Learning in the classroom at Cheam is exciting and varied. Subjects are largely taught by specialists across the range of: English, Maths, Science, French, Latin, Geography, History, Humanities, Philosophy and Ethics, Art, D&T, ICT, Drama, Music, PE, and PSCEE. The information below highlights which year groups are taught each subject and which subjects are taught in sets rather than mixed ability forms.
From Year 3 onwards the children are taught a wide range of subjects with subject specialists in French and PE. The children learn as a class for all subjects except for maths, where they are split into smaller groups based on the level of support or extension required.
When the children start in Year 4, they start to do Saturdays, this includes being a part of the morning Chapel service and an extra games session in the afternoon. We add STAR lessons to their curriculum, which helps prepare them for the pre-tests in Year 6. Subject specialists are used for all subjects from Year 4 onwards as the children move away from the form teacher. Year 4 form tutors will take the children in their forms for at least one core subject.
In Year 5 the children are also setted in French and start to study Latin, starting slowly with vocabulary and basic grammar before gaining complexity in Year 6.
STAR lessons are then stopped in Year 6 as the pre-test is completed by November, the children then have more time to focus on their examined subjects, Latin sets are then combined with the French to ensure that the children are working at the right pace.
In Year 7, curricular drama is lost from the timetable to allow for more time on the examined subjects and allow for a general lesson, in which the children work independently and hone their study skills. Science is often setted alongside maths and English will vary depending on the year group. History and Philosophy and Ethics are combined in Year 7 to make Humanities, which incorporates both subjects taught by the same subject specialist.
In Year 8, the children move from doing both Art and D&T, to having one term of each, Wellbeing is then taught to help the children manage themselves in the run up to their exams. Humanities and Geography might also be set with languages at this point, again we retain the flexibility to do the best thing for each cohort as it comes through. Curricular music is lost for Year 8 pupils but is replaced with an additional choir practice.
