Prep Subjects & Learning | Oakwood Prep School

In the Prep School we believe in lifelong learning and maintain that learning should be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for all and it should be fun. Through our teaching we equip each child with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to progress, flourish and find their passions. We believe that appropriate teaching and learning experiences help children to lead happy and rewarding lives.

Teaching and learning are the core purposes of what we do at Oakwood. We strive to provide high quality learning outcomes and achievement for every pupil in our school. Our expectation is that all pupils will attain high levels of personal academic achievement. Above all the curriculum at Oakwood is designed to provide access and opportunity for all children who attend the school.

English

Our aim is to nurture a love for reading. Our strong literacy programme focuses on ensuring that our phonics programme provides children with the necessary skills required to decode language, allowing them to build words using the sounds they have learnt. Through small group work, varied reading and spelling schemes and differentiated programmes of learning, each child learns at the pace appropriate to their ability. Although we actively encourage independent learning, our reading scheme continues throughout the whole school, until we are sure that the necessary skills are firmly in place for a child to continue their learning journey successfully.

We also aim to foster a love for writing, whether providing a child with the required skills to free their imagination on paper, describe an idea or explain an opinion. Our rigorous teaching of grammar and punctuation equips each child with the necessary tools required to understand how to write appropriately, for the many varied formats that each child will experience. It is wonderful to observe the enjoyment our children feel when they are obviously delighted by the many wonderful poems, debates, stories, newspapers, play scripts and other pieces of writing they have produced. Support is offered in a variety of ways to ensure that every child is given the necessary teaching programme they require to continue and challenge their learning process.

At Oakwood, success means that a child can speak with confidence in a variety of situations, enjoy reading independently, whilst discovering which genre of novel excites them, and fostering an environment which celebrates the freedom to write independently.

Mathematics

Our pupils are successful in developing their numeracy skills through focused teaching that embeds core skills while challenging and extending pupils' knowledge and understanding. Years 3 to 6 follow the National Curriculum using the comprehensive Hamilton Trust scheme of work, covering a wide range of topics aiming to consolidate and extend the children’s learning. Year 6 supplement this work by covering the additional elements of the ISEB syllabus in preparation for senior school entry.

Teaching and learning is differentiated to ensure that support or extension work is available as appropriate. The children are taught in 3 sets per year group, rather than as forms, covering work that is appropriate for the set that they are in, ensuring a more individualised approach to their learning.

Science

From Year 3, children are taught science by specialist teachers in the school's science laboratory. The science team are very enthusiastic about making their subject as practical as possible, engaging our pupils in a variety of ways, both in the classroom and at home. We use a variety of text books, science equipment, the school grounds, online research and each other to find out about the world around us. The curriculum is varied and incorporates all areas of science, biology, chemistry and physics. Throughout their science education, our pupils have the opportunity to work on their own, within groups or pairs and as a whole class. They plan and conduct scientific investigations and carry out a range of practical activities, which will enhance their theoretical knowledge and understanding of science. Every pupil is encouraged to perform to the best of their ability and most importantly enjoy their studies. Each pupil has two double lessons of science per week (two 70 minute sessions). From Year 4 the children have science prep each week, which comprises a variety of activities, both practical and written.

Humanities and Modern Foreign Languages

Humanities

Humanities covers the subjects of history, geography and religious education. In the Prep School at Oakwood, the National Curriculum for history and geography is used as a starting point for planning exciting termly topics in each year group that are designed to give pupils the opportunity to develop and widen both their subject knowledge and skills.

Modern Foreign Languages

Our teaching uses a variety of different materials and media to enable pupils to enjoy expressing their ideas and thoughts in in another language and also to understand and respond to other speakers of that language. We aim to provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries in the future.