Lower School
First to Third Form (Years 7 - 9)
The Lower School curriculum offers a very broad, varied programme, providing interest and challenge for pupils and delivering the essential background for the I/GCSE courses studied in later years.
Subjects are taught by specialist teachers in modern, well-equipped departmental areas. The three sciences are taught as separate disciplines and pupils study two different languages (from a choice of four) to promote this important area of the curriculum. The average class size is 19.
There are many opportunities for pupils to participate in musical activities, drama productions, art and sport, and everyone is encouraged to join some of the numerous clubs and societies which are a feature of the school.
The teachers really encourage us to question things and explore ideas which makes the lessons interesting and fun. The experiments in the lab are my favourite thing - you never quite know what's going to happen next!
Third Form pupil
Complementary Curriculum
In the First and Second Forms, pupils have one double period each week devoted to the Complementary Curriculum. Topics covered with the First Form include empathy, sleep, anti-bullying, cyber-bullying, friendships, charity, life skills (such as nutrition, yoga, first aid, team building), refugees, puberty and coping mechanisms for exam stress and revision.
In the Second Form, many of these themes are built upon in more detail, with the introduction of some new topics such as the role of the police, Parliament, sexting, homophobic bullying, drugs, gossip, charity, resilience, positivity, emotional health and coping with change.
In the Third Form pupils have one weekly Complementary Curriculum period. The sessions continue to focus on core themes introduced in the lower years. Additional, age-appropriate topics are introduced including self-esteem, body image, healthy versus unhealthy relationships, safe sex and contraception.