St Ivo Geography Department Online Portal
     “Geography is the subject which holds the key to our future” - Michael Palin

Head of Department - Mr R Chambers

About Us

ST IVO GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT

The Geography Department at St Ivo is committed to providing  a high quality learning experience for all our students. We were a lead subject in the school’s successful bid for specialist status as a Humanities college in 2008 and we have since been recognised as ‘outstanding’ in department specific inspections and department reviews. In 2014 we were awarded the Geographical Association’s Secondary Geography Quality Mark and granted the status of ‘Centre of Excellence’.  Geography is a very popular subject in school; option numbers are high again this year and in September 2020 we will have 6 GCSE and 5 A Level groups (3 in Year 12 and 2 in Year 13). We constantly seek  to raise and sustain standards through the use of both traditional and innovative pedagogies. In doing so we have a highly  successful fieldwork and enrichment programme and a particular interest in the use of new technologies to support and enhance the teaching and learning of geography.  

R Chambers (Head of Geography)

THE TEAM

We are lucky to have a dedicated team of seven subject specialists with a real passion for our subject. We work as a team, all of us with a firm commitment to innovation and continued professional development with the key aim of providing all of our students with the highest standards of teaching and learning that we can offer.

Mr R Chambers (Head of Department)             rob.chambers@astreastivo.org
Miss S Raine  (KS3 Co-ordinator)                         (currently on maternity leave)
Mr D West                                                                     david.west@astreastivo.org  (also SENDCo)
Mrs R Yorke                                                                   rachel.yorke@astreastivo.org
Mr M Fehrenbach                                                       martin.fehrenbach@astreastivo.org
Mrs P Shortland-Palmer                                          penelope.shortland-palmer@astreastivo.org
Mrs H Oldridge                                                            hannah.oldridge@astreastivo.org

AWARDS

St Ivo School Geography Department are proud to have been presented with a number of national awards over the last few years:

SECONDARY GEOGRAPHY QUALITY MARK (SGQM) (Geographical Association)
The SGQM award was awarded to St Ivo in 2014 by the Geographical Association and again in 2017. The award process encourages and supports schools to reflect on their work and strive for the highest quality in their teaching. In order to achieve the award the geography department underwent a rigorous moderation process and the team of assessors were hugely impressed by the manner in which they are continuing to embrace new and innovative approaches to teaching geography. The award recognises student attainment, progress and achievement in areas such as geographical knowledge, understanding, values, skills and concepts and sets expectations about the quality of teaching in geography.

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE (Geographical Association)
The Geography Department at St Ivo were delighted to be one of only 10 schools nationally to be awarded the coveted Centre of Excellence status by the GA in 2014. This status is awarded to geography departments which are seen as hubs of excellence and recognises the school's contribution to disseminating quality approaches to the teaching of geography as well as valuing the important contribution that geography makes to the curriculum throughout the school. Following a successful redesignation bid in July 2017 the department have now been awarded the SGQM and Centre of Excellence status for another three years (2017-2020)

PRINCES TEACHING INSTITUTE MARK 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Further to this success the geography department have been working as part of the Princes Teaching Institute (PTI) Schools Programme over the last year, a programme first launched by the PTI in 2007 to recognise and reward school departments that develop inspiration ideas and activities which enhance the teaching in a number of subject areas, regardless of pupils' background or abilities. In recognition of the work done, the Geography Department at St Ivo were delighted to have received the Prince's Teaching Institute Mark in 2014, 2015 and 2016, 2017

To become members and work towards the PTI Mark, the Geography Department had to demonstrate that they have increased the challenge within the subject curriculum; developed their staff's own specialist subject knowledge; developed subject-based links outside school; and enthused students through subject activities beyond the curriculum. The Mark is in recognition of the department's achievements and new initiatives inspired by membership of the Schools Programme. Examples include the development of a rigorous revision programme with bespoke revision materials which saw GCSE Geography results at St Ivo reach a record 90* A-C in 2014; the introduction of new fieldwork opportunities and 'experiences', and a highly successful Eco-Day bringing together primary and secondary students with external agencies such as Anglian Water and the local council which was organised and hosted by members of the department whom co-ordinate the St Ives Environmental Network.