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      • Contact Community Team
Portchester School
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Staff
    • Governors
    • Vacancies
    • Ofsted Report
    • PTA
    • Pupil Support Services
    • Funding/Financial
  • School Life
    • Our School Day
    • Curriculum
    • SEND and Provision
    • Examinations
    • Careers Information
    • Pupil Leadership
    • Gallery
    • Rewards
    • Attendance
    • Catering
    • House System
  • Information
    • Calendar
    • Safeguarding
    • Policies
    • Admissions
    • Transition
    • Results
    • Archive Letters/Info
    • Newsletter & X (twitter)
  • Community
    • Booking and Facilities
    • Hirer Adverts
    • Portchester Day Nursery
    • Contact Community Team

Humanities

History

Geography

Geography

Find out more

Geography

Geography

Geography

Find out more

History

Key Stage Three

All pupils will start by reflecting on their personal history and the history of our local community; historians will have a good level of understanding of how History has shaped the world they live in today.  From Year 7 pupils will address key historical questions such as:

 

  • What is our History?
  •  What was significant about the medieval world?  
  •  How modern was the early modern period? 
  •  Why was there an Age of Revolutions? 
  •  How enlightened was Britain by 1900? 
  •  Was the Great War inevitable?   
  •  How was the Great War fought?   
  •  What was the global impact of the Great War?   
  •  How was the ‘People’s War’ fought?  
  •  ‘The Year Zero’: was 1945 a new beginning?   


Key Stage Four

Pupils who pursue History to GCSE will have the opportunity to study History in more depth and breadth.  We study Edexcel History with the following course options/exams: 


Paper One - Thematic Study.

Crime and Punishment c. 1000- c. present day, including a historic environment study.

Paper Two - Period study and British Depth Study.

Earl Elizabethan England, 1558-88.

Superpower relations and the Cold War, 1941-91.

Paper Three - Modern depth study 

Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-1939.


At GCSE we aim to inspire pupils’ historical curiosity, develop their critical thinking and writing skills, and instil confidence in their ability to be successful historians.

History Curriculum Maps

What makes a successful historian? (pdf)Download
History Exam Structure (pdf)Download
History KS3 Curriculum (pdf)Download

History Revision Resources

BBC logo - Black letters in white boxes on a black background.

BBC Bitesize

John D Clare

John D Clare

Click to Access
GCSE Revision logo with green text inside a hand-drawn green oval on a white background.

John D Clare

John D Clare

John D Clare

Click to Access
The Seneca logo featuring a white sunburst icon next to the brand name on a solid blue background.

Seneca

Learndojo

Learndojo

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A variety of school supplies, including notebooks, pens, scissors, and an apple, on a wooden table.

Learndojo

Learndojo

Learndojo

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A VE Day 75th Anniversary display with historical photos and Union Jack bunting on a blue board.
Students and staff in uniform holding Poppy Appeal boxes and buckets outside Portsmouth Harbour.
A large group of students posing together on the platform of Aldgate East tube station.
Students in school uniform posing with a highly decorated naval officer under poppy decorations.

Geography

A quote by Michael Palin about Geography over a sunset scene with a boat on calm water.

Geography Overview

Do you every wonder why things happen? 

Do you want to know why the world works the way it does?

Geography is a dynamic subject in which you will be involved in decision making and exploring the real world. You will develop skills such as problem solving, empathy and map work to investigate issues that affect us all and then propose your own solutions. 

An aerial view of a coastal city with a dense downtown skyline and clouds over the water.

Key Stage Three

In Geography at Key Stage 3 we explore a wide range of issues that affect the world we live in today. We do this by exploring a range of topical geographical questions over 3 years.
 

In these topics we use examples from all over the world with a focus on The UK, Africa, Asia, The Middle East and concepts of global superpowers including the USA and China.
 

Some of the questions we investigate are:

· Why are rivers important?

· Are our stereotypes of Africa correct?

· Are cities a benefit to the UK?

· Why isn’t the weather the same all over the world?

· Is climate change making the UK’s weather more extreme?

· Has globalisation made the world a better place?

· Can life exist in extreme environments?

· Why are some tectonic hazards more deadly than others?

· Are all global biomes worth protecting?

· Is 8 billion people too many?

· Why aren’t all countries as developed as one another?

· Are our coasts worth protecting?

▫ What countries are ‘superpowers’ and why?

▫ Is tourism a good thing?

▫ What are the current geopolitical and environmental issues?

A massive wall of jagged blue ice from a glacier meeting the ocean under a cloudy sky.

Key Stage Four

In Geography at Key Stage 4 we follow the AQA syllabus.  The main areas of study are:
Paper 1 – Challenges in the physical environment:
Section A: The Challenge of Natural Hazards
Section B: The Living World
Section C: Physical Landscapes in the UK
Paper 2 – Challenges in the human environment:
Section A: Urban Issues and Challenges
Section B: The Changing Economic World
Section C: The Challenge of Resource Management
Paper 3 – Geographical applications & skills
Section A: Issue evaluation – the pupils are provided resources around an issue such as deforestation 12 weeks before the exam. This is then used in lessons to prepare the students for this section of paper 3 of the final exam.
Section B: Fieldwork – applying fieldwork skills to exam questions 


The pupils complete 2 enquiries using the rich and diverse resources we have in the local area. The pupils then use these field studies as examples of geography in action in paper 3 of the final exam.


At all stages of the curriculum we aim to give pupils the skills, knowledge, understanding and geographical curiosity to make a positive contribution and hopefully to pursue the subject even further.

AQA Specification

Geography KS3 Learning journey

KS3 Learning Journey 2024-25 (pdf)Download

Geography KS4 Learning journey

KS4 Learning Journey 2024-25 (pdf)Download

Geography Fieldwork

A sunny pedestrian street in Portsmouth with outdoor seating, a green market stall, and banners.
A young woman in black clothing walking along a wide pebble beach by the ocean on a sunny day.
A young man in a white t-shirt using a white grid frame to study a pebble beach on a sunny day.
Three young women kneeling on a pebble beach using a grid frame to conduct a field study.

Geography residential trip

Tall white chalk cliffs and sea stacks along a coastline under a clear blue sky.
A group of students on a beach gathered around an instructor drawing a diagram in the sand.
Students using ranging poles to measure beach profiles and longshore drift on a sandy shore.
A group of students sitting on a grassy clifftop path overlooking the coastline and ocean.
Students sitting on a grassy slope overlooking the ocean and a natural limestone arch.

Geography Revision Resources

The BBC logo featuring three white squares with black letters on a solid black background.

BBC Education Resources

Ordnance Survey Map Zone

BBC Education Resources

Click to Access
The BBC Bitesize logo featuring white text on a rounded orange square.

BBC Bitesize

Ordnance Survey Map Zone

BBC Education Resources

Click to Access
The Ordnance Survey logo featuring abstract map patterns inside purple and red circular shapes.

Ordnance Survey Map Zone

Ordnance Survey Map Zone

Ordnance Survey Map Zone

Click to Access
The Seneca logo featuring a white sunburst icon next to the brand name on a solid blue background.

Seneca

Time for Geography Revision Videos

Ordnance Survey Map Zone

Click to access
Aerial view of a rugged, grassy coastline with steep cliffs meeting a churning green ocean.

S Cool Resources

Time for Geography Revision Videos

Time for Geography Revision Videos

Learn more
Satellite view of a vast landscape with snow-capped mountains, green forests, and arid plains.

Time for Geography Revision Videos

Time for Geography Revision Videos

Time for Geography Revision Videos

Learn more
Barack Obama quote about geography being more than memorizing places but understanding the world.

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