Head of Geography – Mark Harlech-Jones
Welcome to the Geography department at Chesterhouse. “Geography is the study of the world in which we live. Put another way, it is the study of people, places and our environment.”
Our department aims to, through the course of the various syllabi, provide pupils with the tools and knowledge to help them make sense of the world in which they live, as well as to understand the processes, both human and physical, which shape the earth.
Geography is a very contemporary, relevant and dynamic subject which addresses issues like Climate Change, Pollution, Resource Depletion and Sustainable Development. These issues raise crucial questions about the sort of future society we wish to create. Therefore it is extremely relevant for today’s society.
We engage pupils by making the subject practical and relevant to them, through getting them to apply their learnt knowledge to their life and the world outside their classroom window.
Natalie Lourens
The Geography department is a very “down to earth” and friendly department and my colleague is Natalie Lourens.
I look forward to engaging with your child.
Mark Harlech-Jones
BA (Lang and Lit); PGCE
The Grade 8 and 9 syllabus takes pupils on a journey and experience covering diverse topics such as Population, Settlements, Mapwork and how to use and read a map and compass, Weather and Climate and Environmental and Resource issues. We also study Sustainable Development and how to live in a sustainable way, Renewable and Non Renewable Energy, Global Warming and that Antarctic region.
Grade 10 and 11 takes pupils through the IGCSE course which is built on their pre-existing knowledge of Geography and looks more in depth at topics such as Plate Tectonics and Geomorphology, Leisure and Tourism, Agricultural and Industrial Systems, Economic Activities, Mapwork, Settlements and Population as well as answering the manner in which IGCSE questions are asked and the answers demanded by these.
In Grade 12 at AS Level, the syllabus goes into even more detail and builds on the knowledge from the IGCSE course. Topics such as Rivers and Fluvial Geomorphology, Rocks and Weathering, Population Change, Settlement and Weather and Climate. AS Level examinations demand that answers reflect pupils’ understanding of the how’s and why’s and to look at the subject as a process.
