Geography

Geography Department Aims

The vision statement of the Geography Department outlines the overall goal of the subject in the senior school. Our goal is to provide:

  • A stimulating, happy and secure educational environment where children grow as part of a wider school community and develop confidence in themselves and others.
  • An education that is broad and balanced, an education that develops mental, physical, creative and social skills and an education that addresses the needs of children as whole people.
  • Opportunities for children to attain high standards of achievement and move beyond any limits they might set for themselves.
  • Education without frontiers, going beyond national boundaries, in order to develop children as citizens of the world.

Aims

  • To encourage the students to appreciate the World in both its human and physical contexts.
  • To make students aware that they are equally responsible for looking after the environment and of the major environmental issues that face the Earth.
  • To make students aware of the importance of sustainable development.
  • To make Geography an interesting and enjoyable subject to learn.
  • To develop the skills and confidence of the students.
  • To maximize student learning and results through the knowledge of different learning styles and the use of a variety of teaching strategies.
  • To use both formative and summative marking to improve learning.
  • To use student peer assessment and target setting to improve learning.
  • To use student assessment folders to monitor student progress and to use this data in the planning and target setting process.
  • To develop a departmental handbook.
  • To develop schemes of work that are detailed, open to change and considered the most important documents in the department

FIBSB Exam Provision

The exam provision has been included so that you will be able to understand how students are examined in the senior school.
At the Foundation International British School of Bucharest (FIBSB) we offer the University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) to students.

The three sets of exams we offer are:

  • Year 9 students can take Cambridge Check Point tests in English, Mathematics and Science. Check Point tests do not lead to formal qualifications with a certificate, although a statement of achievement is produced. The reason we offer these tests is because they provide a good indication of IGCSE results and provide information to the teachers of the student’s strengths and weaknesses.
  • The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). We offer these courses to students at the start of Year 9. Students choose their IGCSE options in Year 8. We do this because we feel that it is important to challenge students and stretch their abilities as soon as is possible. This leads to a greater number of IGCSE’s passed by the end of Year 11 and the really able students can even move in to key stage 5. In Year 8 students are able to opt to take nine of the following subjects although some are actually compulsory. The subjects they can choose from are: Art, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Drama, Economics, English Language, English Literature, French, Geography, German, History, ICT, Italian, Latin, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education (P.E), Physics, Religious Education and Spanish. The Core subjects that students must take are English Language, Mathematics, Science and ICT. They must also have P.E lessons although they do no need to opt to study P.E at IGCSE level. Most subjects at the IGCSE level have between 2-3 examination papers that are sat in May/June each year, although there is also the option of sitting the exams in October. Some subjects at FIBSB are now offering the coursework option that usually accounts for up to 25% of the total mark. Instead of sitting an examination paper students can submit a research project.
  • The Advanced Level (A-Level) examination. These are usually started in Year 12 with the A-Level options chosen in Year 11. As the name implies these examinations take a more detailed look at the concepts and applications of content matter. They are usually taken by students as preparation for University applications and Degree level studies. Students now begin to specialize in their learning. There are no Core subjects, students are free to choose whichever subjects they like. A-Levels are broken down in to two distinct components. In the first year, Year 12, students work towards Advanced Subsidiary (AS) examinations. This is more advanced than the IGCSE, but not as rigorous as the Year 13 work. Students can opt to finish their advanced study of a particular subject at the end of Year 12 after they have taken their AS exams or they can continue with their studies in the subject and take the A-Level exam at the end of Year 13. This system enables students to be more flexible in their option choices. They can study for three full A-Levels, a minimum of Five AS Levels or some form of combination of both. Any combination is acceptable to Universities in the UK as grades are equated to a points score and applicants are expected to simply reach or beat a given points score to be accepted. At FIBSB we offer all the subjects on offer at the IGCSE level and in addition Law.


The following table indicates the options available to students in Geography at FIBSB. Students are required to complete the Geography program up to and including IGCSE following a ‘pass’ (grade “C” or above).

 

School Year

Age
[approx]

 Course Content
 End of Year
Assessment
Reception 4 Foundation
 Foundation Stage Profile
Year 1 5 U.K. National Curriculum Key Stage 1
 Internal Assessment/
Cambridge Primaries
Year 2 6 KS1 SATs/
Cambridge Primaries
Year 3 7 N.C. Key Stage 2
 National Curriculum Tests
Year 4 8
Year 5 9
Year 6 10 Key Stage 2 STATS Tests
Year 7 11 N.C. Key Stage 3
Year 8 Optional SATS tests
Year 8 12
Year 9 13 IGCSE Geography 0460 Internal Examination
    Track 1/
Fast-track
 Track 1/
Fast-track
Year 10/
Key Stage 4		 14 IGCSE Geography Cambridge IGCSE Geography Exam 0460
Year 11/
Key Stage 4		 15 IGCSE Geography Cambridge IGCSE Geography Exam 0460
Year 12/
Key Stage 5		 16 AS Level Geography Cambridge AS Level
Geography 9696
Year 13/
Key Stage 5		 17&18 A2 Level Geography Cambridge A2 Level Geography 9696


Syllabuses and Schemes of Work

Key Stage 3
This is known as the National Curriculum and students study this in Years 7 and 8 in this school. It is compulsory for students to study this subject and there are about 11 topic areas covered including all the very topical issues such as resource miss-use and global warming.

Students are tested at the end of each topic and their results are recorded and used in planning and target setting.

If you have any further questions then please contact Mr. Scott Jamieson.

Syllabus
Scheme of Work

IGCSE
In this school we start the IGCSE programme in Year 9. We believe that this is a better system as students are more likely to achieve a greater number of passes and better grades at IGCSE.Students have 3 lessons a week.

IGCSE Geography is designed to teach students about the World that we live in, both its physical and human environments and the interaction between them. It is a very relevant and interesting subject and covers all the major issues that are topical today such as global warming, resource issues and the problems of urbanization. Students have to learn a vast array of skills for the exam and for this reason it is considered one of the more difficult subjects to pass. Students are given end of topic tests and their results are used in planning and target setting.

Students are tested in three papers at the end of the course, on average after two years, but it is possible for very able students to be entered after one year.

If you have any questions then you can contact Mr. Scott Jamieson.

Syllabus
Scheme of Work

A Level
From Year 11 or 12 students can opt to study AS Geography. This is usually studied over one year, but can be used as a foundation course for taking Geography for an additional year where students complete the full A Level programme. There are 5 lessons a week for each programme.

Students have no options in the AS programme and study about rivers, climate and rocks in physical geography and population and settlement in human geography. If they decide to take the second year in the A Level programme then there is a wide choice of topics to study and the students can choose what they find most interesting. The syllabus for both these courses can be found in their entirety on another page on this web site. Students are given end of topic tests and their results are used in planning and target setting.

Geography at A Level is a very popular choice in the UK and one of the most favoured subjects by employers research has shown. This is not just because of the relevant and topical nature of the subject, but also because of the wide range of skills that students have to master.
If there are any further questions then please contact Mr. Scott Jamieson.

Syllabus
Scheme of Work


A2 Level
From Year 11 or 12 students can opt to study AS Geography. This is usually studied over one year, but can be used as a foundation course for taking Geography for an additional year where students complete the full A Level programme. There are 5 lessons a week for each programme.

Students have no options in the AS programme and study about rivers, climate and rocks in physical geography and population and settlement in human geography. If they decide to take the second year in the A Level programme then there is a wide choice of topics to study and the students can choose what they find most interesting. The syllabus for both these courses can be found in their entirety on another page on this web site. Students are given end of topic tests and their results are used in planning and target setting.

Geography at A Level is a very popular choice in the UK and one of the most favoured subjects by employers research has shown. This is not just because of the relevant and topical nature of the subject, but also because of the wide range of skills that students have to master.
If there are any further questions then please contact Mr. Scott Jamieson.

Syllabus
Scheme of Work


Useful websites

There are a range of excellent official or teacher-produced sites which are leading the development of interesting resources:

http://www.geography.org.uk
http://www.rgs.org
http://www.met-office.gov.uk/education/index.html
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/index.htm
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/education
http://earth.google.com/
http://www.geographyphotos.com
http://www.geograph.org.uk
http://www.globaleye.org.uk/index.html
http://www.geographypages.co.uk – Alan Parkinson
http://www.geointeractive.co.uk – David Rayner
http://www.juicygeography.co.uk – Noel Jenkins
http://www.radicalgeography.co.uk – Tony Cassidy
http://www.digitalgeography.co.uk – Noel Jenkins
http://www.georesources.co.uk – David Rayner
http://www.geography-site.co.uk – David Robinson