The Geography Department at Peponi House Preparatory school seeks to enable students to make sense of their world, and to understand the processes, both human and physical that shape it. Geography is a contemporary and dynamic subject which addresses several important issues such as ecotourism, weathering / erosion’ and Sustainable Development. These issues raise crucial questions about the sort of future society that we wish to create. Therefore it is extremely relevant for today’s school children, especially in an international setting.
Currently, Geography at Peponi is taught on a 1½ hour a week basis in Years 6 – 8, where we follow the ISEB Common Entrance syllabus.
Once the pupils arrive in Year 2, they study a variety of geographical topics up until Year 4 that include: Living in Kenya, coasts, rivers, the mountain region, and land use in Nairobi; all of these are twinned with the use of map skills. Once the pupils transfer to Year 5 they study a new topic for this academic year, contrasting locality between Nairobi and Mombasa, with a trip to the coast as part of their fieldwork. In Years 6 -8 the pupils work on the Common Entrance syllabus to prepare for their end of prep school exams. Here they study a wide range of topics that include map skills, weathering / erosion – rivers and coasts, earthquakes and volcanoes, sustainable development, environmental issues and the weather and climate. In addition to this the pupils learn global locations.
Geography has proved to be a successful subject at Peponi over recent years, with several students achieving high marks in their end of Year 8 exams. Despite this success, the department remains a 'down to earth', lively and friendly environment - one in which the Head of Department seeks to establish good working relationships with outside industries that will strengthen the classroom teaching.
The Geography Department is well resourced as are the other humanities subjects. The classroom is equipped with an interactive whiteboard to enrich learning.
Fieldwork remains central to the teaching. The department has various locations and themed fieldworks for the whole of Senior School (Years 5-8). These range from weathering and erosion at Hell’s Gate Gorge, walking up Mount Longonot, Microclimate study at Sagana, a local flower farm as an example of an Economic Activity / Globalisation and river work studies in the Aberdares.
