IRRESISTIBLE LEARNING
We believe that learning should be exciting, challenging and fun. Every day at King Edward’s Junior School brings new adventures in learning and provides our children with opportunities to push their boundaries.
Whether in the fast-paced lessons, the stimulating trips and visits or the broad and varied co-curricular activities, our pupils will find plenty to suit their unique interests whilst developing the confidence to take the plunge into the new and unfamiliar.
 |
|
We aim to prepare our pupils for an ever-changing future, equipping them with the skills, attitudes and personal qualities that they will need to thrive as they grow up. Our teachers use their subject specialist knowledge to inspire every learner. Topics change regularly, and lessons are planned to adapt and respond to the interests and enthusiasm of the children.
 |
|
Working in specialist classrooms such as our fully equipped Science Lab, our ICT suite or the Design Technology workshop, our children learn to think in different ways. This prepares them for their Senior School journey, giving them the resourcefulness, resilience and confidence to plot a course through each day, each lesson and each topic with increasing independence.
It helps that children are encouraged to challenge their thinking in every lesson. It isn’t enough to be able to do something once or memorise a list of facts; at King Edward’s Junior School, children apply their higher order thinking skills to create new ideas from their learning, to evaluate their answers and to be the judges of their own progress.
 |
|
High quality learning depends on high quality questions; children in Year 3 may find themselves questioning whether the bridges of Bath are up to their task, whilst Year 6 pupils might use Baghdad as a case study to decide what makes a city truly ‘great’. From pond-dipping for biodiversity monitoring to designing intelligent devices for energy saving, the curriculum is the springboard for the children and their teachers to share the questions that engage and excite them.
This is supported by visits and trips, which give children practical, hands-on experience of the concepts and challenges that they encounter in the classroom. From evaluating neolithic houses from the point of view of a nomadic family at Stonehenge to navigating a route through the historic heart of Dinan in Brittany, our pupils regularly get the opportunity to live and breathe their learning close up and in context.
We firmly believe that personal development isn’t complete without physical literacy; the same values, skills and attitudes that children learn in academic lessons underpin our approach to sport and PE. At our Junior School, everyone is a sportsperson, and everyone experiences what it is like to challenge their fitness, their coordination and their stamina in a wide variety of settings, contexts and sports.
Music also permeates the School every day. Most children learn an instrument, with many learning several, but every single pupil has the opportunity to play in an ensemble during their weekly class music lesson. The combination of whole group, individual and ensemble playing gives every Junior School pupil the confidence to be a musician.
|
|
|
The Year 6 Personal Award Scheme aims to bring all of these skills, values and attitudes together. Each child leaves the School with a deep awareness and understanding of their individual strengths, skills, interests and areas for development, ready to face the challenges of Year 7.
Throughout their time at the Junior School, children are encouraged to be the drivers of their own progress. They learn to work hard and to enjoy and celebrate their successes, becoming more resilient and self-aware with every challenge they overcome.
Most importantly, the children are passionate about their school. We hope that you will be too, and we would love to welcome you to King Edward’s Junior School so that you can see for yourself.
|
Learning Support at the Junior School
Learning Support at the Junior School is focused on meeting children’s individual needs and helping them to develop in areas that have been identified through assessment and/or observation. Children, parents and teachers benefit from the guidance and expertise in the Learning Support Department to put whole class, group or individual support in place. Developing self-awareness is a vital element of the learning process, and this helps every pupil to embed strategies to ensure success in different areas of school life. Working on key areas to develop underlying skills helps children to benefit from all areas of school life and learning.
By adopting a range of strategies across the curriculum, teachers help to meet children’s needs on both a bespoke and a more general level. Guidance and support from external specialists can be sought to ensure that the correct pathways are in place and to consider whether any further intervention is needed. All staff are made aware of those children who require additional support and are alerted to the additional strategies that they may need to implement to help them to thrive. Our aim is that all children leave the Junior School with the skills and confidence to face whatever challenges come their way as they progress onto Senior School.
