Geography School trip

geography

Geography is not only up-to-date and relevant, it is one of the most exciting, adventurous and valuable subjects to study today. So many of the world’s current problems boil down to geography, and [we] need the geographers of the future to help us understand them.
—Michael Palin (Former Director of the Royal Geographical Society)

Geography at Wetherby Prep espouses what Palin has to say, as well as covering the Common Entrance and Scholarship programmes for entrance into secondary schools.

Geography prepares pupils for understanding and dealing with the world; giving them handles to understand what is going on and it gets them to think creatively about combining variables, it gives them an understanding of place and places, and an ability to think critically about not only what is happening, but about the processes are driving what is happening. In addition to learning geographical facts and about geographical processes, pupils will become familiar with: measuring techniques, graphing and presentation conventions and ways of conducting good research and drawing compelling conclusions from collected and analysed spatial (GIS) and temporal data.

There is no better way for pupils to understand the world and their agency within it than by a good grounding in geography.

The Common Entrance Programme includes the following topic areas:

Population and Settlement
Industry and Transport
Tectonics (Earthquakes and Volcanoes)
Geomorphology (Earth Processes and Landforms)
Weather and Climate
Fieldwork Expedition and Expedition Enquiry WriteUp

Pupils also cover ordnance survey map reading and the locational knowledge from across the world.

Understanding the environmental impact of all geographical phenomena, forms an important part of the course content.

Covering these topics begins in Year 6. (As some changes are being phased in, the sequence of these topics varies by cohort).

Once boys commence the Common Entrance Programme, parents should acquire a copy of Geography for Common Entrance Revision Guide by Belinda Froud Yannic, from Hodder/ISB.

Expedition
Every year, at the end of Year 7 boys are taken on a week long expedition to complete fieldwork and to commence their Expedition Enquiry coursework which accounts for 20% of the Common Entrance examination result. Attendance on this expedition, is therefore mandatory. Fieldwork expeditions for 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 will be undertaken at Great Cumbrae, Scotland.

A new Common Entrance curriculum is on the horizon, and this is likely to first affect boys who are in the 2019/2020 Year 5 cohort.

Dr Andrew Lee FRGS
Chartered Geographer
Head of Geography