Pupils leave the Nicholas Owen block at the end of Year 2 (at the age of 7/8) and move into the historic main school building to continue their education journey at St John’s in the Middle School.
Our Middle School covers Years 3 to 5 (our year groups are named Bellarmine, Lower Elements and Upper Elements respectively). The Head of Middle School, a member of the School Leadership Team, has day to day responsibility for this part of the school and is readily available to parents to discuss their son’s progress.
The Middle School aims to build on the excellent progress pupils will have made in our Nicholas Owen Block by encouraging the children to engage actively in their learning and by developing their self-confidence, whether through the academic curriculum or the many wider opportunities in the school.
Teacher pupil relationships are vital to the learning of any child and the teaching structure within Middle School recognises this. Pupils are taught the majority of their lessons by an experienced class teacher with an increasing number of subjects taught by specialists, for example, Music, PE, RE, humanities. We also begin encouraging the children to take responsibility for their progress, for example by inviting them to make decisions about the help they need to seek or to be aware of their strengths and areas they would like to develop further.
Aside from the academic, creative and sporting curriculum, time is set aside to investigate and reflect other important issues including relationships, generosity, competition and the importance of integrity.
A lot of fun is had within Middle School. Pupils are encouraged to make the most of the time available to them and are supported when they want to pursue their own projects. They are invited to join both the Pupil Parliament and the Food Committee: committees that aim to review and improve provision at the school.
Trips remain a strong element of education at St John’s: it is in Middle School they experience their first overnight trip (to Dorset) and sleep wild in the school woods, hopefully with their parents, for the Bushcraft weekend!
Hear from our Head of Middle School, Mr Snell how a child's journey in the Middle School looks like:
After Year 5 (at the age of 10/11), pupils are moving on to the next crucial part of their education at St John's, the Upper School. Follow their journey here.
