ACADEMICS

Modern families want options, they want choice and this includes a range of secondary schools when the time comes. We continue to offer the widest choice of any prep school in the area with our current Form 7 set to benefit from this once again.

86% of the pupils who sat the Kent Test achieved grammar status and they secured 23 offers from independent secondary schools. Amongst these offers were 5 academic scholarships, and 3 sports scholarships.

Our 19 leaving pupils are heading to 9 different secondary schools, including independent and super-selective grammar schools.

Mathematics

Mathematics has a new lead in the capable form of Mr Shield, but we have still enjoyed old favourites such as the First Maths Challenge and the Primary Maths Challenge. These national competitions require deep mathematical thinking to tackle complex word problems.

In the First challenge, we were delighted to award Gold certificates to Lottie, Zachary and Caitlin in Form 5 and to Jesse in Form 4. This is a fine precursor to the Primary Maths Challenge for our senior pupils, where Anders scored sufficiently well to progress to the second round, earning a National Bronze Level certificate.

In the Summer Term, children in Forms 6 and 7 aimed to qualify for the Mathematics Team, competing in the Quiz Club’s National Maths Championship. The team of four: Anders, Lucy, Mia and Aimee demonstrated excellent knowledge and teamwork to reach the semi-finals.

A new-look, inclusive Inter-House Maths competition placed an emphasis on logic, problem-solving and strategy. Johnson emerged victorious, with children of all age groups competing and enjoying their mathematical puzzles. 

Science and PSHE

In addition to the rigour of academic science in the Science Centre, we recognise that science is everywhere and is a subject that has many curricular crossovers.

 

 

 

 

 

Our facilities allow the children to explore science beyond the classroom. On the Paddock, children are able to observe nature all around them. At The Farm, pupils are able to witness growth and development first hand. For example, the bean sprouts favoured by Form 2 in their pursuit of Jack’s giant, the aphids and ladybirds on said beanstalks or perhaps the toad that has taken up residence by our potatoes. Potatoes that, incidentally, find their way into the salad bar at lunch.

Expressing science through art was required as pupils were asked to envisage a futuristic city that was both sustainable and healthy for its inhabitants. Our Humanities Week activities gave the children in Forms 4 and 5 the opportunity to think like Greek scientists and make their very own thermometers.

Our Languages Day provided an opportunity for the children to conduct flame tests on unidentified compounds, but all in French. And another good example of cross-curricular science was our Form 4 foray into the world of Crime Scene Investigation. It turns out Mrs Curling had no intention of keeping the violin she took after Form 4 assessed the evidence and brought charges of theft. I want to thank Russell House parent and real life CSI, Mrs H-G, for her inspirational time with the children.

 

Humanities and Modern Foreign Languages

In a similar vein, Humanities at Russell House has always been taught in a multidisciplinary fashion, but in addition to fact acquisition, so handy in producing quality general knowledge quiz teams, we seek to develop reasoning and critical thinking skills. History and Religious Studies can only ever present a particular view of events and so it is vital that we ask children to challenge accepted wisdom and critically assess the quality of evidence before them. A good example of this approach is the Form 7 trip to the Royal Courts of Justice in London. There the children were given a real world insight into how our criminal justice system works with the children taking part in a mock trial in an actual British courtroom. The trial tested the children's ability to think under pressure, their ability to reason and to employ critical thinking, which is all linked to that need to embrace complexity.

Understanding that complexity is a global phenomenon, and it is important for our languages department to flourish as much as it does. We continue to deliver engaging lessons and assemblies where music, rhyme and even dance enhance our pupils' learning of French, our curricular language, and German, Spanish and Mandarin which are part of our activities programme.

English and Drama

Of vital importance is a command of our own language and English and Drama continue to thrive right across the school, with the children's creativity and independent thought always at the forefront. From the youngest years, the pupils have engaged in contextualised writing activities, such as Form 2 helping the giant to get his stolen money back from Jack, or creating a backstory for one of Fagin's gang in the upper Main School’s study of Dickens. The environment and our relationship with the world around us are often at the heart of other creative topics and these themes blend with other academic pursuits. Of particular note in this regard, was the high standard of entries for the Independent Schools Association (ISA) poetry competition centred around the topic of Hope.

 The ability to vocalise alignment or dissent with world views is crucial and public speaking as a discrete skill is very important to us. We delight in offering the children as many opportunities to sharpen this skill as possible. Lessons, assemblies, Speech club, Brights and School Council are just a few of those opportunities and our Form 7s have the ability to compete in the annual Public Speaking Competition. With the addition of tough questioning from a panel of judges this year, the finalists were challenged to display just how deeply they understood their chosen subject.

Drama throughout the school underpins confidence building, and in addition to the outstanding drama productions we have all enjoyed, the children have benefited from regular drama and writer workshops. LAMDA provides another confidence building outlet, and we enjoyed a one hundred percent pass rate with two thirds at Distinction level and just over a quarter at Merit level.

 

SPORTS

A Russell House sporting year always begins with football and hockey. The U8A and U9 teams both went through the season undefeated with some resounding wins under their belts. We recognise a lot of potential in this group; consider, the U8A team scored 37 goals and conceded only 6. The U8B team also enjoyed a winning season.

The U10 and 11 boys played their football together and enjoyed a successful term. The A team crafted some wonderful team goals and the B team won seven of ten games with a 16 strong goal difference.

In hockey, our U8s had a very positive first competitive season and we have identified some very promising players in the ranks. The girls scored some impressive goals and offered strong defence throughout, which set up an impressive 8 - nil win to close out their Winter Term.

Our U9A team were a force to be reckoned with, remaining undefeated in all of their regular fixtures and taking top honours in a local hockey tournament. The U9B team also stood out this year, winning all but one of their matches.

The U10 and 11 squad had mixed results, but they saved their best hockey for the ISA National Finals, where they won the group and finished 5th equal.

The Inter-house competitions for the Autumn Term were very closely contested with, Cavell proving worthy champions in football and Johnson winning the hockey for a fourth time.

Come the New Year and the girls swapped their sticks for netball bibs. Our U8As were unbeaten and the U8 and 9B team won all bar one of their matches. Our U9A team continued their success from the hockey season and were also unbeaten. They also performed well in tournament play and ended their season, scoring freely to take an impressive win.

Further up the school, it was a tough netball season for our U10 and 11 teams, but again the girls played impressively at the ISA Regional Championships to qualify for the National Finals. The hockey Inter-House honours went to Johnson.

Meanwhile, the boys looked to get muddy in the rugby season. The U9 boys enjoyed their introduction to tackling and the U10 and 11 A team won all but one of their games, exhibiting courage and determination in the face of stiff opposition. The B team, playing touch rugby, had a fixture list that succumbed to the poor weather, but they were unbeaten thanks to some high-quality support play. The inter-house competition went to Nightingale.

Henry and Isla represented the school admirably following qualification for the ISA National Cross Country Championship running in the U11 category, a year early.