Our Philosophy

At Barrow Hills, we recognise that children may be particularly gifted or may have a learning difference in one or more subjects.  It is important that they are able to have access to the most appropriate methods to enable them to reach their full potential in their understanding, enquiry and learning.  As a largely non-selective school, we take care to ensure that we cater for the full ability range that can appear in any one year group or class or individual.

With two of the most educationally cutting edge programmes of study in place for English and Mathematics, Read Write Inc. and Making Maths Make Sense which were initiated at Barrow Hills in June 2008 and January 2009 respectively, we can be sure we are at the forefront of educational achievement  They have both had a dramatic and positive impact on the depth of understanding and attainment of children throughout the School.  The most able children leaving Year 2 are able to demonstrate achievements in English and Maths which place them at least 18 months ahead of their calendar age norm.

In the Junior and Upper Prep departments, children are set in English and Mathematics in all six years.  In addition, from Year 6 they are dynamically streamed in the other academic areas of learning - Arts, Humanities, Languages and Science.  This enables the school to deliver education closely tailored to each child's needs.

If a child is identified as a potential scholar they are assigned an educational mentor from the teaching staff who will meet with them fortnightly to ensure they are coping with the additional rigours that scholarship often demands.  The choice of mentor may initially be based on ability at a particular subject or on all-round ability but, as the children get older, they are able to choose their own mentor.

A child who may have a learning difference and finds traditional methods of accessing lessons difficult will be given the opportunity to have one-to-one sessions with our SENCo and her team.  The SENCo can then create targeted approaches to accessing learning at all levels.  However, Barrow Hills is not a dyslexia specialist school and may well not be the right school for those with moderate to severe learning differences.  More detailed information on individual support can be obtained from the SENCo, Yvette Unsworth (yvette.unsworth@barrowhills.org.uk ).

The most formative learning comes through the acquisition of knowledge of oneself, this is done through being given the opportunity to take intellectual risks in learning, demanding greater things, confronting tougher opponents and seeking harder challenges; or as Mark Twain put it: 'If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.'

Want to know more? Please contact me.

Russell Fisher, Director of Studies

russell.fisher@barrowhills.org.uk