Year in review
Over the last twelve years meeting many prospective parents, it is apparent that they want their children to be happy, with opportunities to pursue a range of interests and to find out who they are. What has changed, is that post-Covid parents want to give their children space, to let them find out what they want to pursue, without hothousing or programming of any kind. With our scaffolded structure of a broad curriculum and a wide selection of extra-curricular activity, Russell House offers children precisely the environment they seek and I applaud parents who adopt a hands-off approach, trusting us to do what we do, to challenge their children, not because it is easy but because it is hard, for we know that we only learn when we are out of our comfort zones.
Craig McCarthy
HEADMASTER
Quick link: Latest ISI Report
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.