Cardinal Newman Catholic School
Geography Department
Since joining the Prince’s Teaching Institute Schools Programme, The Geography Department at Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove, a Specialist Humanities College since 2005, has taken up the challenge of ensuring that Geography is a high profile subject; is accessible and enjoyable to all students and maintains high quality learning experiences that maximise attainment.
One of the ways in which we have done this is to enhance and support the learning and teaching in all Key Stages by a range of enrichment opportunities, field visits and national projects. These have varied from residential fieldtrips to Iceland, Year 7 Chinese Days, an Engaging Places Project for CABE and QCDA, Atlantic Rising and visiting speakers such as Jake Meyer, the mountaineer and Simon Reeve, the BBC travel presenter of Equator, Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, journalist and broadcaster.
In addition to this, the Department has been developing links with the Geography Department at the University of Sussex, providing gifted and talented GCSE and AS Level students with challenging fieldwork and creative thinking activities to enhance and develop their understanding in Geography. Outside of the UK the Department is also linked to schools in both Arusha, Tanzania and Dakar, Senegal and is through Atlantic Rising looking to develop links with a secondary school in Chesapeake Bay, USA.
The department, as a Geographical Association Secondary Geography Quality Mark ‘Centre of Excellence’ with two Chartered Geographers also leads the Brighton and Hove Geography CPD network and has provided numerous training events in the local area for primary and secondary Geography teachers.
We are looking forward to the challenge of our second year in the Schools Programme and the further exciting opportunities that this will bring.
Cardinal Newman Catholic School is a Secondary school for pupils aged 11-18, based in Hove, East Sussex.