Academics
Inspiring Academic Core Curriculum
Loretto Junior School provides a clear and progressive curriculum, which enables pupils to become successful, independent, responsible and confident young people. It begins with the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence, enhanced by the inclusion of additional topics, subjects and bespoke areas of interest. There is a cohesive approach to curriculum development throughout the Junior School, which then links into the academic curriculum at the Senior School.
Small Classes and Experienced Staff
Our classes are small, creating a classroom climate which encourages children to develop their self-confidence, resilience and tenacity. Modern teaching methods and resources are integrated with respected traditional educational values. Children are encouraged to work in a variety of ways – individually, in groups and as a whole class. Their learning is active, co-operative and collaborative, with teachers crafting lesson content to meet the different needs and abilities of their pupils.
Class teachers lead the tuition in our core academic subjects, with specialist teachers leading Art, Drama, French, Music and PE lessons. Specialist Science teaching is introduced at the start of Year 7.
Our Pre-School has its own dedicated learning spaces, consisting of two bright and lively indoor classrooms and an outdoor learning area, adjacent to the Early Years playground. Children regularly visit other parts of the Loretto campus for assemblies, Chapel services, specialist lessons and Forest School.
In Pre-School, each child is encouraged to develop a love of learning and they are given opportunities to build solid foundations for lifelong skills development. Our structured, teacher-led provision translates children’s natural curiosity into valuable learning and skills development from an early age.
Carefully assessing each child’s progress plays a key role in our approach to teaching, and we closely involve parents to support children’s learning. We work in partnership with families, and share children’s achievements through Learning Journals, individual meetings and with regular written reports.
As well as our outstanding curriculum, we also offer wrap-around care. This consists of optional Breakfast Club and Twilight sessions to give busy, working parents much needed flexibility with pick up times.
Our curriculum is precisely designed, and stimulating resources carefully selected, to encourage the emotional, social, physical and intellectual development of each child, as well as their ability to work in a group, and as part of a team. Children are encouraged to develop independence, confidence and resilience, preparing them for a fulfilling life.
Activities are organised into eight broad areas: –
- Language and Literacy
- Mathematics and Numeracy
- Science
- Social Studies
- Religious and Moral Education
- Health and Wellbeing
- Expressive Arts
- Technology
We foster a language-rich environment where stories, rhymes, songs and children’s own increasingly complex speech are all developed. We also ensure that children engage in many physical activities to develop the fine motor skills required to learn to write, and expose them to a print-rich environment where writing makes increasing sense as children grow.
Numeracy skills are developed seamlessly through games, songs and stories. We use both high-quality resources and the local environment to ensure that children develop strong number sense and deep understanding of mathematical concepts.
Outdoor learning also plays an important role in child development and our spacious, leafy campus, situated next to the local beach and nature reserve, enables us to offer children exceptional outdoor activities, properly supported by highly trained staff. Children also benefit from dedicated time in our Forest School with qualified Forest School Leaders.
Our broad curriculum carefully enables Pre-School children to gain vital underpinning skills for literacy and numeracy, which are crucial in helping them to make a flying start when they progress to the start of their formal schooling in Year 1.
Our classes in Years 1-3 are also known as the Early Years. They are based primarily in our Esk Bank building, with their own dedicated play area. Children regularly visit other parts of the Loretto campus for assemblies, performances, Chapel services, specialist lessons, Forest School, sport and activities. They also enjoy a variety of local day trips that link to curriculum topics and help to bring learning to life.
In the Early Years classes, we encourage children to develop intellectual curiosity and an enquiring mind. Our strong curriculum draws out the best possible standards across a wide range of core subjects. We embrace a wide variety of methods and innovative approaches, consciously helping children to develop the skills for collaborative learning. Fostering open-ended problem solving, we use philosophical enquiries to hone children’s thinking skills. We cultivate children’s natural curiosity through varied approaches to engaging activities, exploration and intellectual challenge.
Carefully assessing each child’s progress plays a key role in our approach to teaching, and we closely involve parents to support children’s learning. We work in partnership with families, and share children’s achievements through learning journals, individual meetings, and with regular written reports.
We ask parents to support their children with reading and homework activities to ensure they are completed efficiently and thoroughly. Evidence shows that pupils who perform well in school tend to be those who practise regularly and who are encouraged both at school and at home.
As well as our outstanding curriculum, we also offer an extensive programme of activities and an extended After School Club. This offers great enrichment to our curriculum, as well as giving our busy, working parents much needed flexibility with pick up times.
Communication is a fundamental part of education for life, so we place particular emphasis on developing reading, writing, speaking and listening skills through a range of differentiated activities. Numeracy skills are developed through problem solving puzzles, asking questions, using pictures and graphs, as well as more traditional mathematical methods. Technology has caused a fundamental shift in the way people live and work, so we prepare children for this future by promoting the healthy use of technology. Online Safety is an essential part of this and is taught in all classes.
Our curriculum includes a broad range of subjects, including: –
- Art
- Drama
- English
- French
- Health and Wellbeing
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
- Maths
- Music
- Physical Education (PE)
- Religious and Moral Education
- Science
- Social Studies (History and Geography)
During Years 4-7 children continue to focus on the areas of literacy and numeracy, with a timetable that promotes opportunities to work on these core subjects each day. Embedding these fundamentals during the Junior School years enables pupils to thrive academically later on.
To complement English and Maths, each subject begins to develop its own character. Whilst there are still cross-curricular links between different subjects, the specialist teaching enables children to delve deeper into each subject discipline. Growing independence is encouraged and children have opportunities to explore topics that interest them within projects, presentations and extension assignments. We are often impressed by the high level of achievement that individual children can reach within this age group.
In Year 7, some lessons start to be taught at the Senior School campus, where specialist facilities can enhance the curriculum opportunities. It also enables the pupils to begin their transition to full time Senior School, in preparation for a full time move in the following year. Pupils enjoy meeting new teachers and working in different class groups at this stage.
Our curriculum includes a broad range of subjects, including:
- Social Studies (History and Geography)
- Art
- Drama
- English
- French
- Health and Wellbeing
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
- Maths
- Music
- Physical Education (PE)
- Religious and Moral Education
- Science
At Loretto, we support all pupils, including those who excel from the start and those who require different approaches to learning to enable them to thrive. Support is given in class, in small groups and to individual pupils. Teachers are offered specialist advice from dedicated Support for Learning staff and through whole staff training. We work hard to meet the needs of each individual, liaising with parents and, where appropriate, outside professionals.
Often, the first stage of identifying additional needs will be teacher observation in class or following an internal assessment. Staff and parents liaise and an individual pupil profile is created. Appropriate support is then arranged and regularly reviewed. For gifted and talented pupils, this could be a range of extension activities and challenges. For children with specific learning difficulties, this could be one or more interventions to support the development of core skills. As pupils move up through the school, their level of support is reviewed and adjusted as necessary.
Our goal is for every one of our children to thrive and to take a full part in school life. When their individual needs are supported and they are involved in activities that they enjoy, we see pupils flourish. It is hugely rewarding to see children going on to be successful both at school and later in life, as a result of timely interventions, individualised support and positive encouragement.