Geography

Geography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth.

Our ‘hands on’ approach to Geography here at St. Mary’s aims to motivate and inspire our children to pursue the subject through their senior schools and beyond. 

Geography at St. Mary’s is taught from our Reception children through to Form 8 and it epitomises how children can learn through varied styles of teaching and learning both inside and out of the classroom. Pupils develop their knowledge of the World around them, both in our local area and globally, helping them to harness respect for and understanding of the human, environmental and physical processes which shape the World we live in. Being situated in the heart of the Scottish Borders, we are able to capitalise upon our magnificent surroundings. 

The Geography curriculum is categorized into Physical, Human and Environmental Geography and here at St. Mary’s it incorporates visits to many local & national places of interest. 

Indeed, field trips play a significant role in shaping the teaching of Geography at St. Mary’s. By the time our Form 8 children carry out their Common Entrance field study during their final year, they are confident in their ability to collect, present and analyse a range of data electronically. 

We follow the ISEB 13+ Common Entrance and scholarship syllabus, which sub-divides the subject into Locational Knowledge, Weather & Climate, Ordnance Survey, Transport & Industry, Population & Settlement, Rivers & Coasts & Volcanoes & Earthquakes. 

Scholarships: academic scholarships to senior schools differ from school to school. Due to their varying nature, preparation for these exams is very individual and specific programmes of study are developed for different schools. These scholarships are usually sat in the Lent or Summer terms. 

Above all Geography at St. Mary’s is fun and, as a department, we hope that our enthusiasm for the subject inspires the children in our care. After all, Geography is all around us; it’s everywhere we go. It is what we do and how we do it. Without Geography we are nowhere!

Mr Ian Purvis

Head of Geography