class.

Recommended Books/websites
The students use
School revision booklets
Medicine and Health through Time (SHP series)
Elizabethan England (SHP series)
American West