Education

Learning beyond the classroom

At PGHS, we offer pupils an excellent academic education in a nurturing and caring environment. This starts in our Nursery when they are aged 3-4 years old and continues as they move through to the Main School when they are ready to start in Reception.

At the Nursery, we equip the children with everything they need to be ready to step into the big wide world. We offer a warm and inspiring space in which the young girls explore and learn, enabling them to fulfil their potential. The Nursery has excellent classroom facilities and the garden provides opportunities for being active and observing the natural world.

When the girls are ready for “big school”, they move on to our Prep Department (ages 4-7). In Reception, they have access to our excellent classroom teachers as well as specialist teaching in Drama, Music and PE. From Year 1, this is complemented by Design and Technology in the D&T workshop, Art, and Modern Foreign Languages (French and Spanish). As the girls progress through the School, they receive additional specialist teaching in ICT, Drama, and Science in the Science Labs.

We believe it is important to bring learning to life, and as such we do a whole host of different activities on and off-site to broaden the girls’ experiences. We have done so much this year!

And this is what our Year 1 girls said…

My favourite thing in Woodcroft was the pond dipping. Using the nets was great fun. All you had to do is dip the net into the pond and scoop it all up and then put it in a tub full of water.

My favourite part is the pond dipping. I found so many Ramshorn snails.

Out and about locally

The pupils love to explore our local area, learning about the world around us. Earlier this year, the Nursery girls visited Forty Hall Farm. During their visit, they enjoyed looking at the flowers in the walled garden and then they were given a tour of the farm by one of the volunteers. They were delighted to see all the baby farm animals up close.

As part of our new Outdoor Learning programme, all classes in the Prep Department have been to the nearby Woodcroft Wildspace, in N21. During their recent visits they participated in mini beast hunting, pond dipping and den-building. They have also learnt about the trees, plants, flowers and beehives! We’ve also had some excellent external companies and authors come in to work with the children at School, including:

• WonderDome the mobile planetarium show, inspiring space explorers • Author visits including the renowned author Caroline Green, and several local authors including Anjli Shah, and

Michelle Eshkeri & Jodie Webber • Drama productions by Quantum Theatre • ZooLab workshop

What makes us special?

PGHS is a truly fantastic school. Our most recent ISI Inspection rated us as “excellent”, the highest possible grade, in every area. They recognised the incredible work that the dedicated teaching and support staff do to enable all of our pupils to reach their full academic potential in a safe and caring environment in line with our School motto By Love Serve One Another.

We believe PGHS can offer your daughter an excellent all-round education, giving her the very best start to school life. For more information, to join one of our Open Days, or to book a personal tour, please visit www.pghs.co.uk or call us on 020 8886 1135.

11+

Exam Prep

By Anna Coulson – Champion Tutor

Inspired by a background in education and a track record of supporting the mental wellbeing of students, co-founder Anna Coulson created Champion Tutor, to offer private one-to-one and group online tuition with a difference. Here, Anna provides Cherubs readers with some top tips to pass the 11+ exam.

1. Make the right school choice

Think carefully which school your child wants to try for, consider how the school would fit into family life and commitments. Children should have a good balance between school and outside activities to enable them to perform to the best of their ability. Visit the schools on your shortlist and get a real idea of what life would be like for your child. Knowing where you’re heading is a great motivator, so a goal is essential.

2. Choose the right preparation plan

There are several ways to prepare you for the exam. Recent research from the Education Endowment Foundation shows that children who are in receipt of one to one tuition make five months, additional progress against their peers. Consider a tutor for your child and find a perfect match, your child needs to be confident, happy and comfortable to learn.

3. Concentrate on maths and English

As a starting point for 11+ exams, concentrate on brushing up on maths and English, encourage them to read every day and practise their times tables. Schedule in some spelling work and mental maths each week to improve on their skills.

4. Develop a wide vocabulary

A wide vocabulary is best developed over time, reading a wide range of texts, newspapers, talking to adults and debating all help to develop a love of language and the accurate use.

5. Practise times tables

To pass the 11+ your child must have a rock-solid knowledge of their times tables. This skill will help them work quickly and accurately in the maths portion and get a better result.

At school, maths lessons tend to move on before a child has acquired an understanding of the times table fully. This is due to the pressure of the curriculum, so make sure you keep practising them together or with your tutor.

6. Make a plan and stick to it

When you have made your plan and can see it is working for your child, ignore what other parents are doing. You will hear parents talking about how many hours of study their child is doing, or the complex questions they are tackling. If your system is working for you and your child, its fine.

7. Remember to expose your child to some practise papers

Practice of papers for the school of choice is so important, great revision and preparation. The more variety of questions helps broaden their understanding.

8. Stamina is important

Both you and your child need stamina to get through this. You need stamina to dedicate the time needed to help with their learning, and they will need the stamina to get through the exam itself. The exam day is very demanding, and some children may have never had to work so hard for so long before. Try some mock days yourself or with a tutor to help your child get a feel for what the day will be like and practice for having to concentrate for such an extended period.

9. Remember to stay calm

It is important to keep a sense of normality at exam time, encourage your child to include extra-curricular activities, family commitments and other important tasks in their revision timetables. Having breaks in long revision periods with other events will also help make the exam period seem less daunting overall.

Help your child to detox from screen time, having phones put away when studying is good practice and also improves concentration. Encourage time in the day for a walk and away from social media to help clear the mind and avoid distraction.

Short, sharp bursts are more effective than prolonged time studying. Allocating 15 minutes to a subject will help your child to be better engaged and motivated.

Reflecting on how successful a study session was helps your child appreciate how much they are learning. Encouraging them to make a list of things they learnt, the parts they are confident with and bits of study that need more work will help them remain focused.

Remind your child that, although exams and qualifications are important for their future, they are not the be-all and end-all. There will always be options and other avenues to explore in the future.

Ready, Steady, School!

By Aimee Hart @hart_at_home

By this point in the year you will have found out which school your child will be attending. It’s a pretty stressful process isn’t it? Choosing a school, picking options, and waiting with baited breath to find out if you have been allocated your top choice or maybe having to go through appeals or sit on a waiting list. I’ve been there, I understand! Hopefully you’ve all received the desired outcome or at least come to terms with where your child will spend the next seven years of their life. It’s huge for parents – especially first time mums or mum of children with specific needs. But fear not, schools are designed and created with pastoral care at the heart and will welcome you with open arms, supporting you and your child’s needs as you both navigate this new chapter of your lives. Although September is still a little while off it’s a good idea to start talking to your child about school life and giving them some practise in things that they will be undertaking as part of their new routine. I don’t mean for you to get out the national curriculum and begin teaching fractions to four year olds, I mean to begin to develop attributes that will make their settling in time more manageable.

Friendships

School is a place we have to go for a big chunk of our lives, so having people around us we like, care about and trust is huge. Friendships groups evolve and change as children grow and they will gravitate to different friends as the years move on. Skills for being a good friend include:

• being able to share and take turns • recognsing feelings being displayed by others • wanting to play alongside other children or join a game • complimenting others and finding nice things to say.

Independence

School is a wonderful opportunity for children to develop independent skills. The school day can be busy and often teachers and staff have a level of expectation that children can carry out certain tasks without a high level of support. Obviously this doesn’t mean children are left to complete things they are unable to do, struggle with or find stressful but it builds their confidence in themselves. Skills for being independent in school include the ability to:

• dress and undress for PE • know what items to gather before home time • eat lunch and use cutlery on a basic level • play alone and be confident about what they enjoy doing.

Website: myevelynandme.com

Self-esteem

All children are different and have different personality traits. Even siblings display a variety of different interests and individualities. This is a good thing… how boring life would be if all children were the same! Children need to develop a sense of pride for who they are and what they want to give to the world. Schools work to further develop this and give children opportunities to grow further in their interests. Some children do struggle with vocalising what they are good at and sometime even talk negatively about themselves. Here are some techniques that are useful for raising children’s self-esteem:

• Tell children what they are good at, make sure they know you have noticed their efforts. • Allow children to also say what they aren’t good at and give them opportunities to practice. • Practice affirmations with the children; I am kind, I am strong, I am helpful, I am creative et cetera. • Project your self-esteem to them, try talking positively about yourself around them. All of these different elements can be modelled at home or with their siblings. When modelling these skills give praise and allow children to feel accomplished in their role play.

Knowledge comes when children are open and willing to learn and take on new information. This can be even more successful when children feel happy and safe in their environment. Improving these three skill elements will help children on their way to becoming a successful learner, friend and individual. School curriculums are designed to support the whole child and will always seek to improve their mental and educational needs.

For more information Find out more about about Sixth Form and Mount House School at Open Days, please call www.mounthouse.org.uk 020 8449 6889 or by calling 020 8449 6889 or visit the website or emailing admissions@ mounthouse.org.uk www.mounthouse.org.uk

AS GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

AS LEVEL THINKING SKILLS

AS LEVEL CITIZENSHIP

AS LEVEL LAW

GCSE LATIN

THE ACCREDITATION FOR LANGUAGES IN BUSINESS [FRENCH]

Aiming High

Successful schools are about the personal development of each child as an individual, and the development of each child’s skills and knowledge to enable them to make a positive contribution at school and in their adult lives.

At Mount House, students combine intellectual endeavour with an enthusiastic engagement which extends well beyond the classroom.

We are a small school with a signifi cant sense of community and we encourage students to aim high, to work hard to be the best they can be – whether it’s in the examination hall, on the sports fi eld, on stage or in the creative or performing arts.

Our small size is critical to creating those opportunities, and allowing us to guide each student so that they in turn can contribute to the creation of a stimulating and supportive community. I consider it a great privilege to be able to lead a unique school which is able to off er such a wonderful educational experience.

Academic achievement is of course integral to our students’ time here, but we would be disappointed if young people left Mount House with excellent exam results alone. Our goal is that students become confi dent and independent learners, prepared to tackle new and challenging ideas, undaunted by risks, and able to learn from failure. Our school motto “Inspiring Every Individual” exemplifi es this idea – at Mount House each person learns to be intellectually curious, optimistic and determined in all that they do – but to do so while making a contribution to the whole community and developing a sense of fun which will serve them well in life.

Sixth Form

Our Sixth Form are encouraged to engage in leadership opportunities in many aspects of Mount House life. We invite students to participate in School assemblies and promote opportunities for students to contribute to the school and wider communities through fundraising activities, as well as expecting Sixth Form students to play a leading role in the organisation of inter-house events and to encourage and support the participation of younger pupils.

As role models within our community Sixth Formers are Guardians, and throughout their Lower Sixth Year mentor one or two pupils in Year 7. Many Lower Sixth students help support Lower School students with their studies, particularly at GCSE where Lower Sixth students achieved highly. Sixth Formers supervise our Wellbeing Cafe where students who need a friendly face or support and guidance can drop in each lunchtime. Students contribute to, or indeed, run a variety of clubs and societies. The House of Equality is entirely Sixth Form run and Sixth Formers have contributed to Varsity Club, Chess Club and with the coaching of our lower school sports teams.

Our Student Leadership team embodies the community aspect of our Sixth Form. Mount House students will invariably enter positions of leadership in their later lives. The training and experience to prepare them for those positions starts with us.

If you think your son or daughter would enjoy being part of our community, please visit us on our Open Days on June 25th and September 24th. Only by seeing the school in action will you get a true fl avour of all that Mount House can off er.

I look forward to meeting you in person.

Mrs Sarah Richardson Head Mount House School