Description and Purpose

Greenfields Lower Senior School is the equivalent of Year Groups 7 to 9 in the English State School System. The age range of students in this section of the school is normally 11 to 14 years.

Here a student who is competent in the basics of reading, writing and mathematics and adds educational value to a wide range of academic subjects. Attention on the basics remains and a student is further empowered to become an independent learner who really understands how the academic subjects he or she is studying relate to real life.

In addition, a student's ability to carry out independent research work is developed through simple projects -for example, a research project into the types of renewable energy resources available, their benefits and disadvantages, using various sources of data (encyclopaedia, the Internet).

A student's willingness and ability to draw conclusions and make his or her own judgements about the information being studied is increased during these years.

Study Technology and Internships

When a student joins the Lower Senior School, top priority is placed on ensuring that he or she is provided with the tools needed to study properly, that he or she knows how to use them, and that they put these tools into practice in their own studies and in helping others.

Study Technology is taught to students on a gradient through a series of courses introducing the basic concepts and progressing to a level of knowledge that enables any student to help others study and learn.

Some of the courses are followed by internships, which are essentially a series of steps to be followed that ensure that a student is certain and can apply what he or she has learnt about study. There is no better way for a student to achieve certainty than by applying the tools of study to another student and seeing them produce miraculous results.

Monitoring Student Progress

Progress Boards in each subject are displayed in the Course Room and are updated weekly by the subject tutors. Progress Boards are advantageous in two major ways:

• they show the minimum standard that all students are expected to achieve that year in each of their subjects
  
  And
  
  
• they display in any given week during the year where that student should be on each subject toward his end of year requirements. Each student can see where he or she stands, whether ahead, on or behind his or her target.

This gives students, tutors, supervisors and parents the information needed to set or adjust the students' pace of progress.

Parents are encouraged to see the progress boards frequently. This allows parents to take a much more active and informed role as they follow the progress of their child, supervise homework and help ensure it is done on schedule. With this information available every week, parents do not have to experience any unexpected surprises at the end of a term.

Holding the Standards

Upon completion of a checksheet (a list of actions including studying references, practical assignments of their workability, demonstrations and defining words specific to the area to ensure that the whole subject or work is fully understood and the student can apply it) the student is tested for application of the materials studied. Testing is done by and in our Qualifications Division independently, in a way that ensures the student knows and understands the subject studied and didn't just memorise facts for an exam. Testing detects any areas of uncertainty or confusion, which can then be addressed individually with the student.

This division also provides additional and individual care, using the tools of Study Technology to resolve any difficulties a student may have. Students trained in Study Technology are also apprenticed in its use through internships.

The overall aim in the Qualifications Division is to confirm that each student fully understands and can apply what has been studied, that the standard of teaching and instruction is supporting the students, adding educational value and empowering learning so that the school maintains a superior standard of education, results and care.

Study Hall

To help the students keep on target we provide an additional supervised Study Hall on most school days from 4:45 to 6pm, free of charge. Students may be required to attend Study Hall until they catch up with the rest of the class. It is also used as a facility by students voluntarily to do homework in a supervised environment with reference materials to hand.

Tutors

Each class has its own tutor. In the Senior School, there are therefore eight separate tutors, one for each year level and for EFL and a Vocational class. Tutors are responsible for overseeing their class students' progress and their timetables, and for reporting to the Head of Lower Seniors or Head of Upper Seniors any anomalies found when interviewing them. They are the link between the student and the wider picture of the school, as well as between the school and the parent. Their duties include pastoral (relating to a teacher's responsibility for the general well-being of pupils or students) care.

Core Curriculum Subjects

In Greenfields Lower Senior School, English, Mathematics, the Sciences and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) are regarded as the core subjects. Students are therefore allocated more time in the academic week to these subjects.

English

Greenfields believes that all students should be familiar with classic literature and will come to appreciate the vast wealth of knowledge, history, imagination and excitement to be found therein. To this end, Lower Senior Students continue with a personal reading programme that starts in the Lower School. Further attention is given to traditional grammar, as well as to other aspects of English Language and Literature such as comprehension, poetry reading, plays and creative writing, Cross-curricula links are maintained with Drama, Music and Art, giving the subject greater breadth and application in the student's own experience.

Mathematics

The Lower Seniors Maths Curriculum utilises the Impact Maths Resources for National Curriculum Key Stage 3. These books provide all the materials required for remedial up to gifted and talented students in the 11 to 14 age range. Roughly two thirds of the curriculum is based on programmes of study enabling students to work at their own pace. These programmes include glossaries, demonstrations, drills and exercises. The other one third of the curriculum is administered by means of whole-class teaching and group investigations.

At the end of each chapter, the students are fully tested. Corrections, drills and exercises are used to ensure that 100% understanding has been attained.

Science

From the beginning of the Lower Seniors, the three key sciences - Physics, Chemistry and Biology - are taught. Emphasis is on taking a student's knowledge up to a level that will enhance their survival in the everyday world. For example, students are provided with usable information in the field of nutrition and household hygiene, as these contribute to personal health. They are also taught about electricity, how it is measured, how it is used in a house, and how to replace a fuse or an entire plug on an electrical appliance. Data is also provided on methods used to store and preserve food and why these methods work.

Students who complete all the Lower Senior Curriculum in Physics, Chemistry or Biology are prepared for progress on to GCSE Level in the specific subject(s). In fact the completed curriculum takes a student well above the English National Curriculum standard for Year 9 Students.

ICT

Information and Communication Technology (ICT), is an essential in modern society. The fundamentals (e.g. touch-typing, the basics on how to use and run a computer) are dealt with in the Lower School. In the Lower Senior School, students learn to use a wide range of common software packages and applications.

Other Subjects

In addition to the Core Curriculum Subjects, many other subjects are provided on the Lower Seniors Timetable. All are taught to English National Curriculum Standards or above.

History

History covers English History from the Norman Conquest to the Cold War.

Geography

Both Physical and Economic Geography are covered.

French or Spanish

Students spend part of the term learning the basics of one language, and the other part learning the basics of the other. This enables them to make an educated choice when it comes to GCSE languages.

The Arts

In Greenfields Lower Senior School, students are encouraged to develop proficiency in the Arts - Music, Art and Drama. Dance is also a popular extra curricular activity for Lower Senior girls.

Art is considered as an essential life skill - and it is taught as such. A custom-built Art classroom with a balcony provides the space for artistic development.

Any student with an aptitude for music is encouraged both in the class music lessons and with individual tuition.

Greenfields has a unique extra-curricular activity in the form of the Sussex Rock School. Local professional musicians provide individual tuition to students, who often form up into bands or groups during the year.

Something very special with regard to the Arts is the fact that, during the last three weeks of the Summer Term, almost the entirety of the Senior School student body becomes a Theatre Company - GTC (Greenfields Theatre Company).

Providing that their academic targets have been met, Lower Senior School Students are invited to participate in the GTC, which puts on a full-scale theatrical production with several performances each July as part of the school's Gala Weekend, the end-of-school year celebration. Students handle the many facets that a full-scale theatre production involves: public relations or marketing, finance, stage management, lighting, sound, props and scenery, costume making, and of course, acting and dancing. The students do it all under the supervision of the Drama Department, and the productions have become well-known for their quality and professionalism. GTC builds communication skills and leaves students with a tremendous sense of accomplishment and achievement.

Outings

Subject teachers are encouraged to organize outings to places of special interest for their subjects. Recent ones include Kew Gardens, the Imperial war Museum and the Houses of Parliament.

Sports outings are also a regular feature of life at Greenfields.

Sport

Formal Sport in the Lower Seniors includes football, rugby, basketball, netball, volleyball, tennis, hockey, cricket, cross-country running, rounders and track and field athletics. House matches are run each term. There are traditionally four houses competing for the annual shield. Lower Senior Students participate in Independent Schools' Association (ISA) competitions and tournaments for football, rugby, netball, rounders, cross-country and athletics. Good sportsmanship is taught at all levels and always encouraged.

Assessments

Greenfields works all the time to add value to its students. To this end, assessments of students entering into and graduating from the Lower Senior School are essential. Students are assessed every term by the independent Qualifications department on their level of reading (vocabulary), Mathematics and English and on each subject's curriculum. Tests are also done in specialist subjects, before during and at the end of a student's time in Lower Seniors. Detailed reports go out to parents mid-year as well as at the end of the school year.

Graduates of the Lower Senior School

Students who complete their education in the Lower Senior School are well-educated and oriented students who know their goals in life and how to achieve them.

Greenfields Lower Senior students have a fundamental knowledge of a broad range of subjects, can apply Study Technology, are ethical and well mannered and are ready for an academic or non-academic route in the Upper Senior School, depending on their particular strengths and weaknesses.