Together we achieve

Academic Ambition

Academic Ambition

At Highfield and Brookham, we provide a coherent academic journey right the way from Nursery through to Year 8. Your child will experience a dynamic, seamless and rich education based on experience and robust research delivered by passionate teachers in an inspirational setting.

Senior schools are looking for children who have a positive attitude, who are sparky and love learning. We have a culture of high expectation and our transformative approach will empower your child to become a critical thinker, curious questioner, compassionate individual and creative contributor. Our education embraces change, diversity and the progressing demands of the modern world. Your child is held at the heart of everything we do and every decision is made in their best interests. Our timetable is designed to ensure children are fully prepared for exams by providing plenty of time for the core subjects as well as providing breadth and added value. We will help your child develop a growth mindset, where mistakes are an important part of the learning process and encourage resilience and ambition. Mixed-ability classes remove the ceiling of attainment so the brightest children keep reaching for the next level of learning.

Specialist Teachers

In order for your child to achieve excellence they will be taught by a combination of subject specialist and key stage specialists. Our highly-experienced key stage teachers are skilled at teaching their specific age group. They design lessons with limitless possibilities to ensure your child reaches their potential and empower them to think independently, question, and develop deep understanding. In Nursery and Reception subject specialists will lead your child’s music, PE, swimming and Spanish lessons. Their core education is delivered by highly-qualified Early Years teachers. At each phase of the school your child will be taught by additional subject specialists. These subjects include science, art, drama, DT, games, digital literacy, modern foreign languages and Latin. By Year 7 your child will experience the senior school model of teaching where children are taught by subject specialist for all lessons and benefit from key stage specialists during form time.

Essential Skills

We believe in the importance of developing a set of essential skills. This will support your child socially, increase their learning outcomes and enhance their future career. There are eight essential skills that your child will be explicitly taught and use throughout their education. We treat these skills with just the same rigour as academic subjects:

  • Listening
  • Speaking
  • Creativity
  • Problem solving
  • Staying positive
  • Aiming high
  • Leadership
  • Teamwork

The Skills Builder Framework breaks each skill into steps so your child can practise each one at a level appropriate for them. Your child will be given the time to discuss their strengths and evidence their development.

Keys Diploma

Our Keys Diploma is a unique opportunity for children in Years 3- 8 to receive recognition for things that are not measured by examination results. Successful people are increasingly defined in terms of their ability to problem solve, stay positive, lead with empathy and aim high and not necessarily on exam success. Guided by their teachers, your child will record evidence of when and where they have applied or made progress in one of the eight essential skills, and record it in their Keys Diploma Passport. During their time at Highfield and Brookham your child will track their progress in the skills during each phase, Lower Prep, Middle Prep and Upper Prep and at the end of each phase they will be awarded with a merit or distinction for progress, engagement and commitment across the eight skills in the four areas of school life, academic lessons, sporting activities creative arts, extra-curricular and enrichment. Tracking their own progress will help your child to recognise their strengths and areas for development and understand the way they learn.

United Nations Global Sustainability Development Goals

We have an obligation to ensure our children are globally aware and considerate. Underpinning our teaching and learning are the 17 United Nations Global Sustainable Development Goals, which recognise that ending deprivation must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. Your child will be inspired to be a responsible global citizen ready to play their part in helping build a better world. The first step on this journey is helping us achieve our target of being a carbon neutral Highfield and Brookham by 2030.

Enquiry Based Learning

Enquiry based learning is a method of teaching focused on self-directed research by children. It is a highly child-centred approach to learning, enhancing children’s learning experiences during their time at prep school. Each term your child will be posed a broad question such as ‘how have heroic failures of the past shaped today’s world?’ This question emphasises your child’s role in their learning process and asks them to actively engage with their learning. It creates a dynamic transformation in the classroom whereby we have a room full of teachers rather than a room full of pupils. This approach helps build essential skills and proves to your child that learning is meaningful. It allows them to think for themselves and add depth to their studies. Every lesson they will return to the ‘big question’ to allow your child to make links across all of their subject areas. This ensures their learning is truly embedded and simulates learning in the real world.

Enrichment

Our enrichment programme offers your child the chance to develop a whole range of skills through activities that challenge them, including bushcraft, model making, dance, community service, IT coding, STEM projects, lifesaving and hearing from inspiring guest speakers. Not to mention countless outreach possibilities. The benefits of our enrichment programme are far reaching, from cognitive development, communication skills, enhancing a sense of well-being, developing community links and raising an environmental, social and moral awareness. By us acknowledging and celebrating their commitment and involvement in all areas of school life and beyond, your child will flourish and become an accomplished and rounded individual.

Scholarship Programme

Our scholarship programme is for those children in Year 8 who are showing real strength across the board to push themselves in their last year at prep school. The scholarship syllabus extends beyond the normal demands of the curriculum and is an opportunity for those children with a real thirst for learning to expand their knowledge. The ultimate aim, of course, is to gain a scholarship but it’s in no way a failure if unsuccessful. It’s about the preparation process and stretching your child, giving them extra inspiration in their chosen subject, be it academic, sport, drama, music, art or design technology. Attending scholarship classes four times a week gives your child the freedom to discuss current affairs, share art appreciation and develop their presentation and debating skills. The scholarship programme is a demanding process and therefore, just as importantly, the classes allow our teachers to keep an eye on your child’s mental wellbeing.

Pupil Care

Co-curricular Breadth

Extra-curricular Excellence