Senior 11 - 16

The Senior School provides a well balanced, academic curriculum. This ensures that as many options as possible are kept open to students for specialisation in the Sixth Form or beyond.

Years 7 – 9 follow Key Stage 3 of the National Curriculum, with the addition of Latin. Two modern foreign languages are studied - French and Spanish.

All GCSE students study a core curriculum of English Language and Literature, Mathematics , Science (mainly double, but some take the triple award) , Religious Education and Business Communication (which combines Business Studies and Information Technology). In addition to these students choose two options from Art, French, Spanish, History, Geography, Music and Design Technology. Physical Education at GCSE is also available to all.

The changing demands of public examinations cause us to keep the curriculum under regular review and we have the independence to monitor and initiate change appropriate to our students. We aim to retain the best elements of a traditional education whilst embracing the most useful aspects of current educational thought.

We see our pupils as individuals and maximise achievement through small teaching groups and highly qualified and skilled staff. This is a major benefit of a small school.

Form Teachers monitor the academic and pastoral care of each pupil and maintain close links with parents. Full reports are sent home twice a year after formal examinations and progress cards (which give grades for effort and attainment) are sent to parents three times a year. This system ensures that parents are kept well informed of their child’s progress. There is an annual meeting between parents and subject teachers for each Year group, although parents are welcome to come into school at any time to discuss any concerns.

Homework is an essential part of the learning programme and all pupils are given a homework timetable and homework diary to help them organise their time. In this way, too , parents can play a vital role in monitoring homework and communicating with the Form Teacher via the homework diary.