Years 3 to 6
In Years 3, 4, 5 and 6, each subject’s curriculum has been consciously structured to be fun, engaging and challenging, with the level of academic rigour scaling dependent on individual ability.
Year 3 is very much a transition year. We ease the children into Prep School life by increasing the number of lessons taken by specialist staff in the main school building, including Computing, Art, Music, Drama, Dance, Swimming, PE and Games. These lessons are taught alongside many subjects still taught by their Form Tutor in Holywell, such as English, Maths, Science, Geography, History, PSHE and Religious Studies. By taking this blended approach, we ensure that the children are fully prepared to confidently make the move to the main school building for their journey into Middle Years.
Moving into Year 4 pupils are encouraged to become more independent, becoming increasingly responsible for their learning as well as develop greater social awareness. In Year 4 the children are taught predominantly in their form rooms by their Key Stage 2 specialist teacher, moving around the school to be taught by specialist teachers and coaches in Art, Drama, Modern Foreign Language, Music, Physical Education, Games and Swimming.
In Year 5 the children will then spend the majority of their lessons with specialist subject teachers. They remain in their form group for all lessons in a mixed ability format. Their form teacher will still play an integral role in their education and will lead their pastoral care and the Personal, Social and Health education lessons. The focus for Year 5 is on building self-motivation, self-discipline and personal organisation. The children move around the school far more than they have done in previous years, and the onus is on them to remember where they are meant to be and with the correct equipment.
Year 6 represents both the end of Key Stage 2 and the final year of the “Middle Years” here at Bede’s Prep School. The pupils continue to be taught in a mixed ability form group and will continue to move around the school to be taught by specialist subject teachers. In Year 6 the children will then have a choice of whether they would like to study French or Spanish. Pupils become ever more mature and independent, building relationships with individual subject teachers and taking more responsibility for their own organisation. Elsewhere in Year 6, there are significant opportunities to distinguish themselves and lay the groundwork for both their scholarship entries and final exams in Year 8.
