Geography

Head of Department: Miss O Walters  owalters@prsbucks.com 

At PRS, the Geography curriculum encourages students to explore the world beyond their own, building the life skills needed to navigate an ever-changing planet. We foster empathy by helping students appreciate diverse perspectives and the challenges faced by different communities across the globe. Through enquiry and reflection, students develop humility as they recognise humanity’s shared responsibility for the Earth and its inhabitants.

We want all students to go into their adult lives with a desire to live in harmony with the natural world and with each other. Through the study of Geography, we aim to develop students’ knowledge of the interdependence between the human and physical worlds, nurturing an understanding of how to sustain both for future generations.

Ultimately, Geography at PRS equips students with the skills and understanding to contribute positively to society, make responsible, informed choices, and successfully care for the environment on both a local and global scale.

The Geography Curriculum Map describes the journey our students take from Year 7 to Year 13.  Please click the below to download.

prs geography curriculum owa july 2026.pdf

 Department organisation (per fortnight)  

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10 & 11	Year 12 & 13
3 lessons	3 lessons	4 lessons	5 lessons	8 lessons

 KS3

Year 7
Map Skills	Weather and Climate	Rivers	Africa	Geographical Exploration
OS maps Grid references Scale and distance UK, World Maps and Atlases. GIS	The Water Cycle Cloud creation The weight of air  Wind and rain  World climates Extreme weather	The Water Cycle Geomorphic Processes Landscapes and Landforms Fierce floods Fighting floods	Physical and Human Geography Natural resources Grand deserts - Kenya and the Masaai Challenges and Opportunities	Skills and Fieldwork

Year 8
Tropical Rainforests	Tectonics	Coasts	Population	China	Geographical Exploration
Structure and climate Botanical Flora Adaptive Fauna Riches of the forest Perils and preservation	Earth’s structure Plate boundaries Nepal and Japan Earthquakes Volatile Volcanoes Hawaiian Hotspots Seismic engineering	Waves and landscape Geomorphic processes Longshore drift mysteries Coastal management and climate change	Population change and trends International and National Migration Demography Orangi Town Climate Change Conflict	Climate and landscape Economic power and progress One Child Policy The Three Gorges Dam Climate Change	Create and investigate!

Year 9
Weather Hazards	Superpower Geographies	Extreme Earth	The Middle East	Energy and Resources	GCSE Roll Up
Italian Drought Somerset floods The Beast from the East Hurricane Irma Tornadoes	What is a superpower? Falling Empires  The Space Race China and Afric The rule of TNCs Antarctica	Rapid Development Conquering Heat Extreme Poverty Millionaires and Billionaires Extreme Oceans A Planet Gasping for Breath	The Middle of Where?  Diversity Can Dubai Survive? Oil: What’s Left? Conflict The FIFA World Cup	What is a fossil fuel? Crude Oil Fracking Harnessing Wind Melting the planet Deep Water Disasters	Paper 1, Topic 2: Changing Climate

KS4

KS5

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 Field Trips

• GCSE Paper 1 Physical Fieldwork: 'Management of Local Ecosystems' to tie in with their Sustaining Ecosystems module in paper 1.
• GCSE Paper 2 Human Fieldwork: 'Sustainable Regeneration of Birmingham' to tie in with their Urban Futures case study in paper 2.
  
  
• A Level Residential  to Slapton Ley in Devon or Swanage

  • As part of the A level Geography course it is essential for students to undertake a residential field trip. This is a compulsory element of the OCR Geography course. Fieldwork is required to be undertaken for at least four days throughout the A Level course, including in relation to processes in both physical and human geography.  The trip will allow learners to understand processes and approaches they can utilise within their own independent investigation (NEA), as well as contextualise aspects of the content through their experiences.

Homework

KS3 – Year 7 and 8

Digital Recall, Retrieval and Revision

Will be set every other Monday for all students for the first half of each term - See the Homework Schedule Spreadsheet.

Chilli Challenge

This will be set at the start of each term and run throughout the whole term encompassing the two current topics. Reminders about this will be sent every other week throughout the term.

(Example)

KS3 - Year 9

Digital Recall, Retrieval and Revision + Step up to GCSE tasks.

Will be set every other Monday for all students

 

KS4

Digital Recall, Retrieval and Revision

On alternating weeks Year 10 and Year 11 students will receive a piece of digital retrieval/ revision homework. This work will aim to ensure that important areas of the learning remain in their working memory and allow them to make links from this to new learning.

This will be set by the class teacher.

 

6/8 mark question

On alternating weeks Year 10 and Year 11 students will receive one long answer exam question. Students will have the opportunity to continually revise topics and hone their exam technique.

Staff will decide whether they would like to do this on paper hard copy or digitally.

Homework will alternate each week and the class will have the same homework day all year to give student’s consistency in Geography

 

KS5

A Level students will receive a variety of homework throughout their course.

• Exam practice questions
• Collaborative work
• Revision resources
• Extended reading
• Extended writing

Year 12 and 13 students will receive guidance and feedback from class teachers on exam practice. Students will be expected immerse themselves in their course by sourcing and reading around their topics independently.