Horizon curriculum

English

Using Power of Reading teaching sequences, your child will read a wide range of thought-provoking texts, incorporating fiction and non-fiction books from a variety of cultures.

Cross-curricular links with art, history, science, geography, PSHE and even DT ensure your child is inspired to read. Even the most unenthusiastic readers are motivated by the instant feedback from taking the comprehension quizzes on the popular accelerated reading scheme. We also have our very own reading therapy support dog, Pixel, who encourages a love of reading in our more reluctant readers, as well as those with a passion for books.

Our English curriculum aims to accelerate your child’s confidence, encouraging them to become thoughtful and empathetic readers and writers. With literacy at the heart of our curriculum, our whole school spelling programme helps all pupils develop spelling strategies that are then applied throughout their school career and beyond.

Mathematics

The study of maths is not simply about learning numbers and their application – it is so much more. Through studying maths, your child will develop creative thinking skills and learn to question and deepen their understanding of the practical world around them.

By making maths relevant to everyday life and supporting your child’s progress in an encouraging and positive way, they can gain a strong sense of achievement and a genuine enthusiasm for learning. Who knows where that curiosity and confidence might take them?

Science

Science is part of our everyday lives from turning on a kettle to watching a rainbow. We harness your child’s wonder at the natural world and their enthusiasm for finding out how things work to teach this varied and fascinating subject that forms part of our Global curriculum.

We focus on allowing children to experiment and follow their own ideas, creating their own investigations through a series of fun and informative practical and theory sessions.

Science is taught as a core subject. Your child will have around five science lessons a week, taught in two purpose-built laboratories from Year 3 upwards. Small classes mean your child can maximise their potential and find their strengths, building on these as they work co-operatively in practical sessions.

By encouraging your child to explore their health and environment, and share what they have learned at home, your child will continuously develop their curiosity. Budding engineers and scientists can join our after-school STEM club, using their digital and maths skills to make anything from water wheels to crystal gardens.

Geography

As well as aiding the development of non-fiction reading skills, such as maps and data, Geography helps your child to discover and make sense of the world. From comparing and contrasting different environments in the early years, through topic-based learning in the pre-prep to a stand-alone humanity subject throughout the prep school, as part of the Global curriculum, Geography:

• Develops your child’s interest in their immediate surroundings, spreading to the world at large
• Encourages an enquiring mind into how and why events happen in both the physical and human aspects of the subject
• Develops a wide range of practical and language skills relating to the subject
• Fosters an understanding of the fragility of the world and its ecosystems and man’s effect upon them
• Engenders a sense of responsibility for the environment in which we live promoting a sense of stewardship and the necessity for sustainable development

History

Your child will explore History through the Global curriculum, learning how to form arguments and opinions on different people, events and periods in history through discussion and debate.

Our history curriculum provides a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past as well as an opportunity to examine the development of other civilisations and cultures. It aims to inspire your child’s curiosity, to help them think critically, ask perceptive questions, weigh-up evidence and examine different perspectives to make reasoned and informed judgements.

History is narratives, and we study the people, actions, decisions, interactions and behaviours that have shaped the world in which we live. We inspire a love for the past through lively and engaging teaching including traditional historical enquiry; role-play; visits to places of historical interest; and plenty of thought-provoking discussions.

Your child will leave the school as an able and confident historian, equipped with the necessary skills and confidence to analyse increasingly complex themes at senior school.

Digital and Innovation

Alongside our existing weekly curriculum provision in one of our three suites, we have introduced a UK-leading digital and innovation curriculum, pioneered by Caterham, called EDGE. It starts in Reception and continues through school. EDGE promotes problem solving and critical thinking whilst building your child’s digital skills for their education here and at senior school, university and beyond.

Languages

Language learning should not be just an activity where the ultimate goal is to achieve an academic standard that will hang on a wall gathering dust, never to be used again. It is a creative and collaborative life skill that opens doors to different cultures and experiences.

We believe that language learning should be an experience that will be remembered and treasured for the rest of your child’s life. To achieve this, we run language days, theatre visits and cultural workshops such as flamenco dancing. We want your child to leave us with a high level of language and grammar and a zest for learning.

Most pupils learn Spanish and French. In the pre-prep, French is taught by specialist teachers from Reception through to Year 2. Spanish is taught as an after-school club by a native speaker.

From Year 3 Spanish and French are taught within the curriculum. We focus on speaking and listening in Year 3, moving to a greater emphasis on reading and writing in Year 4.

Art

As part of Global, Art is a unique form of expression, building your child’s powers of analysis, observation, articulation, imagination and the ability to formulate ideas.

Art and design provides your child with a creative outlet and a visual and tactile understanding of the world and issues around them. By experimenting with different media and exploring their ideas, your child will begin to develop skills and opinions, and create a personal response. By investigating the work of others, they gain an understanding into the lives of the artists, and also into different times and cultures.

We have a light and spacious art room with separate storage areas and kiln room. Your child will have opportunities to develop their skills through drawing, painting, printmaking, clay/ceramics, photography, sculpture, textiles, 3D, colour, pattern, tone, line, shape, space, texture and form. We hold a biennial arts week, where the children are taken off timetable and take part in workshops for the entire week, working with visiting artists and holding their own art exhibition.

Drama

Drama is hugely beneficial to your child’s self-esteem, confidence and communication skills. Whether preparing for a school play, writing a sketch or participating in an educational drama lesson, your child will be actively engaged in developing the kind of life skills that will enable them to become confident, expressive and creative citizens.

At the start of your child’s educational adventure, drama is predominantly performance based, and from Year 3 it is timetabled weekly.  This enables us to promote educational drama alongside performance drama; the former is taught as part of a syllabus during drama lessons; the latter is encouraged school productions, from smaller festival plays and recitals in the theatre, to whole-school musicals in the gym and weekly dramatised assemblies in chapel.

Each year your child will be able to take part in a dramatic performance. Recent productions include Shakespeare Rocks, Matilda, Alice in Wonderland, Studio Drama, Oliver, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Wizard of Oz and The Lion King.

Your child can also take LAMDA lessons from Reception onwards.

Music

Music is integral to school life and plays an important part in your child’s development. It is a unique and inspiring way of communicating, and a vehicle for personal expression. Learning music enables your child to better understand the world they live in. A creative and enjoyable activity, and an demanding academic subject, music can also help your child feel part of a community.

In addition to the weekly classroom music lessons in which children listen to, create and perform music, we encourage your child to sing in chapel and hymn practice each week. Your child can have instrumental tuition from the visiting peripatetic music teachers and take part in formal and informal concerts. We encourage your child to engage in music, whatever their ability, because an active and enriching musical experience contributes to a well-balanced and enjoyable school curriculum.

Design and technology

Our DT projects focus on developing practical skills, essential for everyday life, in a fun and exciting way using a variety of materials.

Design and technology allows children of all capabilities to design and construct ‘something’ for ‘somebody’ for ‘some purpose’. It won’t always be a great success, sometimes it may even be a great disaster, but we can guarantee it will be great fun and provide a useful learning experience.

As your child progresses through the school they will use more of our well-equipped DT room, enabling them to combine their design and making skills with knowledge and understanding to create quality products through a variety of medium and techniques, e.g. woodwork, metal work and 3D printing.

Food Tech

From Year 5 your child can partake in regular Food Tech lessons, as part of the Global curriculum, covering safe food storage, preparation, and handling. This develops an important life skill that will equip your child with a better understanding of food and food preparation. Your child will develop recipes for a range of sweet and savoury dishes, helping them to understand the principles of simple nutrition and healthy eating. Learning about nutrition and how to prepare healthy meals can prevent later medical problems such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Your child will learn to handle food and equipment and become aware of where their food comes from, food sustainability and religious and cultural issues that affect different diets.

Religious Studies

Religious studies plays a critical part in your child’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Exploring their own beliefs and values, and developing positive attitudes to those of others, requires understanding, knowledge and skills.

Through RS your child will learn.

• Self-awareness
• Respect for all
• Open mindedness
• Appreciation and wonder

Physical Education

Physical education (PE) helps your child develop control, co-ordination and mastery of their body through movement. The thought and effort required leads to improved performance, personal achievement, understanding and increased knowledge. Your child will gain real satisfaction and enjoyment from working with a sense of purpose and practising hard, and long, enough to overcome initial challenges.

Every week your child will have an hour each of swimming and PE tuition from specialist teachers. This helps your child develop:

• A range of psycho-motor skills
• Physical mobility and flexibility
• Stamina and strength
• Understanding and appreciation of the purposes, forms and conventions of a selection of physical activities
• The capacity to express ideas in dance forms
• Appreciation of the concepts of fair play, honest competition and good sportsmanship
• The ability to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of movement
• The capacity to maintain interest and to persevere to achieve success
• Self-esteem through acquiring physical competence and poise
• Self-confidence through understanding capabilities and limitations
• Understanding of the importance of exercise in maintaining a healthy life

During PE lessons alongside fitness work, we do Badminton, Basketball, Gymnastics, Cross Country and Tennis.

Outdoor Learning

Outdoor learning is an integral part of our curriculum, offering dynamic, hands-on experiences that promote resilience, leadership, and collaboration. Through nature-based activities, pupils develop essential life skills while enhancing their physical and mental wellbeing and allowing them to ‘be children’. Our carefully designed sessions spark curiosity, ignite creativity, and encourage a deep respect for the environment, helping children grow into confident, well-rounded learners connected to the natural world.