Surrey Homes | SH101 | June 2023 | Education Supplement inside

high
hopes
We take a look at how Reigate St Mary’s applies a broad curriculum which values areas
beyond traditional core subjects, to help pupils become well-rounded young people
Reigate St Mary’s (RSM) aims to give its pupils the
confidence, resilience and creativity to one day become
leaders who care deeply about a sustainable and
equitable future. To achieve this, a unique curriculum
has been carefully tailored to develop the strengths,
current position and future potential of each child.
Of course, a well-rounded education goes well beyond
academics, which is why RSM also has an Education for
Social Responsibility (ESR) programme. Weaved into
every part of the curriculum, it focuses on the wellbeing
of individuals, the teams they work in and the planet we
live on. It is based on giving back to society more than
we take out, taking sustainability seriously, recognising
the value of the natural world to inspire new thinking,
and gaining a deeper understanding of philosophical
issues. ESR helps to prepare the children to be good
citizens with the confidence to make the right decisions
and the skills to lead happy and successful lives.
RSM’s rich and stimulating programme also gives noncore
subjects equal value to maths and English. These
subjects are prized for how they tap into children’s
creativity, provide a change of pace to their learning, and
get them to think in a different way – essential skills for
their overall academic success. It is recognised at RSM
that future generations will need to be able to explore
their creativity through expressive arts and understand
the joined-up learning of combined humanities. They
therefore view it as essential to allow time to develop
these from the earliest stages of education.
Their curriculum is both challenging and supportive,
covering STEM, computing, languages, science,
philosophy, PSHE, humanities (history and geography),
art, drama, music and sport. The school’s growth
mindset approach is all about recognising that
intelligence is not fixed, but shaped by new encounters
and experiences. From the very beginning, RSM
children are not pigeonholed. They are encouraged to
apply thinking skills to self-evaluate and understand
their learning and take risks by trying new things. Pupils
know that if they are not able to achieve something yet,
perseverance, hard work, and learning from mistakes
will ultimately help them to achieve great things.
Find out more about Reigate St Mary’s curriculum
online at reigatestmarys.org
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