The Junior School mirrors the philosophy and ethos mentioned elsewhere in these pages but places special emphasis on creating a happy working atmosphere in which children will feel secure and confident from the start. We strive to promote a sense of belonging and a common purpose and endeavour to foster attitudes of mutual respect and care for one another regardless of differences of sex, race or religion. We expect high standards from our students and encourage them to do their best in everything they tackle and endeavour to provide them with the best possible preparation for the Secondary School.

The Head of the Junior School is responsible for the education and general running of the Nursery, Reception, Infant (Years 1 and 2) and Junior (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6) Departments. Parents may consult the Head about any academic or pastoral matter. Alternatively, they should consult the Headmaster of Runnymede, Mr F.M. Powell ().

The Nursery and Reception classes have their own coordinator who is mainly responsible for curriculum development. There are, at present, subject coordinators with responsibility for Design and Technology and Information Technology, English, Mathematics, Science and Humanities (History and Geography). They are responsible for curriculum development and the management of resources throughout the Junior School (Key Stages 1 and 2) in their subject area as well as for liaison with the Secondary School.

The Junior School is selective and all children are given an entrance test appropriate to their age in order to ascertain their level and also to see if they will benefit from the type of education we offer. In the case of a Nursery age child, however, this procedure is clearly inappropriate but where a child enters during the school year it is considered important that the teachers and parents should meet before the child starts school and that arrangements be made for the child to spend a couple of hours in the Nursery some time prior to the starting date. In this way the teachers are able to gain a clear idea of the child's stage of development and also ensure that the first days of school pass smoothly.

There is continuous teacher assessment and individual records are kept of the children's progress and these are passed on to the following class teacher to ensure continuity and progression. Year 1 and Year 2 classes follow an integrated, child-centred programme of work through which all the areas of the curriculum are covered in line with the National Curriculum. Years 3 to 6 adhere to a timetable to ensure that all areas of study are covered and that sufficient time is allocated to each of them. Many subject areas are taught through an integrated, topic-based approach although this gradually gives way to greater subject-based specialisation by Years 5 and 6. As an example of this, children are setted in Mathematics from Year 5 although the setting is not rigid and students may move from one group to another. Generally, the aim is to achieve a balance between class teaching, group activities and individual attention. Apart from the core areas of the curriculum -English Language, Mathematics and Science- students are also taught History and Geography, Design Technology, Art and Music.

Drama forms part of the English curriculum but very often finds expression in class assemblies which are performed by every Junior class twice a year, and in two major productions, one at Christmas, performed by Nursery, Reception and Years 1 and 2, and another at the end of the second term, performed by Years 3 to 6.

The Junior School has Macintosh computers as well as access to the Senior School Computer Room which has a network of Macintosh computers. The use of computers is integrated into all areas of the curriculum and a bank of appropriate software is gradually being built up.

Spanish is taught as a foreign language and children of Years 1 and 2 have three periods of Spanish a week in which elementary oral and written tasks are tackled at the child's level of understanding and the teachers also ensure that the term's topics covered in normal classroom work are in some way reflected in the Spanish lessons. From Years 3 to 6 the children are setted in three groups-beginners, intermediate and advanced-and they receive four periods per week. The advanced or bilingual group actually tackles the 'area social' and the programme of studies of the Spanish system.

Nursery, Reception and Years 1 and 2 are taught P.E. and Movement once a week in the fully-equipped gymnasium and there are further opportunities for outside games. There are twice-weekly sessions of Physical Education for Years 3 to 6 as well as a full programme of voluntary after-school sports and other activities for all children which include swimming, riding, tennis, basketball, volleyball, Brownies, etc.

Children in Year 2 take the Standard Assessment Tasks (S.A.T.S.) and the results are reported to parents. Since 1995 Year 6 have been taking the Key Stage 2 S.A.T.S. Year 6 children sit an exam for entry into the Secondary School. There is usually no problem regarding passing into the Senior School-continuous monitoring of each student's progress endeavours to reveal any difficulties and act upon them by then-but it does enable Senior School teachers the opportunity to decide on the most appropriate groups for individual children.