St John’s College Junior School believes in providing pupils with an education that combines the very best of a traditional curriculum, with innovative and engaging strategies.
As a result, our pupils are keen to embrace every opportunity and make very good individual progress across all curriculum subjects. Literacy, numeracy, Science and IT are given great importance in the curriculum, however we also feel strongly that a child’s holistic development is key to reaching their potential. This is achieved by providing a rigorous academic education, combined with skills such as resilience, kindness, openness and promoting problem solving and creativity.
The curriculum is taught as separate subjects and all teachers are either subject specialists or have taught the subject at Primary age for a number of years, building up a vast knowledge in their subject. The scheme is designed so that topics are regularly reinforced, meaning pupils build on previous knowledge in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the topic commensurate with their age and cognitive development.
We have a dedicated team of teaching assistants who deliver intervention support within the classroom and, where appropriate, pupils may receive individual support, sometimes on a one to one basis.
Our extensive co-curricular programme, adds a further level of enrichment to each subject and enables pupils to build on their creative and social skills. Many of our co-curricular involve pupils working together across age groups hence engendering an inclusive and community spirit.
All pupils have well developed literacy skills with a strong focus on reading, regular spelling tests and development of comprehension and extended writing skills. Our pupils read individually to a teacher in school two to three times a week and we have a well stocked Junior School Library and regular Book Club quizzes.
In Mathematics, the programme of study is individually differentiated to ensure building blocks are embedded appropriately. Our pupils are enrolled with Mathletics which reinforces skills further and Year 6 pupils may enter the Primary Maths Challenge.
Science is taught as a discrete subject and is divided into the three strands of Science; Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Alongside these, pupils are taught scientific enquiry, enabling them to plan investigations, carry them out effectively, and draw conclusions from their results.
Our dedicated IT lessons, delivered via a suite of chromebooks, equip pupils to be competent and confident users of technology through computational thinking, programming, and an understanding of computing networks, including their responsible use.
Humanities and languages play a key role in our curriculum and ensure our children are thoughtful, moral, and well prepared for our modern world.
Arts and Sport are also inherent in both the curriculum and wider aspects of school life. Their inclusive nature ensures that every pupil has opportunities to perform, create and compete.