PREP ARA TOR Y SCHOOL An Interconnected Curriculum Central to our mission is academic excellence - as every school would no doubt claim. We believe that this is best delivered as part of a broad and deep curriculum, with space for creativity, the practical and the physical all built into our practice - these are essential for the health and happiness of each pupil. We understand that the emotional intelligence of a child needs nurturing and attention, just as their academic intelligence does. And further, that academic understanding is deepened and made more relevant when accompanied by sports, arts, music and outdoor activities. Our curriculum delivers excellent results in English and mathematics whilst encouraging very high levels of participation in clubs and activities; sports and teams; choirs, bands and individual instruments; examinations in spoken English (ESB); working outdoors and the opportunity for pupils to personalise their timetable through the Boat Enrichment Programme. Our themed approach reinforces the way that deepening knowledge is embedded in our daily routines. For example, history and geography are explored in our ‘theme’ lessons whilst simultaneously being examined through visual art, English, music or Forest School. Year 5 pupils studied the Anglo Saxons through creative writing in English, creating artefacts in Forest School and making a replica of the Sutton Hoo mask with a focus on Anglo Saxon design skills in art. Pupils have really enjoyed our focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects this year. Our weekly engineering challenges, virtual reality and robotics work and STEM clubs looking at force and energy all underline the importance of these thinking skills for our pupils’ futures. We believe that the creativity required for disciplines such as engineering can also be honed in our excellent musical productions or specialist-delivered art lessons and from our very highly qualified teaching staff in English. It is the interconnected nature of thinking and understanding that drives our wide and deep curriculum - academic, practical, physical, technical, personal and emotional: all carefully woven into each child’s experience in Preparatory School. Simon Wrafter, Head of Preparatory School
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