Welcome
On entering Middle School Dallington children are encouraged to take even more responsibility both for their own learning and as a group member. Our curriculum is topic based which enables children to develop their research and problem solving skills. This allows them to become autonomous learners which in turn builds their self esteem and self confidence.
By this stage, most children should have sufficiently established reading and comprehension skills to undertake independent research. Maths skills are developed and extended in both recorded and practical forms.
The children are encouraged to become self-regulated learners, as they learn to gather information from a variety of sources and research skills take a leap forward.
Towards the end of Year 3 the children are given more responsibility with organisation of time. We usually do at least four projects each academic year. For each of these projects we organise a trip which appertains to the particular project. Art is often included as a springboard into our projects and we regularly visit art galleries.
Years 5 and 6
Years 5 and 6 in Middle School work together in a two years’ cycle, allowing children in Year 5 to join Year 6 for extension work, whist allowing the children in Year 6 to have the opportunity to re-visit subjects covered, especially within the Maths curriculum, should it be to their benefit and, yes, the children often request this practice!
To advise parents about the most appropriate Secondary Schools for their children, Jo Page, a specialist in support teaching and study skills, carries out standardised assessments with Years 5 and 6. These give a formal academic profile of each child, so that given advice indicates realistic choices for future schooling.
Although ‘group’ is the operative word, each child continues to work and be treated as an individual within the group, however, each child needs to remember that their well-being, should not be to the detriment of others.
