Middle Years Matters

The academic aims of the King’s School are:

1 That every pupil fulfils his or her academic potential;

2 That teachers and pupils pursue excellence in teaching and learning;

3 That our pupils develop a love of learning, both individually and with others, and acquire a wide range of learning skills; and

Academic Matters

King’s Worcester is academically ambitious and offers a wide ranging and stimulating curriculum. It is designed to instil a lifelong love of learning and ensure that pupils have a broad and balanced education. When pupils move into the Middle Years, the challenge and academic demands of each subject will grow and provide opportunities for richer and deeper understanding.

At King’s pupils study 10 GCSEs. These are selected in the Spring Term of the Lower Remove. All pupils are entered for the GCSE or IGCSE examinations, most of which are taken at the end of the Fifth Form. Pupils study these courses throughout the Upper Remove and Fifth Form; however, some subjects do begin the teaching of their GCSE curriculum in the Lower Remove.

The subjects that all pupils take are English: both Language and Literature, leading to two IGCSEs; Mathematics; Physics; Chemistry; Biology; a Modern Foreign Language: at least one of French, German or Spanish; Physical Education and Games (non-examined); PSHE and Religion and Philosophy (non-examined).

In addition to these core subjects, pupils also choose three from the following: Art; German; Drama; History; Design and Technology; Latin; Classical Civilisation; Music; Physical Education; Geography; Computing; Spanish; Religion and Philosophy; French.

Homework in the Middle Years

Pupils in the Middle Years will likely notice an increase in the expectations of homework. At King’s our expectations are high, and teachers will set homework each week in line with the homework timetable. We want pupils to achieve their very best, and regular homework is known to lead to improved grades, more resilience, effective time management and the development of independent study skills. In the Lower Remove, each piece of homework is designed to take 25 minutes, and in the Upper Remove and Fifth Form, 30 minutes.

We know that when pupils move into the Middle Years, managing the change in expectations can be a challenge, so we encourage pupils to speak with their Year Group Tutor and House Tutor to help them manage their time.

4 That we create an environment in which pupils are confident in their ability and increasingly ready to take responsibility for their own learning.

We aim to offer a curriculum that supports these academic aims. It is also our aim that our curriculum is intellectually challenging and offers cultural, spiritual and physical development which will prepare our pupils successfully for their future beyond school.

Rewards and Praise

Offering rewards and praise is one of the fundamental ways in which we encourage a sense of belonging, community and ownership. We care about embedding intrinsic motivation in all of our pupils and actively encourage them always to try their very best.

A range of different rewards are applied over the year by teachers for outstanding behaviour, effort and academic achievement. They are accessible to all pupils and are given out in many areas of school life.

When a pupil produces a good piece of work in relation to his or her abilities, Merits are given to reward this effort. Headmaster’s Commendations are given for exceptional pieces of work or for sustained quality in work. Postcards home and other direct contact with parents also recognises outstanding effort or achievement.

We also actively celebrate pupil success via the school news on our website, in our weekly e-newsletter and on social media.