Firstly, there is a focus on building each child’s self-esteem. A culture of caring is very evident where pupils are listened to and taken seriously. Encouragement and confidence building are an integral part of school life.

Our second core focus is life skills training. Curricular courses in public speaking, sexuality education, information technology, food technology, design technology, entrepreneurship, and leadership are undertaken.

Exposure to a variety of voluntary club activities provides a wide range of experiences to complement the academic programme. The junior years are an extremely influential stage during which pupils are keen to experiment. It is, therefore, an ideal time to introduce courses in self-assessment, goal-setting and forward planning.

Learning-how-to-learn is the third area of emphasis. Techniques such as brainstorming and mind mapping are taught and exercised. Creative problem solving and lateral thinking, as well as listening skills, form part of the programme. It is recognised at Kingswood Junior that learning is a lifelong activity and the skills for resource-based learning and cooperative learning are applied. The ability to access information, analyse it, extract relevant material and apply it, is seen as a fundamental life skill.

The fourth area of prominence is the core academic programme, which includes physical and religious education, music, drama and art.

Each child is encouraged to develop his or her individuality whilst recognising that personal freedom also involves responsibility to others.