Clifton College Website

Geography

The study of Geography plays a very important role in education, at all levels, as it prompts pupils to take a look at the world in which they live. It provides pupils with an opportunity to investigate the physical and human characteristics of the world and understand the close links between the human population and the natural environment. Geography encourages pupils to think on a wider scale and opens their minds to new and exciting ideas.

Staff
Head of Geography:	Mr Nigel Siddall BA
Teachers (Years 4 & 5):	Mrs Helen Edwards BA (Hons)PGCE
	Mr Matthew Higgins BA (Hons) PGCE
	Miss Laura-Jane Loynton
	Miss Rebecca Mann BA (Hons) PGCE
	Mrs Ann Turnbull MA PGCE
	Mrs Jeannie Whatmough JP DipCE
	Mr Matthew Wood BSc (Hons) PGCE
Teachers (Years 6, 7 & 8):	Mr Roger Mills BEd (Hons)
	Mr James Averis BSc DipSoc
	Mr Sean Bradley LLB(Hons) Law, Solicitor, PGCE

As a result, the National Curriculum for Geography at Key Stages 2 and 3 focuses on teaching the children to enquire about the world around them and to develop the skills needed to research and understand key issues in the world today. It also allows them to develop ways to express their own views and reactions and to draw conclusions from their studies. It also encourages them to use the appropriate terminology and to make use of the relevant instruments, resources, equipment and mediums, especially ICT, that will facilitate this process. Inevitably, in this ecologically aware world that we all now live in, the National Curriculum concentrates on the effect that we have on the local and global environment and encourages the children to consider how to improve and better manage their impact on the natural world.

Although we retain our independence and will sometimes include other elements that we think are important, we, at Clifton, have adopted many of the concepts that form the skeleton of the National Curriculum. Consequently pupils at Clifton Pre study a wide range of topics in each year group, all the while focusing on the key issues and themes that underpin the subject. During each year that pupils study Geography in the Pre they will acquire and develop many geographical skills, including map work and fieldwork. They will also be encouraged to extend their locational knowledge and investigate patterns and processes within the human world, through the study of such topics as settlement, transport, industry, farming, tourism, urban development and the differing environments which humans have created and inhabit. Alongside this; pupils will discover the forces and patterns within the natural world through the study of such topics as weather and climate, the water cycle, rocks, mountains, earthquakes and volcanoes. They will be encouraged to take a look at how humans affect these natural environments and processes and are affected by such things. As well as studying on a global scale, our own area of Bristol will also feature in these studies, as it is clearly as important to understand the immediate vicinity in which we live as it is to know about the world outside.

All in all the study of Geography in the Pre will provide them with a growing understanding of the world around them and, we hope, encourage them to gradually delve deeper into the subject to discover new and inspiring places. We hope that they will become confident and keen to develop a true appreciation of the environment in which they are growing up and the desire, knowledge and skills to improve it. That certainly should be the aspiration of each geographer – and it is now very much the aspiration here!