The role of the Form Teacher remains constant throughout the children’s time in the Junior School. Whilst they benefit from subject specialists for Music, Physical Education and French (and Science for Year 6), they receive consistency in terms of pastoral care and approach throughout their day.
The children have daily prep (homework) tasks set by their Form Teacher.
Children benefit from regular class visits and outings. We continue to reflect upon our curriculum and look for new and exciting topics for our children. Benefitting from a town centre location means that we are able to offer same-day outings to parks, the beach, the library and local galleries. The children also enjoy regular visits to the beach as part of their Beach School Curriculum.
Standard Assessment Tests (SATs)
At Sion, we want to prioritise holistic development, individualised learning, and a broader curriculum. SATs can sometimes create high levels of stress and pressure for students, especially at a young age. We choose to create a more relaxed and nurturing learning environment, focusing on the joy of learning rather than the pressure of exams at this young age.
We believe that SATs do not accurately assess a student’s overall abilities and potential. We feel that standardised tests very often place too much emphasis on memorisation and regurgitation of information, rather than promoting creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Therefore, we prefer to evaluate students based on their ability to think independently, engage in analytical reasoning, and apply knowledge to real-world situations, which may not be adequately captured by SATs. We want to ensure that our Year 6 curriculum continues to focus on providing a more well-rounded education that includes an exciting range of subjects, arts, sports, and extracurricular activities.
As technology develops and the partnership between AI and human intelligence develops too, we want to ensure that our curriculum encourages and strengthens creativity and Critical Thinking.
By omitting SATs, we aim to alleviate unnecessary stress and allow students to develop a love for learning. The relationship with learning is essential – it starts in Nursery and is nurtured from that point right through to the A level years.
Our assessment programme and our methods of assessing students’ progress and abilities provide accurate representation of everyone’s capabilities. This includes teacher assessments, continuous evaluation, project-based assessments, portfolios, and other forms of qualitative evaluations that give a more comprehensive view of a student’s strengths and weaknesses.
