Core Subjects

We seek to inspire the children to love reading, to think about what they have read and to become sophisticated writers for many purposes. We also endeavour to develop the pupils’ abilities in discussion and to be able to analyse many different types of text – poetry, drama, prose, non-fiction and imaginative writing to name but a few.

All in all we seek to light the fire of a lifelong love of the English language and its literature. We aim for pupils to excel academically and become insightful readers with an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of literature in all its forms, both classical and contemporary. Another major aim is to equip students with essential communication skills which they will need throughout their lives in order to be fulfilled and happy.

We aim to fully engage pupils in their study of English and so we use stimulating and inspiring literature as the basis for much of our work. Children’s writers such as Philip Pullman, Gene Kemp and Roald Dahl are followed in later years by Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens. From the fun poetry of the middle years we move into considering the sublime poetry of giants of the canon such as Seamus Heaney, John Keats, John Milton and many others.

We expect the children to be fully engaged and enthusiastic readers. All communications skills stem from independent reading – eloquence, vocabulary, structured written and verbal expression, the ability to posit a point of view and myriad more. As they progress we expect pupils to master spelling, cursive handwriting and the abilities to think, speak, write and read reflectively.

We have an active visiting authors programme which has included global best-selling writers such as Eoin Colfer and Charlie Higson. We also welcome visiting drama companies to put on work which supports our study of Dickens and Shakespeare. In this regard we will welcomed back Red Heart Theatre Company before Christmas, both to enjoy the dramatization of some Victorian thrillers and also to experience a dramatic treatment of the life and work of Wilfrid Owen. Young Actors of Windsor regularly deliver workshops on the Shakespeare texts we study and we run trips to places such as Stratford Upon Avon and London theatres.

St John's pupils are rigorously prepared for CE and Scholarship examinations. We hold the highest expectations in terms of commitment and the desire to improve. As they prepare for these demanding assessments and seek to gain a place at very competitive schools we take them through all areas of the subject that they will be confronted with in the final tests. Accordingly we develop powers of comprehension and written expression across a range of contexts and skills. Results are generally excellent

At St John's we believe that everyone has a latent talent for mathematics. Our task is to awaken and develop that potential in each child, so that they can learn to appreciate the use, the joy, and the challenge of mathematics. By facing up to that challenge and working steadily, pupils develop life skills such as logical deduction, persistence and thinking outside the box. They also discover that as well as being a Science, Mathematics can be a creative art. We want students at St John’s to say mathematics is their favourite subject, and hope many will achieve excellent GCSE results and go on to study mathematics at A level and university.

We make use of the extensive school grounds and the vast world of the Internet along with the ever increasing world of technology to link mathematics to the real world. Although at St John’s mathematics is done mainly with pencil and paper, technology allows us to speed up and streamline many of the repetitive mechanical processes and allow pupils to see the functional applications of the topics they are learning. ICT in mathematics is used by pupils to see the efficiency it can bring to calculations and also to investigate and discover the world of problem solving for themselves. Students will use spreadsheets, interactive geometry, graph drawing packages and many websites to develop the skills and understanding needed to apply their mathematics in the real world.

To keep the more able students fully stretched, there are many challenges offered both within and outside school. There are also activities after school to engage and push further their understanding of Mathematics. 

A great many of our students achieve excellent results including bronze, silver and gold certificates in both the national Primary and Intermediate Maths challenges

We love Science at St John’s! Our aim is to inspire pupils to think independently about the world around them. Stimulating students’ intellectual curiosity, coupled with a growing knowledge of scientific principles and technical language, informs all that we do.

We encourage our pupils to develop informed opinions and to be able to support those opinions by logical argument. We recognize the important ways in which Science affects the lives of people everywhere in the world and how it can be used to help make decisions, solve problems and carry out jobs every day.

The important thing is not to stop questioning; curiosity has its own reason for existing - Albert Einstein

Our new state of the art Science lab has been designed to empower students in a range of sophisticated and engaging tasks. As well as the classroom, the school pond and other areas of the school grounds are utilized to make learning truly meaningful, relevant and enjoyable.

Each year we run a ‘whole-school’ Science week, involving trips to Bletchley Park, the home of Computing, Bird World, Winchester Science Centre, Kew Gardens, London Zoo and Marwell Zoo, every year group from Nursery to Year 8 gets involved.

We combine theoretical concepts with real-world applications. Using the National Curriculum as a base, Science at St Johns accepts and teaches the widely held perspective of Evolution as a fundamental part of our lessons, this includes a firmly held acceptance and belief in Evolution. Alongside the National Curriculum we have the freedom to explore wider areas of discovery.

Science Club is offered as an extra-curricular activity to children in Middle and Senior School and we ensure students at all levels are prepared for the challenges of Common Entrance, as well as scholarship papers. Additional clubs and differentiated support are available for all.

Science is a subject with something for everybody. We are passionate about our subject’s role both within school and wider society. We see Science as an enabler for critical thinking and the broader development of our students’ intellectual development across the board.

The aim of the Science department at St John’s Beaumont is to stimulate the intellect, curiosity, interest and enjoyment of pupils, so enabling them to become familiar with a body of scientific knowledge, principles and vocabulary. We encourage students to develop informed opinions and to be able to support those opinions by logical argument. We recognise the important ways in which science affects the lives of people everywhere in the world and how it can be used to help make decisions, solve problems and carry out jobs which are done by ordinary people every day.

Our main aim is to stress that science is enjoyable and relevant to pupils’ everyday lives and so we aim to provide suitable science courses for all pupils in the school, regardless of age or ability.

The National Curriculum is used as the basic core with the IAPS Common Entrance Syllabus interwoven into the schemes of work. However, our primary aim is to ensure that pupils view the ‘process’ of science as a means to understand themselves, their environment and their place in the universe, rather than purely a means to pass exams. We aim to help to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding to the limit of their capabilities by personal involvement in experimentation and investigation and by the use of ICT facilities in the department and the school.

In Year 7, students begin to study Biology, Chemistry and Physics as discrete modules within their science lessons.

Lessons for the classes in Pre-Prep and Middle school are taught by class teachers. Pupils in the Upper School are taught by dedicated science teachers. Our fully equipped laboratory is used by all classes from Years 3-8.

The school pond and other areas of the school grounds are utilised to make learning in this curriculum area truly meaningful, relevant and enjoyable.