Our Lower School Curriculum

Pupils engage in lessons using laptop and desktop computers, gaining important hand-eye coordination skills, and initial exposure to the Microsoft 365 apps they will rely on as they progress through the school.

As students transition into and through the Lower School, they discover more about Microsoft applications, using Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote regularly in their learning. A series of dedicated Digital Skills lessons are delivered alongside the Computing Science curriculum, and students learn more sophisticated skills and gain greater autonomy in their learning. There is a strong focus on transferrable skills, and on preparing students with the knowledge and expertise they will need to fully access and engage with the curriculum, as well as with the ever-changing face of technology in the wider world. Homework is issued digitally, and students learn to organise themselves and their time, through Teams Assignments and their Outlook calendar.

Students gain practical experience of problem-solving, teamwork, and creativity through a range of opportunities that offer insight and understanding of STEM, an area of fundamental importance today. 

Being an all-through school resource, the major transitions are well-co-ordinated for students with ongoing additional support needs as they move through school.

In Lower School, a dedicated learning support classroom offers a learning environment for small groups or individuals with provision being offered through timetabled lessons or as an individual short block.

In Remove (P7), timetabled learning support lessons are offered for two periods a week, with a focus on continued development of literacy and numeracy, along with appropriate study strategies as students start secondary education. The learning support lessons replace Modern Studies and Latin in the student timetable, with the opportunity to study these subjects later in school remaining in place.

In Lower 4 (S1), learning support is offered in the timetable against a second language other than English. The lessons provide time with a specialist support for learning teacher to support students’ individual learning and skill development and with a mathematics teacher who focuses on the development of mathematical learning and numeracy skills for different areas of the curriculum. 

A trip to a performance, lecture, debate or exhibition, or participation in the outdoor learning programme that runs from Primary 5 upwards through to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, all offer rich opportunities to enhance the curriculum and provide new perspectives.

In Lower School, we run a Digital Exchange for Remove students through Health class with partner school in India. We also run a Pen pal programme for Lower 4 students with a partner school in Toronto, Canada.

Primary 6 classes attend library lessons once a week, where they continue to learn about the library and different kinds of fiction. Remove and Lower 4 classes attend library lessons once every fortnight as part of their English timetable to develop their independent learning and reading.

All the school libraries offer several co-curricular clubs and activities, including book clubs, chess clubs,  and a very popular Student Librarian scheme.

In the Library, we value student voice. All students may request new books for the collection, ask for help with their learning, make suggestions or just stop by for a chat!