Juniors
Ages 7 - 11
When children graduate to the Juniors at seven years, they are taking on a broader curriculum, much of it taught within projects as these provide the most interesting route to exploring such subjects as History, Geography and Science. Important in a child's development is the ability to work in a group or with a partner, as well as on their own.
Also in these Junior years students learn the fundamentals of Study Technology. Around age 7, they do a simple dictionary course so they know how to look up words and terms. Additional courses at age 9 and 10 increase their understanding and proficiency with Study Tech. At age 11 they do the Grammar and Communication Course to attain a valuable working knowledge of how to comfortably and effectively read, speak and write what they want to communicate. The excellent communication skills, friendliness and responsibility levels of our juniors are regularly commented on by inspectors, visitors and parents. This is based in no small part on their knowledge and confidence.
With the basics of Study Technology under their belts, the emphasis continues to be on educational fundamentals - Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Science.
Reading
In this age of television and computer games we are aware of the importance of vocabulary building and reading. We have an excellent reading programme which starts in the Infants, continues throughout Juniors and into the Lower Seniors. Ever wider reading is constantly encouraged.
Handwriting is taught with the aim of each student acquiring a neat, legible, cursive style through continuous practice in the Junior years.
Arithmetic
We are proud of our mathematics programme which incorporates two avenues of instruction. Each Year Tutor has a series of games and activities to teach their class as a whole, and every child is also on an individual programme which allows each student to work at their own optimum rate. The programme's purpose is to teach a student to think with numbers, working out the laws of probability and learning to enjoy number work. This can be achieved because of our early emphasis on students' proficiency at addition, subtraction, division and multiplication, as well as knowing times tables.
Science for Juniors
Science at this level is taught in projects. The first steps are an introduction to simple concepts such as the weather, the human body and simple machines. In the next class, children study more of the actual biological and physical environment such as plant life and sound. In the older Junior classes, the students begin simple experiments and observations related to everyday life and the world around them.
