Years 5 to 8

From Year 5 onwards, subjects are taught by experienced specialist teachers, many of whom are secondary school trained and who will teach the pupils right through to Year 8.

By Years 7 and 8, the Common Entrance syllabus is thoroughly covered and pupils are challenged with a number of topics taken up to GCSE level.

Pupils continue to develop their individuality and are encouraged to explore every avenue that is presented to them, with a wide variety of opportunities for personal development and leadership, and responsibilities such as House Captains, School Council Representatives, Charity Committee Members and Table Monitors. Year 8 pupils can also be elected as School Prefects, with a wide range of duties to help develop their confidence and enable them to practise a new range of skills.

Skippers’ Challenge Award also engages pupils in Years 6, 7 and 8 in a variety of tasks and projects to aid their personal development – learning new skills, carrying out personal projects, volunteering in the local community and taking part in expeditions.

A full range of sports are available to pupils including Netball, football, Rugby, Hockey, Cross Country, Gymnastics, Dance, Volleyball, Swimming, Cricket, Stoolball and Athletics, and we have an extensive sports fixture list which includes matches and tournaments against a wide range of other schools, providing every pupil with the chance to represent Skippers.

Pupils from Years 5 to 8 have their own Chromebooks, enabling a varied and stimulating approach to their learning across the whole curriculum.

Outside the Classroom

From Year 5 onwards, the children are taught by experienced subject specialists, many of whom are secondary trained. This subject knowledge helps to ensure a consistently high level of education across the school and is supported by regular communication with senior schools.

In Year 7, the children embark on a new way of learning through our Global, Social and Ethics (GSE) Programme and Common Entrance (CE) preparation. The CE programme is flexible, dependent upon the individual and their chosen senior school destination and gives the children an excellent, rigorous preparation for their future GCSEs. CE is complimented by the forward-thinking approach of GSE, which is based upon the latest research in education. It builds 21st Century skills into the humanities programme to best prepare our pupils for the future and understand how to apply them to real-world contexts.

Children continue to develop their individuality and are encouraged to explore every avenue presented to them, including assuming roles of responsibility within the school to develop leadership skills. Such roles include: House Captains, School Council Reps, Eco Committee Reps, Charity Committee Member and School Prefects.

Children continue to take part in a full range of sporting activities with an extensive and competitive fixture list against other schools, which provides all children with the opportunity to represent Skippers. Away from the sport pitches, the children participate in Performing Arts evenings, yearly Drama productions and choral performances. They enjoy regular trips and outings to enrich their learning as well as residential trips, both in the UK and France.