Curriculum
Curriculum
We teach a broad and balanced curriculum which mainly follows, but is not limited to, the National Curriculum.
The Reception curriculum follows the Early Years Foundation Stage guidelines and covers Personal and Social Development; Communication, Language and Literacy; Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy; Knowledge and Understanding of the World; Creative Development and Physical Development. Reception pupils also have weekly RE lessons and also start to learn French.
Pupils from Year 1 are taught English, Maths, Science, RE, History, Geography, PHSCE, Art, Design Technology, ICT, Music, PE and Modern Foreign Languages.
Languages
French is taught the Reception Class upwards and all pupils from Year 3 to Year 6 also have weekly lessons in Latin. Languages are taught by a specialist teacher.
PE
PE is taught by specialist staff. The PE curriculum is varied, covering a wide range of sports and games skills, including gymnastics and dance. Older pupils have the opportunity to represent the school as part of a sports team in competition with other local schools.
All children from year 1 upwards have swimming lessons for one term each year. These lessons take place at Beckenham Spa.
Drama
All children take part in Drama activities. In the younger lessons, this is as part of other class-based lessons, while Performing Arts is taught as a separate subject in upper Key Stage 2, by specialist teachers.
Creative subjects
In the older classes, more of the lessons are taught by specialists, including Art, Music, Design Technology. This means that the children have the benefit of getting to know many of the Senior School teachers, and they also have the opportunity to make use of the specialist teaching areas, for example the DT workshops, which makes the transition into Year 7 a very smooth one indeed
Information for parents
We hold a Curriculum Information Evening at the beginning of each academic year, when parents are invited to meet with the class teacher, who will explain the curriculum to be covered in that year and how parents can support the children in their learning. Curriculum booklets giving further details of what the classes will cover are also sent to parents.
Teachers are always happy to meet informally with parents to discuss any queries or issues that may arise. Written reports are given in February (reporting on core subjects) and in July (reporting on all subjects). There are also formal parents’ consultation evenings in October and February.
Homework
Class-based learning is consolidated through a range of homework tasks and activities, including reading. Younger pupils are expected to read daily with an adult and while older pupils are expected to become more independent in their reading and read quietly for longer periods, reading aloud is still important. Ongoing homework also includes learning of spellings and times table.
The amount of homework increases as the pupils get older. By Years 5 and 6, all pupils need to be well organised in order to ensure that homework is managed carefully and submitted on time.
In the older classes, homework may frequently take the form of topic based projects, which are designed to provide opportunities for independent research, while allowing for individual creativity and flair.