The four years that a child spends in Key Stage 2 will be among some of the most formative in that child’s life. Five or six years old when he or she begins in Year Two, that child will be ten or eleven at the end of Year 6. A lot will happen in that time and it is our aim to guide every child through the challenges of the curriculum in a way that will allow them to cope with the complexities of a world where rapid change is increasingly the dominant defining factor.

We strive to create a happy and safe learning environment where children are encouraged to contribute to the best of their ability. Their points of view are always encouraged and welcomed because they provide different perspectives that often throw light on what can be complex issues. In this way we hope to help them develop as confident individuals with lively, enquiring minds.

In the Junior School we promote tolerance for different races, religions and ways of life. We aim to help the children understand the world in which they live and the interdependence of individuals, groups and nations. We wish them appreciate human achievements and aspirations.

In Runnymede we believe that the teaching of English will not only be of great benefit academically to every child but that it is also central to their development as tolerant, responsible and caring individuals. Fluency and confidence in a language not only encourages personal communication it also provides an access into another culture through its literature. Therefore, the children are not only taught how to develop their skills in talking and listening, reading and writing, they are also exposed to a rich variety of literature. Using class and school libraries to meet their own personal tastes; extracts from classic novels, plays and poetry to become aquatinted with the best of English literature, they are encouraged to read deeply into the text to enrich both their understanding and their enjoyment of the story. Using these texts as a model, they, in turn, write their own adventures, pays and poems that they share with others.

Our teaching of Mathematics emphasises the development of number skills and particularly mental arithmetic. However, we also strongly encourage the children apply these number skills to the world around them. We want to foster in them the feeling that the use of number skills is not something confined to the classroom but is a part of their everyday lives. By asking them to solve problems with a purpose we hope to equip them with skills that will help them throughout their time in school and beyond. To this end, we give them as many practical activities as we can to capture their interest and enthusiasm.

All children want to know why the world is the way it is. Why do objects fall down? What makes a bulb light up? How do trees know when to shed their leaves in autumn? In Runnymede we believe it is our responsibility when teaching Science to help them find out. We teach them how to hypothesise, how to design investigations and then how to draw conclusions. Although the topics under investigation may differ in each year the criteria for success remains the same: children working confidently in groups under the supervision of the teacher but reaching their conclusions independently and as a result of their own efforts.

In Science, as in any other of the curriculum subjects, their findings are not always presented in a written form in their notebooks. With increasing emphasis being placed on IT skills, children at Runnymede often use computer technology to show their results in a graph, a spreadsheet or in a slideshow. In these multimedia displays, where children can learn to combine image and text, we hope to enhance their learning and stimulate their interest.

This emphasis on working in groups can also be found throughout Key Stage 2. We encourage them to work cooperatively to meet a challenge, be that in Science, Maths or Art and Design. We believe strongly that the children should be aware of others’ needs and are able to cooperate in a variety of settings. Children that develop these skills in school will be able to apply them outside of the classroom.

The residential visits which children make in Years 4, 5 and 6 also play their part in fostering this community spirit and feelings of comradeship. From the two nights spent away from home by Year 4 to the five days camping in Year 6, we want to broaden the experiences of the children and, very importantly, have fun!

Apart from these, there are regular educational visits made during the school year to support the curriculum. This year the children of Year 3 not only made very successful visits to Segóbriga to study the Romans and to Faunia to study the impact of weather on animals’ habitats, they also made full use of the local environment in their mapping expedition to Diversia. Year 4 returned to La Pedriza to complete their river study and as part of their project on the Ancient Egyptians made an enjoyable visit to the Archaeological Museum. Year 5 followed up their topic on sound with a visit to the Science Museum while Year 6 visited Faunia to examine animal adaptation to their habitats.

We want our children to feel positive and happy about themselves and to have opportunities to demonstrate how much they can do. We want them to feel confident in participating in school events such as sports day and drama productions. All our cildren have the opportunity to take part in class assemblies as well as in a school drama and musical production. This year Years 3 and 4 performed “Winter Tales” and Years 5 and 6, “Jason and the Argonauts”. We pride ourselves on these productions being inclusive and that we recognise that every child has a contribution to make. They work as a team and see the adults around them doing the same for a common goal.

At Runnymede in Key Stage 2, children are encouraged to take part in a wide variety of extracurricular activities. They include musical and sports activities. The school is a regular and very successful participant in inter-school sports events and many children are prepared for musical awards in singing and playing a wide variety of instruments.

Another central part of our philosophy is that children support those who are less fortunate than themselves. This year an enormous effort was made to raise money for Fundación Teodora, a Spanish charity that trains doctors in the art of being a clown. Once trained they are sent into hospitals to brighten up the lives of children who are often suffering from serious illnesses. Year 6 organised their own annual charity day as their own contribution and raised over 700 euros. When children see just how important their contribution is, and how they can help, they are inspired to do more.

Finally we are committed to the belief that the parents are the most enduring educators of our children and that a child’s education works best if it is a partnership between home and school. Therefore we welcome parents to participate in school life. The Head and teachers are delighted to discuss pupils’ progress with parents and we are most grateful to parents who give a little of their time to come into school to work alongside children and teachers. Parents are invited to share all special celebrations such as class assemblies with their children.

At the end of Key Stage 2 we hope that the children are ready and confident to move on to Secondary education and, above all, that they have enjoyed and benefited both academically and socially from their time in the Junior School. We hope that they have developed into independent, caring and confident people who will meet new challenges with the same success they enjoyed while in the Junior School.