Staff
Mrs Carol Chisim Head of Department
Mrs Paula Leitch
Mrs Susan Logan
Mrs Lynn McKeever
Miss Fiona Brennan
Mrs Emma Rodgers
Mrs Lynne Jackson
Mrs Lynda Johnston
Mrs Tonya Warwick
Geography
The Geography Department at the Belfast Model School for Girls is a progressive department having employed a highly effective strategy for using ICT, multi-media and audio techniques within the subject content. The study of Geography is therefore a popular choice beyond Key Stage 3.
At Key Stage 3 topics are themed by year group, beginning in Year 8 with investigations of the pupils’ own local environments with a focus on mapskills, settlement, rivers and landscape processes and rocks and fossils. Field study is promoted within each year group and all Year 8 pupils will have the opportunity to participate in a field trip to the Colin Glen River.
In Year 9 pupils widen their geographical knowledge beyond their local area with investigations including ‘Into Europe’, weather and climate, tourism and population. The field study for this year group is a bus tour of the tourist sights of Belfast.
Year 10 is a crucial year for those hoping to study Geography at GCSE level as the topics studied, including latitude and longitude, the environment, development and tectonic activity, are linked to programmes of study at Key Stage 4. In the latter part of Year 10, pupils are taught from the AQA GCSE Geography specification in preparation for continuing their studies in Year 11.
Key Stage 4
The GCSE course is modular with a unit of study focusing on Physical Geography examined at the end of the academic year. Also in year 11, the girls complete their controlled assessment based on field investigations within the local community. In total, by the end of year 11, the students will have completed 62 ½ % of their GCSE course. Year 12 completes the course with studies of Human Geography focusing on Population, Development and Tourism.
Post-16
Advanced Level Geography is a two year course at Key Stage 5. In Year 13 the students sit two modular examinations, the first in January which examines Physical Geography and field work, the second in June which examines Human Geography and Geographical Skills. The final year involves pupils undertaking a study of a Global Issue as part of a Human Geography module which also includes Ethnic Diversity and Population, followed by a Physical Geography module where the students study Tropical Ecosystems, Coastal Environments and apply their DecisionMaking Skills.
