The moon and sun are eternal travellers. Even the years wander on. A lifetime adrift in a boat, or in old age leading a tired horse into the years, every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. From the earliest times there have always been some who have perished along the road. Still I have always been drawn by windblown clouds into dreams of a lifetime of wandering".
The Narrow Road to the Interior, Matsuo Basho (1644-94)

From debate in the classroom to discussions on the moonlit dunes of the Sahara desert our aim is to promote curiosity to ensure our students both see and understand the world in terms appropriate to their age

To begin with (Yrs 1 - 6) this is topic based. By Year 4 we concentrate on a particular village, at the moment Chembakolli in the tea-growing region of the Indian Nilgiri Hills. This small scale study helps the children visualize the village and slowly build up their skills to work on a national and then international scale. By Year 6 they are comparing the different ways of life about which they have learnt and cementing it in a practical  practical bi-annual, residential, biology and geography field trip (Yrs 5 & 6).

We have developed our own curriculum for the equivalent of Key Stage three in which we study each of the seven continents. Travel, adventure, distant lands and exotic creatures are at the very heart of geography. Although formal academic geographies are unlikely to compete with popular military histories, for example, anyone looking at a bookshop will see an equal amount of travel literature. If geography is to teach students about the world we must return to the regional level and not forget what makes us separate and distinct from other subjects. The pattern of topics is in the order of a journey that the pupils would take across the continent that they are studying. Well-known topics such as rivers or coasts are studied in context whilst pupils are also exposed to more radical issues such as geopolitics in Cuba, theocratic regimes in Saudi Arabia, the impact of landmines in Angola or political corruption in Colombia. By placing the required processes and features of the landscape in context, we avoid obvious repetition. Within this framework, key geo-skills can be learnt in real world situations that are modern, relevant and challenging and dispersed throughout the three years of the course.

For GCSE we moved to a thematic approach looking at geographical phenomena in detail and using examples from around the globe wherever most relevant. We aim to enable students to understand the nature and function of both physical and human environments, and recognize the inter-relationships between the two. Our field trip schedule progresses from revision courses to residential and international expeditions.

We are proud of the way in which we teach geography at all levels. Beyond the classroom, the department offers further enrichment opportunities, facilitating students to identify and involve themselves with local environmental issues, development projects and international charity work. It's a very popular examination subject at Frensham and our results are excellent. Details of the A level course will be found in the sixth form curriculum. Again with our rolling programme of expeditions, it is possible for Frensham Geographers to see every aspect of AS and A2 geography in the field, as it happens.

Nicola O'Donnell, head of geography