Key Stage 2 Curriculum
One of the many advantages of being an all-through School from 4 to 18 years of age is that we are able to prepare the children for their secondary education, for university, and beyond. We can help pupils develop their skills and their understanding to ensure they stand the best chance of success for many years to come.
Our ever-evolving curriculum is designed to provide them with these opportunities, and at the heart of our curriculum design principles is the development of pupils’ metacognitive skills, teaching them how to become highly effective learners in an array of contexts.
Forest Preparatory School is different from many Prep Schools; we are not working to prepare pupils for an endpoint at 11 or 13 years of age. The focus of our teaching looks much further to the future. Our pupils learn to research and debate through enquiry-based subjects such as the Humanities (History, Geography, Sustainability and Economics); Philosophy4Children guides our approach to Religious Education and PSHEE and all pupils learn a musical instrument for four years to experience the learning curve first-hand and realise that learning is not always easy but will bring rewards and benefits if one perseveres.
Mandarin is our core language from Years 2 to 6 and pupils discover a range of modern European languages from Year 3. The best time to learn a language is from a young age and we ensure children make the most of this opportunity by teaching a language which is challenging, and which may be of considerable benefit later on in life.
Pupils also have Music, Games, Physical Education, Dance, Drama, Swimming, Engineering, Art, PSHEE and Computing lessons. Pupils participate in an activities programme called “The Enquiring Me”, which introduces useful life skills, for example, ‘Mini Medics’, ‘Grow a Fiver’, debating skills, and they are provided with timetabled lessons specifically to reflect on their learning.
Our timetable allows us the flexibility to offer so many different opportunities in addition to the important subjects of English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Religious Education. Our challenge programmes (Academic, Music and Sport) ensure that those pupils in Year 6 who excel in one or more of the above areas follow a bespoke path to broaden their horizons.
Academically, in all subjects, the pupils make excellent progress and whilst our aim and focus are for our pupils to leave us as enthusiastic and inquisitive individuals, we are delighted with the Prep School pupils’ success at scholarship level, as the girls and boys regularly win awards to the Senior School at Forest.