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Lower School Curriculum

The Lower School comprises four classes in Year 3, and three classes in Years 4 and 5. Children are taught in mixed ability classes in all three year groups and are set for English and Maths. For Year 3, this setting comes into effect once the Baseline Testing has been done towards the end of September.

Work in Year 3 is directed towards consolidating what a pupil has learned in his/her previous school and ensuring that all children have a sound base from which to progress throughout the school. By the end of the year, a child should have established a sound working pattern and know what is expected of him/her.

Children in Year 4 build on these foundations and academic work is more demanding. They should be aware of the rules and regulations that affect their lives and are expected to show a concern for their surroundings and other people. By the end of the year, pupils are expected to be more responsible and organised. There may be less teaching by their form tutor as specialist teachers teach more subjects.

Year 5 is considered a transition year and children work towards being more independent in order to prepare them for moving into Upper School the following year. The school day is a little longer and the work is generally more demanding with a greater degree of independent learning encouraged.

Prep

Prep is set each day and is normally expected to take about half an hour in Years 3 and 4. We encourage parents to discuss prep tasks with their children, however, once this has been done, children should be left to work as independently as possible. In Year 5, children are expected to spend about 30 minutes on the subjects of Maths, Science and French, and between 30-40 minutes on Humanities (History, Geography and RE) and English prep.

Each child is expected to be responsible for noting their prep in a Prep Diary, taking home the necessary books and returning the completed work to his/her teacher. Parents can regularly communicate with form tutors through the diary.

Prep is compulsory and therefore if a child has been unable to complete the work, a note in the diary is required.

Reading at Home

In addition to daily reading at school, children are expected to read regularly at home to themselves as well as aloud to an adult. A guide is provided for parents to help them actively listen and promote good expression and understanding. All Lower School children keep a reading record, which is signed regularly by a parent. As well as their current reader, they may choose any interesting reading material; a wide variety is to be encouraged. By Year 5, pupils are expected to have established regular reading habits. In addition, children are encouraged to participate in the Belmont Reading Challenge which encourages pupils to read a wide variety of books, aimed at their reading level and to write reviews of the books they have read. Once a pupil has read and reviewed five books, they will receive a certificate at an assembly and after ten books, a child receives a badge and certificate.

Open Class

It is our wish to encourage parents to visit the classroom informally, so that the children can show them what they have been doing. Parents will be notified of the dates of the 'Open Class' times in a letter at the beginning of each term. The form teacher designates a particular day according to the timetable and the sessions last for about twenty minutes.

Learning Support

Children who have been previously identified as having a learning difficulty are put on the LDD register immediately and are monitored carefully. If a child appears to be experiencing difficulties, the form tutor will refer the child to the Head of Learning Support who will do an initial assessment with the permission of the parents. If no specific difficulty is identified, the child will continue to be monitored. A child may be offered some extra support or may be referred to an educational psychologist outside school for a comprehensive assessment.

A pupil needing extra support may be withdrawn for supportive lessons in a group or individually. With consultation, we may agree that a pupil should have a course of one to one lessons with a specialist tutor. However, much of the support in Lower School takes place in the classroom through classroom assistants or LDD teachers. We also have a speech and language therapist and occupational therapist working at the school. This facility for specialist teaching is not funded by the school and is arranged through the Head of Learning Support.

Able and Talented

The term 'able' is applied to those pupils who show particularly strong academic abilities, whether across all subjects or within one or two. The term 'talented' is applied to those pupils who are particularly able at sport, art, music or technology. Through our assessments of pupils, we recognise that approximately the top 20% of pupils require appropriate differentiation. In addition to class work being differentiated to meet pupils' learning needs, we offer Maths extension classes for the top 10% of pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5. During one 50 minute lesson a week, the pupils who have been identified as being very able in maths, are withdrawn from the class and given extension tasks by a specialist teacher. In Year 5 an extension English group runs in the same way as the Maths extension group, and is provided for those who have been identified with a high level of ability in writing. Children in Years 3, 4 and 5 who are identified as being able across the curriculum attend Thinking Skills group once a week.

How Parents Can Help

By

listening to and reading with their child and explaining new vocabulary.

By

discussing the story line, characters, structure, form, (e.g. verse, prose, letter, list) and contribution of pictures or diagrams. The child should be encouraged to give opinions and support them with reference to the text.

By

discussing (but not doing) homework tasks and interpreting instructions.

By

reinforcing number bonds and multiplication tables.

By

helping children become familiar with the 12 hour and 24 hour clock.

By

fostering an interest and sense of enquiry into the general topics their child will be studying in the Lower School.

By

providing opportunities to use reference books at home, to watch appropriate T.V. programmes and videos, and to visit the Public Library.

By

ensuring your child can hold and use a knife and fork correctly.

By

encouraging and helping to partake in physical exercise and activities out of school, (jogging, swimming, cycling for fun perhaps), or joining sports clubs that offer extra practice in team sports.

By

ensuring your child gets adequate sleep to enable them to cope with the busy demands of school life.

Caroline Froud (Head of Lower School)
June 2010

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Upper School Curriculum

Welcome to the Upper School at Belmont, which comprises of Years 6, 7 and 8. During these final three years, we prepare the children for transfer to Senior School. This booklet has been produced to explain the organisation of the departments and describe what will be taught during each year.

The topic list for each subject replaces the 'work covered' section of the School report. Many parents like to borrow library books to help their children with homework and arrange trips to places of interest that coincide with the work in School. I hope that by having advance notice of the topics, parents will be able to plan ahead when supporting their children's education.

Organisation of the Upper School

Year 6

There are four classes in Year 6. The classes are divided into two bands, each with parallel classes: 6AH and 6BA are 'A' band classes and 6JI and 6JM are 'B' band classes. All subjects are taught by specialist teachers. Parents are encouraged to meet the Form Tutor who has daily pastoral responsibility for the child, and is the first point of contact for any educational or pastoral concerns.

There will be five Maths sets which will be taught across the year group. All pupils will be taught Latin and French; French will be set within each band. There will be a weekly extension group for English; if your child is selected to be in this group, he/she will find out in September. Children develop at very different rates, so we regularly review placements and move children if it is in their best educational interest.

Year 7

At the beginning of Year 7, we admit a further 20 children. On the basis of their entrance test result and interview, the children will be placed into one of two bands. Within each band, the two classes are parallel: 7RP and 7JF are 'A' band classes and 7AW and 7JH are 'B' band classes. There will be five Maths sets which will be taught across the year group, children will be informed which set they are in at the beginning of the autumn term. All pupils will be taught Latin and French; French will be set across the year group.

Year 8

The classes are divided into two bands, each with parallel classes: 8JC and 8LO are 'A' band classes and 8CN and 8PS are 'B' band classes. There will be five Maths sets which will be taught across the year group, children will be informed which set they are in at the beginning of the autumn term. All pupils will be taught French which will be set across each band. Some pupils will continue to study Latin, while other will take up Classical Studies as an alternative.

Year 8 Belmont pupils are no longer required to take Entrance Tests for Mill Hill. However, pupils are continually assessed throughout their time here and, providing they are making good progress and have a good behavioural record, they will transfer to Mill Hill automatically. If there are any concerns about our pupils we will contact their parents immediately.

Although 90% of our children transfer to Mill Hill, our schemes of work cover the topics set by most good independent senior schools in their entrance exams. Our pupils have had success in gaining places at Merchant Taylors', St. Alban's Boys, St. Alban's Girls, St. Margaret's, City of London, Highgate, University College School, St. Paul's and Eton in recent years.

Prep

The amount of homework or 'prep' set for children in the Upper School increases gradually and full details of this can be found in our 'Parents Guide to Homework'.

Examinations

Tests in English, maths and science take place in November for Years 6 and 7, with formal exams in all subjects before half term in May. Year 8 have formal 'mock' Common Entrance exams in all subjects in November, some pupils will sit the Scholarship Examinations to Mill Hill in January and all pupils will take their Common Entrance exams in June. We no longer enter children for the National Curriculum SATs tests in English maths and science, although we do undertake internal end of Key Stage 2 assessments.

Learning Support

Pupils who are already receiving support, or who are on the Learning Support Register, will continue to be monitored and supported. Where a teacher has a new concern about a pupil's progress they will be referred to the Head of Learning Support. Pupils will be supported in a variety of ways: either in class with a classroom assistant or learning support teacher. They may be withdrawn from class in a small group or come out for one to one tuition with a specialist teacher. There is an additional charge for one to one specialist tuition. All Upper School teachers are made aware of any pupil's difficulties. Strategies are used to differentiate work and support each pupil according to his or her needs.

Reporting to Parents

Each term parents will receive some formal feedback on their child's progress. This will take the form of either a parents' evening, a form tutor report with grades or a full subject report. In addition, parents are welcome to discuss progress with the Form Tutor, subject teacher, Head of Upper School or Deputy Head (Curriculum) by appointment, at any time during the term.

Mrs R. Alford
Deputy Head (Academic)

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