Geography has been a very popular and successful subject at Cranbrook for many years. Geography is a broad subject which attempts to make sense of the world that we live in. It is the study of both the physical and human environment, and importantly nowadays, the relationship and impact between the two. We therefore not only analyse physical and human landscapes, but also consider important topical issues which will affect our futures such as ageing populations in Europe, climate change, impact of modern agriculture, energy provision, migration, globalisation, impact of tourism, rainforests and coastal protection. It is the ability of Geography to synthesise different disciplines and subjects that makes it so unique and important. Students enjoy Geography because they can relate to it and appreciate the value of furthering their understanding.
All the Geography courses are challenging and up to date. There is less emphasis on simple factual recall and more on analysis, understanding and data response. Fieldwork is considered a vital element of the subject and all Year groups are involved in fieldtrips and research out of the classroom. At Year 9 we have recently introduced a new trip to London to visit Canary Wharf and Stratford to examine urban regeneration. Over many years now we have taken trips to conduct fieldwork on the Sussex coast at Pett Level and Fairlight. We also have ongoing research into population changes of villages in the Cranbrook area and changes to Maidstone CBD. Sixth formers are taken on a residential field trip to the Dorset coast.
The Geography Department has three full time and one part time members of staff. We are based in the Horsley Block, where we have a suite of specialist classrooms. It has multi media projectors, an interactive whiteboard in GG1 and internet access in all classrooms. We have excellent textbooks and are able to provide all lower school students with their own text to keep at home.
The geography Department has enjoyed very high level exam results at both GCSE and A Level for many years. It was for this reason, together with inspection reports, that the Department was awarded Beacon status by Kent County Council in 2003. Many students go on to study Geography at university including a significant number to Oxford and Cambridge.
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