SECONDARY CURRICULUM

The choices students make in these important years could affect exam and university options in the future, so our professional staff and teachers are always on hand to help students make the decisions that are right for them.

English National Curriculum (ENC)

We take the best of this robust academic system and blend it with our own focus on STEAM, Performing Arts and Sport to provide our young Secondary School learners with a variety of rich learning experiences.

Subject-focused learning

At Key Stage 3, students move away from the Primary School model of spending much of their time taught as one class together, and towards a subject-by-subject approach to learning. This arrangement allows flexibility in teaching methods to suit students’ ability and preferred way of learning.

We teach Maths, English and Mandarin in groups – where students will be in a class with other students who have a similar level of ability. The rest of our curriculum at Key Stage 3 is taught within form groups. We find that this kind of grouping works well for most students as it challenges them to the appropriate degree.

Ongoing assessment

Regular assessment of student progress through projects, presentations, tests and enquiry helps us to check that children have the correct level of support and challenge. This means there is often movement between groups to revive engagement or accelerate progress based on individual students’ performance.

Specialised development

Students experience many subjects during their Key Stage 3 years, all taught by specialist teachers who are enthusiasts for their own subject.

Performance

Performance and presentation will be essential for our students as they progress in both their educational journey and beyond. Our Juilliard-inspired curricula in Drama, Music, Music Technology and Dance allow our students to develop these skills.

STEAM

We focus on STEAM subjects and the design thinking process, presenting students with challenges that allow them to be creative and collaborative, to test and evaluate their applications and, of course, to improve them – all essential skills for life.

Physical Education

Our focus on sport helps our students develop teamwork and communication skills, inspired by our committed team of teachers. The health and wellbeing of your children is key to their future, and we believe strongly in a holistic approach to this area of learning and development.

Languages

As an international school, our understanding of the importance of language is second-to-none. Our programme is designed so that students will have time to study two languages of their choice from Mandarin, French, German and Spanish. If students aren’t native or fluent English speakers, then we support them through our comprehensive EAL (English as an Additional Language) programme as one of their language options.

We follow the Cambridge Assessment English framework which provides our EAL learners with an internationally recognised certificate showing their level attained in English.

By the end of KS3 students begin to form an idea of their own strengths and interests. This lays a path for them to follow as we help them make choices about the subjects that they’d like to study at International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) levels.

Helping you and your child

No matter what educational system your child is joining us from, we will be happy to help you find the right starting point at our school.