As with the Pre-Prep classes, each child is taught and cared for by a full-time class teacher and teaching assistant who are readily available at drop off and pick up time each day. This open-door policy continues through the Prep School and helps to ensure that the individual needs of children and parents are met through regular communication – it also provides a warm and welcoming environment at the beginning and end of each day.
Throughout the Junior Years, the school strives to strike good balance between providing depth of learning through a structured and diverse academic curriculum, developing the individual child to allow them to develop into a well-rounded citizen, identifying and developing skills within sports and the arts and preparing them for the transition to Senior School.
There is an increase in the amount of subject specialist teaching as the children enter the Junior Years. The children receive specialist teaching in Music, Art, Drama, P.E., Games and French on a weekly basis with Outdoor Education lessons providing a chance to use the wonderful grounds every two weeks. All other subjects are taught by class teachers who also assume the lead pastoral role for the individual year groups.
Homework is set regularly from Monday to Thursday and the quantity increases in amount as the children progress from one year to the next. Homework is set to provide reinforcement of learning covered in class and to help them to develop time management skills before they begin Senior School. From year 3 the children are also introduced to Verbal and Non Verbal Reasoning papers which help to develop thinking skills and also ensure that they are well versed in how to tackle such problems prior to Senior School entrance exams at 11+.
There is a rich and varied extended curriculum running throughout the Junior Years allowing the children to identify and develop a range of skills and interests that may not naturally be included in an already packed curriculum. Musical opportunities are regularly available by joining one of the choirs whilst orchestra and brass groups extend the gifted musicians.
Those children with a theatrical interest can take advantage of the Tuesday lunchtime drama club.
Sporting opportunities increase as the children grow physically stronger and develop the necessary skills required to compete against other schools. The children also have the opportunity to stay behind on a Tuesday and to take part in a whole variety of clubs provided by the teaching staff with previous clubs including stop animation, cookery, basketball, chess and nature club to name a few.
As the children enter Years 5 & 6 they are ready to spend more time away from home and so head off on an annual 5 day residential trip in the week before the summer half term holiday. Historically these have alternated between a French trip with cultural and language based activities and an Outward Bound residential in Wales which focuses more on outdoor pursuits.
By the time the children reach the end of Year 6, they will have benefited from a diverse range of opportunities from performing on stage in our end of year production to representing the school in competitive sporting fixtures, whilst others will have pitted their wits against other schools in general knowledge or maths competitions. Although they have enjoyed the time that they have spent with us, by the end of Year 6, Howe Green House children have grown into confident individuals who are ready for the further challenges represented by the many fine Senior Schools that they move on to.
Hannah Tate
Head of Prep
