At Ghyll Royd School, we nurture our pupil’s success, balancing the challenge of our academic curriculum with the encouragement to solve problems independently, communicate effectively and foster creativity, cooperation and care. These skills are carried by our children throughout senior school and have lifelong value. 

Our Curriculum encapsulates wide-ranging opportunities that are measurable beyond the classroom. The Learning Challenge and Creative Arts Curriculum provide the backbone that informs our pupil’s learning experiences, including (but not limited to) a joy for reading, debate, confidence in public performance, competitions, expression in outdoor learning and confidence in reasoning. 

We are confident that our curriculum provides an all-inclusive environment whereby our children are given the chance to develop their own personalities whilst also challenging them to experience all the opportunities on offer at Ghyll Royd School. 

At Ghyll Royd School, we not only teach the essentials of the National Curriculum, but we branch beyond this to explore areas of learning, through our bespoke Learning Challenge Curriculum. The Learning Challenge Curriculum is built around the principle of greater learner-involvement, resulting in a more vibrant and engaging learning experience. 

Each child’s progress is closely monitored by both the Class Teacher and the Deputy Head, aiming is to ensure that both parents and children share together and find learning to be an exciting, thrilling experience. Above all, we strive to embed a love of learning that will last every child’s lifetime. 

Joining together our Creative Arts and Humanities, and incorporating English and Mathematics, Ofsted’s view of our learning concept is clear: the Learning Challenge Curriculum is ‘…innovative and exciting.’

Enhancements and Personalising Learning

In order to enhance and personalise the curriculum we use additional resources for English and Mathematics. Each child from Year 1 to Year 6 has access to a personal programme set up by their Form Teacher to further develop their learning whether at school or at home!

The English curriculum is supported by ‘Bug Club’ and ‘Phonics Bug’. Bug Club is a finely levelled, phonically based reading scheme, which ensures that each child can find a book at exactly the right level for them. Each child has a personalised homepage where they’ll find the eBooks they’ve been allocated by the teacher and motivating rewards. The online reading world ensures children can access independent reading resources anywhere at any time.

Bug Club books are graded into colour-coded Book Band levels, and within each level there is a carefully planned progression of books. This fine progression gives children plenty of opportunity to develop their reading skills and master each fine step while moving through the reading programme. Reading at home is one of the most important things you can do to support your child. Bug Club offers advice about how to help with your child’s reading at home.

“I think Bug Club is a genius concept… As a parent, I can see what my child is doing, I can work with my child. It gives the teacher an ability to do a real microanalysis of what that child is learning. For the kid it’s fun – and if it’s fun, they’re going to engage with it.”

Professor Tanya Byron, child psychologist

The Mathematics curriculum is supported by ‘Active Learn’. Fun and motivating, Active Learn is where children can play games, complete activities and collect rewards allowing children to do their Maths practice at school or at home. Active Learn includes lively and exciting modern maths games which help children embed key Maths skills and rehearse maths facts. There are vibrant collaborative games for problem solving, speaking and listening. The Maths problems are presented in real contexts with BBC video clips which help children develop real problem-solving skills.

Specialist Teaching

All children from Pre-School to Year 6 enjoy specialist teaching in all aspects of PE. As well as the more traditional games lessons, we also enable all children to take part in dance, gym and outdoor and adventurous activities such as orienteering. All children also have swimming lessons at the local pool which is included in the termly fee. As well as this all our pupils from Pre-School to Year 6 receive specialist Music and singing teaching on a weekly basis.

In addition to this, all children from Reception onwards specialist teaching in modern foreign languages and from Year 1 children receive specialist Art teaching.

We are keen that children are coached in verbal and non-verbal reasoning in order to assist them sit their entrance exams to the senior schools of their choice; we start this in Year 3 and all children receive weekly lessons.