Geography is taught within the College by a team of three full time specialist teachers, Mr Jason Pink (Head), Mr Andrew Sedgewick, Mr Keith Hicks and Mr Rob West. The department is housed within three large, airy, dedicated teaching rooms. The rooms are all equipped with interactive white boards. There has been a lot of investment in ICT resources in the last few years.

The use of ICT is an important part of the department’s teaching and learning. Many of the lessons taught with in the department use PowerPoint Presentations and Promethean software. Resources are shared centrally via the College Portal and we work collaboratively to prepare teaching materials. We use Google Earth, the WWW and specialist software on a day-to-day basis. Students in all key stages are taught to give presentations using PowerPoint and in KS4 the second piece of coursework is a presentation to camera. Each room has a video player and DVD player attached to the interactive whiteboard. The department has an automated weather station from which data is downloaded daily.

Fieldwork is an important part of the department’s work. At present there is the opportunity for all year 9 students to take part in a field trip to Hunstanton to study coastal processes. KS4 spend a week in the Lake District undertaking field work. At AS students take part in a residential field trip to the Field Studies Council centre at Preston Montford near Shrewsbury.

 

All teaching takes place in mixed ability groups.

KS3

The KS3 curriculum is very varied. We do not follow a specific course or set of text books but have developed, and continue to develop, a scheme of work using the department’s strengths and interests. We try and make the subject matter as relevant to the students as possible using local case studies as often as possible.

In year 7 we focus on developing student’s skills and knowledge. In year 8 we concentrate on developing students understanding of Geography. The students follow a story, with one lesson lead into another and the whole years work flowing from one part to the next, rather than a series of distinct modules. We focus on encouraging the students to make links between the different parts of the subject rather then seeing each section as a distinct module of work

In year 9 the emphasis is upon the application of skills and knowledge; using what they have learned in years 7 and 8 to  undertake a variety of role play and decision making activities. The students have the opportunity to investigate and make decisions about the 2012 London Olympics, the management of HIV and AIDS in LEDCs, the plans to build new homes in the local area, the Three Gorges Dam in China, coastline management and the problems facing Japan.

We use a variety of assessment methods in order to allow all students the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do and achieve the best results possible; including research assignments, essays, presentations, fieldwork, role plays and decision making exercises.

KS4

Students will be following the AQA A specification from September 2009.

There are three units of work:

• Unit 1 – Physical Geography
• The restless earth (tectonic processes, earthquakes and volcanoes)
• Weather and climate
• Coasts
• Unit 2 – Human Geography
• Changing Urban environments
• Tourism
• The development gap
• Unit 3 – Local fieldwork investigation

KS5

Keystage 5 Blog for students: http://wjecgeogsawtrycc.blogspot.com/

 

At KS5 the students are following the WJEC specification. It leads on quite naturally from the GCSE course.

At AS there are two units of study:

• G1 ‘Changing Physical Environments’
• Investigating climate change
• Investigating tectonic and hydrological change
• G2 ‘Changing human environments’
• Investigating population change
• Investigating settlement change

At A2 there are two further units of study:

• G3 ‘Contemporary Themes and Research in Human Geography’
• This allows students to follow their own interests and carry out their own research. It is taught via a tutorial system.
• G4 ‘Sustainability’
• Sustainable food supply
• Sustainable water supply
• Sustainable energy
• Sustainable cities

Hopefully you now have a flavour of the Geography Department at Sawtry Community College; our ideas and ethos.

Geography CAREERS

Careers and Progression with Geography
Studying geography opens up a wide range of careers. Read on to find out more about the types of jobs and career paths that geographers can enjoy.
  Geography jobs can be found in these sectors

• Environment & Sustainability
• Physical Systems
• Society
• The Business World
• Geographical Techniques
• Development & Global Issues
• Settlement
• Travel, Tourism, Leisure and Culture

  Geography career cards
Every page has career cards with geography graduates showing how geography helps them in their chosen career.
  Things to consider when choosing a career

• Which aspects of geography do you enjoy?
• Do you prefer to work in a team or by yourself?
• Which of your geographical skills are your strengths?
• All jobs need broad, transferable skills. Think about how you have a ‘portfolio’ of skills.
• Will you need any professional qualifications to follow your career path?
• Find out more
  To know more about studying geography at university or talk to a graduate, ask your teacher to arrange for a geography ambassador from the Society to visit your school or college.

Geography Jobs
What Are You Going to Do With a Degree in Geography?
While a common question of those who are studying geography is, "What are you going to do with a degree in geography?," there are actually many options and potential careers for geography majors. Geography is a major that teaches students a wide-range of useful skills for the marketplace. Employers value the wide-ranging computer, research, and analytical skills that geography students bring to work as employees. When job-hunting, it's important to stress these skills you've gained during college.
While there aren't many job titles that are "geographer," there are many types of positions that fit well with a degree in geography. Think about some of the options below as you begin your job search.
Be sure to intern in any area of interests to get your foot in the door and gain valuable on-the-job experience. Your resume will be much more impressive if you have real world experience in the areas you're applying for.
Urban Planner/Community Development
Geography is a natural tie-in with urban or city planning. City planners work on zoning, land use, and new developments, from a gas station renovation to the development of whole new sections of urban area. You'll work with individual property owners, developers, and other officials. If you're interested in this area, be sure to take urban geography and urban planning classes. An internship with a city planning agency is essential experience for this type of work.
Cartographer
For those with cartography course backgrounds may enjoy work as a cartographer. The news media, book publishers, atlas publishers, government agencies and others are looking for cartographers to help produce maps. This would likely require relocation.
GIS Specialist
City governments, county agencies, and other government agencies and private groups are often in need of experienced GIS professionals. Coursework and internships in GIS are especially important. Computer programming or engineering skills are very helpful in this arena - the more about computers and languages you know, the better off you are.
Climatologist
Agencies like the National Weather Service, news media, the Weather Channel, and other government entities occasionally need climatologist. Admittedly, these jobs usually go to those with meteorology degrees, a geographer with experience and vast coursework in meteorology and climatology would definitely be an asset.
Transportation management
Like urban and city planning, there are opportunities in local government but regional transit authorities or shipping, logistics, and transportation companies look kindly to someone with transportation geography in their background and good computer and analytical skills.
Environmental Management
A plethora of environmental assessment, cleanup, and management companies exist throughout the world today. A geographer brings excellent skills for project management and the development of reports like environmental impact reports. It's often a wide-open field with tremendous growth opportunities.
Writer/Researcher
Undoubtedly during your college years you've spent time developing your writing skills and certainly as a geography major you know how to research! How about a career as a writer - you could be a science writer or a travel writer for a magazine or newspaper. The About.com Freelance Writing site provides information to help you get started.
If you want to get your name out there, you could start by writing some great volunteer guest articles for me and be published on this site. Let me know if you're interested and tell me a bit about yourself.
Teaching/Faculty
Becoming a high school or university geography instructor requires additional education beyond your undergraduate degree but it would certainly be rewarding to instill your love of geography with future geographers. Becoming a geography professor will allow you to research the world of geography and add to the body of knowledge developed by geographers.
Emergency Management
Emergency management is an under-explored field for geographers. Geography majors make great emergency managers. They understand the interactions between humans and the environment, know about hazards and earth processes, and can understand maps. Add in a bit of political acumen and leadership skills and you have a great emergency manager. Get started in this field by taking hazard courses in geography, geology, and sociology and intern with a local emergency management agency or the Red Cross.
Read my related article about geographers in emergency management.
Demographer
For the population geographer who loves demographic data, what can be more rewarding than becoming a demographer and working for state or federal agencies to help develop population estimates and present data? The U.S. Census Bureau is one of the few entities that actually has a position titled "Geographer." Interning in a local planning agency will help in this area.
Marketing
Along a similar vein of demography, marketing is a good career for those interested in taking demographic information and getting the word out to those who match the demographics you're searching for. This is one of the more glamorous arenas a geographer can get involved in.
Librarian/Information Scientist
Your research skills as a geographer apply particularly well to work as a librarian. If you want to help people navigate the world of information, this is a potential career for you.
National Park Service Ranger
Are you a physical geographer who needs to be outside and couldn't even consider working in an office? Perhaps a career in the National Park Service is right up your alley?
Real Estate Appraisal

Real estate appraisers develop an opinion of value for a specific piece of property. The work involves research into appropriate market areas, the assemblage of pertinent data, and the use of various analytical techniques to provide an opinion that reflects all pertinent market evidence. This multidisciplinary field incorporates aspects from geography, economics, finance, environmental planning, and law. A solid foundation in geography is essential to a real estate appraiser’s success and typical appraisal tools include aerial photos, topographic maps, GIS, and GPS.

For Geography Career Testimonials please <click here>