Years 1-6 Curriculum
The Curriculum and Academic Support - The Prep School at Glyn House from Years 1 – 6
We are passionate about helping the children to become independent, resilient and motivated learners. At Glyn House a broad, balanced and varied curriculum is offered to the children. Although we closely follow the National Curriculum, we also have the flexibility to branch off at times and follow other areas of research and enquiry often capitalising on the children’s own interests. We believe it is vital to equip our children with the skills they will need for their future. We hold weekly Current Affairs discussions with our pupils enabling them to participate in thought provoking discussions and giving them a voice. Across the key stages, our curriculum has sustainability themes running throughout and our Year 6 pupils enjoy a bespoke programme encouraging them to be Earth stewards and protectors of the natural world.
We are passionate about the development of oracy and children have regular opportunities to present in front of different audiences, engage in student voice activities and participate in debating and public speaking events. We also want our children to become critical and creative thinkers who are willing to take risks and question the world around them. One of the ways we do this is through our weekly Philosophy for Children lessons (P4C) which begin with our youngest learners.
Specialist teaching begins from Year 1 upwards benefitting from specialist language teaching as well as expert music and PE teachers. In addition, our Year 5 and Year 6 children have the opportunity to attend some lessons at the Senior School, enjoying the benefits of a full Science Laboratory, Design and Technology and ICT suites. One of the many benefits from being part of a Through School is that our Prep and Senior School teachers work very closely together, often working together to blend excellent teaching and specialist knowledge so that our children are as ready for Senior School as they can be. The children have the opportunity to make full use of the extensive grounds in their weekly Forest School lessons, giving them the space to grow.
Children are taught in mixed ability groups, setting only for Maths from Year 4 onwards. All teachers have high expectations of children, fully supporting them to reach their full potential via carefully planned differentiated lessons; children are encouraged to become independent learners by self-selecting appropriate challenges.
Our open-door policy as well as regular reporting and parent information evenings results in a positive relationship between pupils, parents and staff.
PSHE & RSE Overview
Learning Support in the Preparatory School
Ewell Castle is an inclusive school providing differentiated learning for all pupils, paying close attention to individual needs. Our year groups have a Learning Support Assistant assigned and are placed where the needs are the greatest.
Our team comprises Learning Support Assistants and is led by our SENCo, who is Head of Learning Support. Each Aassistant has a particular area of focus. As a team, we offer a range of interventions, including, maths, English, touch-typing, sensory circuits and social skills. Pupils are invited to these interventions and these take place before a school day. During the school day, the Learning Support Assistants will work with groups of children to support independent learning in the classroom. The Head of Learning Support is a Dyslexia Specialist and offers bespoke individual lessons delivered in response to assessments and in liaison with class teachers and parents. These individual sessions are charged at an extra cost. (Click HERE for Finance leaflet)
We have ELSA (Emotional Literary Support Assistant) support and pupils can access a six-week Emotional Literacy Support programme tailored to their specific need. In addition, we have access to a peripatetic Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist and Behavioural Consultant.
Curriculum Overviews by Year Group - at September 2023
Year 1 Curriculum Overview Year 2 Curriculum Overview Year 3 Curriculum Overview
Year 4 Curriculum Overview Year 5 Curriculum Overview Year 6 Curriculum Overview
Building Learning Power (BLP)
At Ewell Castle Prep School, we are on a journey to grow our ‘Learning Power’. We are all learning to be better learners.
We follow Professor Guy Claxton’s work closely on Building Learning Power (BLP). Guy Claxton’s work suggests that there are four key learning dispositions – Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflectiveness and Reciprocity. The four Rs of learning. Each of the four Rs are relates to learning muscles.
We teach the children about these skills and the learning muscles. They learn that just as we can build our physical muscles with the right kinds of exercise, we can also exercise our learning muscles to develop their strength and stamina.
We use BLP to develop our ‘Language for Learning’ in school and this enables us to engage all pupils in a conversation of how we learn. It is our intention that the children use the language for learning to explain ways in which they achieved or approached tasks and how they can move on to the next chapter in their learning. To engage all of our learners, particularly in the younger years, we have introduced ‘learning experts’, in the form of cuddly toy mascots, to reflect each of the four Rs of learning.
Resilience
The key elements of this disposition are Perseverance, Noticing, Managing Distractions and Absorption. The children learn how to stay locked onto their learning, the importance of never giving up and the benefits of learning when getting un-stuck. Our Learning Expert for this area is Incy Spider.
Resourcefulness
The key elements of this disposition are Questioning, Capitalising, Making Links, Reasoning and Imagining. The children develop their ability to ask and answer questions, use resources around them to help them with their learning, make links between the different areas of their learning and of course, use their imaginations! Our learning expert for this area is Resourceful Ratty.
Reflectiveness
The key elements of this disposition are Planning, Meta-learning, Distilling and Revising. The children will learn how and why they learn and will be encouraged to regularly look back on their learning to see whether they have met their targets and objectives. They will be asked to think about future targets and areas for improvement. Our learning expert for this area is Reflective Parrot.
Reciprocity
The key elements of this disposition are Imitation, Interdependence, Listening and Collaboration. The children will learn how, why and when it is best to learn on their own, with a partner or within a group and develop the skills they need to be a valued member of a team and a learning community. Our learning experts for this area are two meerkats named Give and Take.
