We equip pupils with the ability to achieve, and the aspirations to aim high.
Underpinned by our Future Skills vision, our teaching is innovative, high-quality, forward thinking and personalised. We believe children learn best when they are knee-deep in their learning, getting involved with practical lessons to bring concepts to life.
We use a transformational approach to teaching, which enables children to master concepts, developing their fluency in a subject area without having to resort to rote learning. By using this approach, we inspire a deep, long-term, and adaptable understanding of concepts and theories.
Jump down to:
Brilliant basics at every Key Stage
We will never compromise on brilliant basics. At Little Downsend and in the Junior School we work hard to instil a foundation of excellence in reading, writing and numeracy to ensure children have the bedrock for building their learning as they progress to the Senior School.
Our academic achievement versus Surrey and National averages are tracked and benchmarked annually, with individual progress meticulously tracked throughout the year to provide personalised refinements, giving your child the best possible chance to be successful.
A focus on skills as well as subjects
We take the very best of STEAM and the 4C's (Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Communication) to underpin the curriculum and to focus on the kinds of skills so demanded by employers of the future. Teaching educational theory through endless regurgitation has had its day, and so we look to the future to teach resilience, adaptability, collaboration, creativity, and how to fail and get back up again – as the very cornerstones of academic excellence.
We do this through our School Improvement Plan, combining educational practice with learnings from partners in industry to ensure we’re tapping into the ever-changing future landscape to ensure our children enter the next step of their journey with their eyes wide open and able to respond to the challenges of a big data world and the very real possibility of working alongside robots.
Embedding Educational Technology
Being part of a global schools group gives us unrivalled access to the latest Ed-Tech developments. During the pandemic, we rolled out 1 to 1 devices to every child from Reception, enabling us to move seamlessly to online learning and to increase levels of digital skill.
We use the devices alongside best-in-class technology platforms for personalised learning as well as our traditional teaching methodologies.
Simplifying achievement metrics
We understand that getting a sense of your child’s achievement is sometimes difficult to quantify and benchmark. We seek to ensure that there is consistency in our assessment process at each stage of the school, and how we report that to Parents in a way that makes sense.
We do that by creating a School Assessment Team, in which the Head of Little Downsend and the Heads of Junior and Senior Schools come together to assess and benchmark data against national averages, and all the data we have access to, to ensure that you are getting a consistent picture of how your child is progressing, and an action plan for necessary support.
Personalised Learning
The personal approach.
Every individual learns in a different way and our teaching at Downsend meets pupils where they are, using different styles and techniques depending upon the child.
We help pupils develop a wide range of metacognitive strategies and skills to help their learning, encouraging them to think critically, to think deeply on a problem and to be self-aware of strengths and weaknesses.
Every child at Downsend is an individual, and we work with them and you to put a plan in place for their learning that allows them to fulfil their full potential. We identify their strengths and areas for improvement with ongoing reviews of progress. Our Gifted and Talented Scheme, RAISE, stretches the children who need an additional challenge, taking their learning to the next step. For those who need support in some areas, our Learning Support Team work closely with children to put an action plan in place.
