Departments

Kingsmead School has three distinct departments: Infant (ages 2-7), Junior (ages 7-11) and Senior (ages 11-16). Each department has its own administration and accommodation: Infants occupy the homely surroundings of a fine Victorian red-brick house with discrete and secure outdoor play facilities, our Juniors are in Watts House - which has been the heart of the school since its foundation in 1904. Set slightly apart, across a quiet, leafy lane, lies the Seniors' campus. This is dominated by the Centenary Building, Kingsmead's latest major development.

Kingsmead also has an extensive and renowned Learning Support service which can offer individual pupils enviable levels of targeted help whenever required. All three Departments are able to call on this service.

Infant

The Infant department offers a home from home for children as they begin their education, whether it be on a full time basis or just a few sessions each week. Our little ones play together and learn in family-sized groups with a high adult-to-child ratio. As they move on, their teaching and learning programme adheres broadly to the National Curriculum but it is supplemented at all levels by appropriate additional material. Key Stage 1 S.A.T. exams are given to seven-year-olds, and results are typically well above the national average.

Nursery grants are accepted up to the age of five. Children can arrive from 8.10am and after-school care is available from the end of the school day at 3.30pm until 6pm.

Junior

As the educational journey continues, our children move to the bigger surroundings of Watts House, a building they have come to know during their Infant years. Learning continues in small classes, each with their own form teacher. However, as children progress through the Junior department, they increasingly have contact with specialist teachers in certain areas of the curriculum.

Children who are academically able are stretched, and those for whom learning is less easy are encouraged and supported to achieve the very best they can. All children are taught to appreciate each other's talents and gifts. The department does prepare children for 11+ and other exams which some pupils take in Year 6, as well as for the Key Stage 2 S.A.T. exams, but a great many Kingsmead families value the stability and security of known surroundings and established relationships, and choose the seamless transition to secondary education offered by the school.

Senior

A strong pastoral system - acclaimed as ‘outstanding’ in our 2004 inspection - contributes much to the strength of the Senior Department at Kingsmead. At the end of Year 9, GCSE options are explored. Working in small class and group sizes, students are encouraged to excel in their academic work; successes at GCSE include excellent grades in English Language, English Literature, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography, French, Latin, Art, I.C.T., R.E, Music, Child Development, German, Spanish, Cantonese and P.E.

Academic learning is complemented by sporting, moral, cultural, musical and spiritual challenges. All students are encouraged to become involved in many of the extra-curricular options we offer: many have the opportunity to represent the school in a wide range of sports, others feature in music concerts or stage shows. All have every encouragement to get the most out of all the opportunities on offer here, to leave us as beneficiaries of a fully rounded education.

Learning Support

We also have a fine reputation for our specialist learning support unit which has been in existence for nearly 40 years. Kingsmead was the first school in the region to develop a system for recognising learning difficulties at the earliest stage and implementing a planned support programme which is individually tailored to the needs of the child. Staffed by highly qualified and experienced teachers, the school has great success in helping children of all ages to develop strategies for learning which overcome their difficulties.

Every individual is important to us and all our pupils can expect to celebrate personal achievement, in every realm of their lives, during their time with us at Kingsmead.