Geography - Introduction

Geography at The English School

The English School Geography Department is one of the medium sized departments in the school, currently employing three full-time and one part time teacher. 
Geography at the English School has gone through exciting changes in curriculum development and introduction of ICT in the classroom .Geography is housed in a large well equipped room attached to a well resourced departmental suite. It also has exclusive use of one smaller room for the senior classes.
Geography is taught from the first form all the way to the A2 level and teaching at all levels is supported by extensive fieldwork both in Cyprus and overseas. We pride ourselves at being a vibrant and enthusiastic department offering the students way beyond the delivery of syllabus in class.
The English School Geography Department boasts a 25-year history in organizing and carrying out local fieldtrips at all levels - ranging from 1/2-day fieldtrips for the lower classes, to whole day or 2 days for the more senior students. Currently, fieldtrips are not timetabled and are carried out on weekday afternoons or weekends. Cyprus offers excellent outdoor teaching opportunities for most syllabus areas, be it on physical / human or environmental issues.

AS students of geography, can also go on an optional, but highly recommended, week long fieldtrip to the Cranedale Field Study Center, in Yorkshire in the UK. IGCSE students in the fourth year spend a week inSwitzerland at the end of the summer term.
The Geography Department of the English school has for the last 6 years been an active member of theGeographical Association UK and members of the department have attended all the annual conferences and resources exhibitions in the UK. It has also recently joined the RGIS.
At all levels the teaching of geography attempts to help students to acquire the skills knowledge and understanding which help them all across the school subjects and also prepare them for the real world.
The 1st year students spend most of the year studying the Earth in space, Cyprus and the EU and their school environment plus some elementary map skills.

The 2nd year syllabus aims at providing students with a balanced coverage of physical, human and environmental topics; the connection and inter-relationship of physical and human geography is stressed through a 112 day fieldtrip looking at river features and associated landforms. At the same time students examine the environmental impact of mining and abandoned mines with the aim of coming up with suggestions to improve the damaged environment. The structure and style of fieldwork even at this level is being adapted to meet the enquiry style of hypothesis testing thus meeting the demands and needs of the new IGCSE type of requirements.
The 3rd year syllabus has the same aim as that of year 2, and provides the opportunity for students to appreciate the man-environment relationship through a 1-day fieldtrip to the south coast to study development and assess the necessity and success/failure of coastal management schemes and defenses.
The 4th & 5th year students prepare for the Cambridge Board IGCSE exam. This involves taking three papers one of which is the Alternative to coursework Paper. In addition to the Switzerland fieldtrip students carry out one 2 day residential and on whole day fieldtrip in Cyprus. As of September 2007 the Edexcel IGCSE is being reintroduced.
The 6th /7th form students follow the AS/A2  Edexcel A specification.

Year 6 students carry out extensive fieldwork both in Cyprus and the UK. A week is spent every October in the UK at the Cranedale Field Study Center.
Students who carry on at A2 take units 4, 5 and the Synoptic paper of the Edexcel A specification.
The department is looking forward to an expansion of its dedicated classroom space.
 

THE GEOGRAPHY TEACHERS

The Geography Department has four members of staff with vast experience. The department can boast a rich variety of backgrounds both in terms of education and work experiences.
All members of the department regularly attend training and updating courses both in Cyprus and the UK as part of their professional development.
We are proud to be the biggest Geography department on the island of Cyprus with the best external exam results. We also can boast the most active and dynamic teaching fieldwork schedules.

Mr Harut Boyadjian

As a student first, and then as teacher Mr Boyadjian has been associated with the school since the early seventies. Harut Boyadjian graduated from the English School in 1979 and the returned to join the school as a teacher in 1986.He graduated from the University of East Anglia, Norwich with BSc in Environmental Sciences majoring in Aquatic and Atmospheric Studies. He has been the Head of Geography since 1997.Mr Boyadjian has incorporated ICT into the department and was involved with the e-Learning  project with Virtual It , the Innovative Teachers project in Finland by Microsoft and currently the Unite project (Unified e-Learning environment for school) funded by the European Commission.

Mr Paul Maurer

Mr Maurer Joined the English School Geography department in 1997.He has graduated with a BSc in Geography from Florida State University USA.Mr Maurer went on to  Graduate work in Educational Administration getting a Professional Teaching Certificate from the Florida State University. He worked at the AIS Nicosia before joining the English School.Mr Maurer is A Gold Expedition Leader for the International Award for students. He has also recently been awarded the Mountain Leaders Qualification.

Mr James Lodge

James Lodge Graduated from Hull University with BSc (Hons) in Geology. He then went on to obtain an MSc in Petroleum Geology from Imperial College London and A PGCE from Bristol University.Mr Lodge has worked in the oil industry and taught English as a Foreign Language around the world. Prior to Joining the school he worked at the British International School in Moscow and the American Community School in London. He Joined the School in 2003 and since has been busy on Geography trips and with the annual MEDIMUN conference.

Mr Keith Lawson

Keith Lawson graduated from Sussex University with a BA (Hons) in Geography and then went on to gain a PGCE (Theory Distinction) from Nottingham University. Over 20 years he worked as a teacher and head of department in comprehensive schools in Derby and South Wales, eventually being appointed as Adviser and Inspector for Geography for Gwent County Council. Since moving to Cyprus in 1995, Mr. Lawson continued his teaching career at the Melkonian Educational Institute, where he was head of geography and staff development co-ordinator, and at the Grammar School, Nicosia. He joined the English school as a part-time teacher of geography in November, 2007.