Hall School Wimbledon prides itself on getting the best out of individual pupils. Our class sizes are small, allowing for much individual attention, with an average teacher–pupil ratio of 1:8.
At the Junior School we offer a broad and balanced curriculum in which Art, Drama, Music and Sport play a valuable role alongside all the main academic subjects.
Each child’s progress is carefully monitored and class work and homework is assessed weekly to ensure that what is being taught is also being understood. Formal annual examinations are held for children in Years 3 to 6.
Pre-Preparatory Curriculum
From Reception to Year 2, children have their own class teacher (under the direction of a Senior Tutor) who teaches all aspects of the curriculum except Ballet, Drama, French, Games and Music. In these subjects there are specialist teachers. An Art specialist teacher teaches Art from Year 2.
The curriculum for the pre-preparatory years includes Literacy, Numeracy, Science and the Humanities.
Reading
The evolution of literacy skills begins in Reception.Our reading strategies and schemes are firmly rooted in Synthetic Phonics. Children are introduced to the skills of reading, incrementally and individually. They are taught how to: handle a book, understand orientation, discover how pictures weave into a text, the purpose of contents and index pages. This is complemented by an inculcation of the joys of reading for leisure, relaxation but also for information and discovery. From a secure base of phonics children acquire sight words and begin to use context and their emerging knowledge of the world to develop their reading skills. Through a careful balance of guided reading, whole class reading and individual instruction, children become strong, secure and contented readers.
Writing
Children begin to communicate in the social environment of their classroom as soon as they join school. They develop their ability to articulate a thought and share an experience. Their oral communication grows stronger as their experiences widen – they begin to think and speak in sequences. They develop their communication through sharing and cooperation in classroom activities. Oral communication translates into written communication. Letter formation is taught with differing sensory experiences – tracing in sand and in flour, finger painting – before being scaled down for a page of paper. The children form their letters and numerals through fine motor exercise, tracing and copying. All children develop at different rates but, through time, the discrepancies diminish. Formal handwriting skills are engendered through the Nelson Handwriting scheme, used to guide and remediate as a child develops a distinctive and legible handwriting style that allows him or her to communicate his or her thoughts and emotions authentically.
Numeracy
Basic arithmetic and the language of Mathematics are taught through exploration and experimentation. Initially, through play, children begin to see pairs and groups, they sort into categories, divide into piles. All methods are introduced on the basis of an understanding of concepts – we only add and multiply when we understand that this will make more. We only divide and subtract when we know that this will make less. Children collect leaves, pair socks and sort Smarties and thereby learn to collect, sort and assess data.
Science
In their indoor/outdoor class environment the curiosity of children in their environment evolves naturally. It is encouraged through open ended investigation, observation and experience. Observing the life cycles in the pond, hatching butterflies, digging, looking in trees and under piles of logs and leaves. Slowly and almost imperceptibly these instincts are given structure. Evidence is collected for a purpose, material is studied to prove a hypothesis, outcomes are predicted. Science begins with ‘why’ and ‘why not’ and it develops with ‘what if?’ The richness of experience from home and at school is the catalyst. The subtlety of guidance from school is what determines successful and productive speculation.
Humanities
The study of the Humanities – later organised into History and Geography – is essentially the commencement of the broader curriculum and the acquisition of knowledge. The child begins with his or her own limited experience and influence – home and school – and begins to find his or her place in the wider world. A child learns about who helps him or her at home and school, and then in his or her community, country and continent. As the child’s world grows larger, so the school tempts and challenges with knowledge and experience through half-termly topics; the Planets, Kings and Queens, Exploration, Dinosaurs…
Personal, Social and Moral Education
The microcosm of the classroom has a simple set of rules and a moral structure. Learning to be unselfish, to share and to show consideration and kindness represents the formalising of innate qualities present in all children and forms the core of belief systems in the macrocosm of the world. HSW children learn in an environment of moral certainty and consistency – they are taught what is right and wrong. From this basis they begin to consider the beliefs and traditions of world religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. They do so because it is interesting but also so that they may understand ways in which we are different and ways in which we are the same.
Preparatory Curriculum
From Years 3 to 6, children have a registration teacher and are taught by specialist teachers for all subjects. Again, each year group is managed by a Senior Tutor.
Individual lessons are between 30 and 60 minutes in:
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Art
- Classical Studies
- Drama
- French
- Games
- Geography
- History
- Music
- Religious Studies
Setting for Mathematics is introduced from Year 3 to ensure that children are being taught at an appropriate pace.
In Year 3, children join the School Homework System.