Children in our Junior School are exposed to the British International Curriculum incorporating the very best of the English and South African educational systems to develop a challenging and internationally recognised curriculum.
Chesterhouse provides education for boys and girls in English medium from the age of four years old in our Nursery class through to the end of the child’s time in our Junior School in Year 7. Following in the tradition of the English system we name our grades as Years – hence the terminology Year 1 to Year 7. Grades equate to Years for those that are familiar with the South African education system.
While our emphasis in Key Stage One which includes Years 1 and 2 is on Literacy, Numeracy and Science, children are exposed to a broad based curriculum. Music, Drama, Art, Computer Studies, History, Geography, Life Skills, Design and Technology, Physical Education and Religious Education are taught from Year 1, to which is added a wide range of extra mural activities and games.
In our Key Stage Two phase, classes range from Year 3 to Year 7. The curriculum continues in the same subjects and disciplines as per our 1st Key Stage. Afrikaans and French are the two second languages offered at the school and tuition in these begins in Year 3 and Year 5 respectively. The key emphasis remains on Literacy, Numeracy and Science.
From Year 5 onwards, children begin with quarterly Test Weeks preparing them for the examinations that are written in Year 7 and which continue in the Senior School.
We voluntarily participate in national Olympiads and our children always fare very well in these in subjects like Literacy, Mathematics and General Knowledge. A particular such competition, the Conquesta Olympiad is one that we are proud to participate in and excel as a Junior School.
We have also recently made the decision to participate in the Western Cape Education Department benchmarking tests that ensure that the educational standards in Literacy, Numeracy and Afrikaans are being met by all schools in the province and the country. We are confident that these will provide the assurance that we are about quality education.
Our staff development programme ensures that we continuously enrich teachers’ broad education knowledge through further workshops that are organised on a regular basis. These workshops address topics like hand eye coordination, visual perception difficulties, ADHD and autism among many others.
Core Curriculum Clinics
At Chesterhouse we believe that academic support for those children that need assistance must be given at the school by our own teachers who get to know the children well and can identify with their particular barrier within a specific section of a specific subject. It is for this reason that we offer Core Curriculum clinics for English, Afrikaans, and Mathematics free of charge in the afternoons after school for children in Year 6 and 7. Children can elect to attend a clinic or the suggestion is made by the responsible teacher in order to assist the child. Parents are informed if the child is requested to attend a clinic.
