Years 3-5

Our pupils leave the Pre Prep block at the end of Year 2 and move into the historic cobbled courtyard classrooms to continue their education journey at Riddlesworth Hall.

During Years 3-5, we aim to build on the excellent progress pupils will have made in our Pre Prep Block by encouraging the children to engage actively in their learning and by developing their self-confidence, whether through academic curriculum or the many wider opportunities in the school.

Teacher pupil relationships are vital to the learning of any child and the teaching structure within these important years recognises this. Pupils are taught the majority of their lessons by an experienced class teacher with an increasing number of subjects taught by specialists, for example Music, PE, RE, Mandarin, Humanities. We also begin encouraging the pupils to take responsibility for their progress, for example by inviting them to make decisions about the help they need to seek or to be aware of their strengths and areas they would like to develop further.

Aside from the academic, creative and sporting curriculum, time is set aside to investigate and reflect other important issues including relationships, generosity, competition and the importance of integrity.

A lot of fun is had within Years 3-5. Pupils are encouraged to make the most of the time available to them and are supported when they want to pursue their own projects.

Years 6-8

During Years 6-8 there is a strong emphasis on encouraging pupils to engage even more actively in their learning, through independent work and awareness of how they learn and make relationships.

Time is spent not just developing knowledge in preparation for their examinations but also learning how to support each other and the wider school and local community. Their excellent exam results are the result of a broad curriculum that meets not just their academic but also their personal needs and allows them to see the benefits of focussing their time and efforts on the needs of others as well as themselves.

Teacher:pupil relationships and the ability to see each pupil as an individual remain vital to the pupils learning – and this is achieved through their subject specific teachers offering many sports, activities and trips and acting as personal tutors, in which they see the pupils from many different perspectives.

Despite the hard work that is inevitable, there is still a lot of fun in the Years 6-8: Water-sports, Team-Building and Activity Days are a small selection of how our children let their hair down together.

Academic

The curriculum is structured to ensure breadth, balance and coherence of studies. Of particular interest and importance is the aspect of pupils motivation and we feel strongly that one of the most significant factors in motivating children is to ensure that their learning is relevant to the outside world and has a broad context that will assist them in consolidating their learning.

The School aims to provide a stimulating and carefully structured environment for learning in which all pupils are given solid grounding in the important skills of literacy and numeracy and a stimulating and thought provoking Humanities curriculum (Geography and History), Religious Education, Sciences, the expressive Arts (Music, Art and Drama), Foreign Languages (including Mandarin), Physical Education and Games. 

Students leaving Riddlesworth Hall successfully gain entry to local state schools and independent schools, for example; Framlingham, Culford, Langley, St Felix, Gresham’s, d’Overbroeck’s and Finborough.