Outwood Grange Academy Geography Department
Number of staff
Courses
delivered at KS3,
KS4, KS5
(including
specification and
exam boards)
Departmental
Structure
Exam results
The department at present has 4 members of staff which will increase to 6 next
academic year. KS5 teaching is split between 3 teachers, with all 4 members of staff
teaching KS3 and 4.
 Two year KS3. We review our schemes of work and assessment tasks
regularly with a focus on making lessons more student led and collaborative.
 We currently have six GCSE groups. We are following the AQA spec A GCSE.
 We follow the AQA specification at KS5.
Head of Department - Mrs Frances Parish
Second in Department - Mr Peter Hedley
Director of Post 16 - Mr Lee styles
Teacher of Geography – Miss Marie Egan
Year
2013
2012
2011
GCSE
90% A* - C 84% A* - C 89.8% A*- C
Accommodation
Structure of
timetable
Local, national or
international
departmental
recognition
Subject specific
links
Candidate
information
2009
79% A*-C
85.7 % A - 88% A - B
100% A - C
64.3% A - C
50% A – B
C
We are a highly successful department that is always at the forefront of changes at
OGA. Numbers of students studying GCSE have consistently grown over the last 3
years and numbers at AS level are expected to increase significantly.
The department works particularly well as a team to develop lessons, resources and
assessments and focus on making lessons practical, engaging and exciting. We
develop strong relationships with our students and have excellent links with
departments in our Family of Schools.
Immersion Day activities for KS3 include ‘Hurricane days’ and ‘Earthquake days’.
Fieldwork includes river and ecosystem studies at KS5 and local environmental and
weather studies at KS3. GCSE fieldwork changes annually depending upon controlled
assessment titles, for the past three years it has had a coasts theme.
We are located in the upstairs of L Block. We have four classrooms including a
computer suite, all fitted with interactive whiteboards. We also have a Geography
office used to store resources and used for refreshments & meetings.
Year 7 and 8 are taught in mixed banded groups and every effort is made to ensure
they have the same teacher for two years. Year 7 have one hour and Year 8 two
hours each week.
KS4 teaching groups will have either 3 or 5 hours of lessons each week and KS5 have
five hours of lessons each week. KS5 groups are of mixed age and ability.
Members of the department have been very successfully involved in a variety of
initiatives both within and outside the Academy; these include developing a VMG
website as part of a role in the Deeps, and participating in courses run by Teaching
School including the Outstanding Teachers Programme, Developing Middle Leaders
programme, SSAT and the MTL.
We have close links to the Geography Departments in our Family of Schools and have
links with the Geography Curriculum Group within Wakefield.
Our department works very effectively as a team. We are well resourced and are
constantly updating and reviewing our resources and schemes of work. In the future
we are looking to extend the range of courses we offer and our fieldwork opportunities.
One key area for development next year will be developing our KS3 curriculum.
Experience in developing new units of work and in fieldwork will be of benefit.
Candidates must be able to teach at all key stages (both physical and human
Geography) and be prepared to make a significant contribution to the development of
the department schemes of work and fieldwork.
A-level
Special features
2010
84.6% A*- C