Infant and Junior School Prospectus
Life changing
Infant and Junior School
The best of both worlds
The beginning of your child’s educational journey is an exciting step in their young life. It’s important that your son or daughter is happy at school, that they feel safe, secure and supported. At the same time, they need to be given opportunities to embrace new experiences, and to learn and grow.
At BGS Infants and Juniors your child will have the best of both worlds. We’re a small school within a big school; dedicated buildings and our own talented and committed teachers will provide your daughter or son with a secure base, familiar faces and all the support they need to thrive. And your child will have access to the specialist teachers, amazing facilities and wide range of opportunities that a larger school can provide.
Ours is a friendly and happy school. Boys and girls learn to work and play alongside each other, forming lasting friendships and developing confidence in their own abilities. Our curriculum and teaching are designed to engage and enthuse, creating a love of learning in your child that we hope will last a lifetime. Your child will be challenged here, but they’ll also be supported and encouraged, their efforts praised and their successes celebrated. When they leave us, they’ll have gained not just an excellent foundation on which to build their future education, but also the self-reliance and confidence to make the most of it.
Please do come and visit us to experience the happy buzz of our School for yourself, our Admissions Team would be delighted to arrange a tour for you. I look forward to welcoming you to BGS Infants and Juniors soon.
Miss Heidi Hughes, Head of BGS Infants and Juniors
Life-changing
Learning, friendships, and adventure
Welcome
to the BGS family
From their first day with us, your child will be welcomed into a warm and caring community. Movingup days and our buddy system will help them quickly feel at home and make new friends. Small class sizes mean your child will be known and supported as an individual and their Form Tutor will always be there for your child to turn to with any concerns, big or small.
In the Junior School, the House system brings children together across the year-groups, creating a sense of pride and community spirit and providing the basis for some friendly competition, from Sports Day to singing.
As parents, you will also be welcomed into the BGS community. We host a family picnic at the start of the year for new joiners to get to know each other, and all parents become members of JISPA, our Parents’ Association. You can be as involved as you wish, lending a hand on the organising committee or simply coming along to events. Parents are also welcomed to a wide range of School occasions throughout the year, from assemblies and concerts to Sports Day and the Christmas Bazaar.
Equally we recognise that many families have busy lives. We offer before and after-school care to make it easier to combine family life and work. Regular emails, newsletters and blogs will keep you up-to-date with what your daughter or son’s class has been doing, and staff are available via email or phone if you have any specific queries or concerns.
I joined BGS in Year 4 and I had a great buddy who made me feel really welcome.”
Georgie Year 5
without limits Learning
Learning at BGS Infants and Juniors isn’t confined to the classroom. Our Outdoor Education programme begins in Reception and continues to Year 6 and beyond. Forest School at Failand takes teaching outside, enhancing your child’s classroom learning and giving them the chance to work in a team, helping them to build self-belief, communication and problem-solving skills.
As your child gains in age and confidence, the activities become more adventurous. In BGS Juniors your child will have the opportunity to take part in residential outdoor activity trips. These first trips away from home with friends will help your child take important steps towards independence and self-reliance. The challenges they’ll face – overcoming fear to tackle the climbing wall, working with friends to build a raft or conquer an obstacle course, for example – teach valuable lessons, and, just as importantly, they’re a lot of fun.
Our clubs offer a wide range of new activities for your daughter or son to try. Origami, gardening, animation, fencing, Russian, and even Chicken Club: the options are many and varied. In BGS Juniors, a whole afternoon each week is given over to our Activities programme, where your child can choose a new challenge or a favourite hobby and spend time with friends from across the Junior School. With such a huge range of clubs and activities to pick from, your child will be able to find something that suits their talents and interests.
A team effort
We recognise the importance of regular exercise to your child’s overall wellbeing; it offers a chance for them to let off steam and a break from the classroom, as well as all the health benefits of being physically active. We aim to make exercise fun and enjoyable, hopefully forming a lifelong habit for your child. Alongside curriculum PE and Games, dance and swimming are also offered and there are many energetic clubs and activities for your child to choose from.
From Year 3 onwards our teams take part in fixtures against other local schools. Playing alongside their friends, your child will experience the camaraderie of being in a team and learn important lessons about winning and losing. We aim to give everyone who wants to, the chance to represent the School, whether in an informal tournament or a competitive match, allowing your child to enjoy sport at a level that suits them.
The adventure at BGS is to find something that you haven’t found already. Before I came to this school I did not know that I had music in me but now I have found it.”
Edward Year 5
Confidence through performance
Performance and creative expression are incredibly valuable. To give every child the chance to perform plays, concerts, and dance, shows occur throughout the year, many of them staged in the 1532 Performing Arts Centre. Your son or daughter will be encouraged to take up some of these opportunities so they can experience the joy of self-expression, the fun of working with friends and the sense of achievement that comes from creating and sharing a piece with an audience.
to learn Love
Small class sizes help teachers get to know each child as an individual and how best to encourage and support them. Your child’s learning will be led by their Form Tutor, with each class in the Infants and Year 3 supported by a dedicated Teaching Assistant. They will be based in their own form room but your child will also make use of our excellent facilities, such as the Sports Hall, Food Technology room and the 1532 Performing Arts Centre on the main School site.
Our exciting and engaging curriculum is designed to spark a love of learning, the foundation for your child’s future education and an important skill for life. We celebrate effort as much as we do achievement; your child will be encouraged to get involved and have a go, to be prepared to make mistakes, learn from them and to try again.
I most enjoy learning lots of different subjects and making lots of new friends.”
Amy Year 6
Breadth and depth
Your child will also benefit from specialist teachers, beginning in Reception with languages, PE, Dance and Forest School. Teaching by subject specialists increases as your child progresses up the School and the breadth and depth of the curriculum grows. In Year 5 and 6 some lessons, such as Food Technology and Science, are taught by Senior School specialists in dedicated facilities, so your child will be familiar with both some staff and classrooms when they move up to Year 7.
Beyond the classroom
Learning is enhanced by a wide range of trips and visitors to the School. Whether local, such as a walk to the Suspension Bridge, or further afield, like a day of fieldwork in a Somerset river, our trips all offer the thrill of witnessing something discussed in the classroom brought to life, and the fun and excitement of a day out with friends. We have welcomed authors, rainforest animals, Viking invaders, a guide dog and even police horses to the School. These visitors bring the wider world into your child’s classroom, enriching their learning and understanding of a topic.
The next chapter Moving on
Our Year 6 pupils take many happy memories with them from their time in BGS Infants and Juniors. The Year 6 play, end-of-year camp and celebrations, such as prize-giving, all help mark the occasion as your son or daughter says goodbye to their primary years and steps up to Senior School. Year 7 is an exciting time, filled with new friendships, new subjects and new teachers, and your child can look forward to embracing the many opportunities the Senior School offers.
By the end of Year 6, your child will be well prepared to move on to the next stage of their education. Their time in BGS Infants and Juniors will have given your daughter or son a solid foundation of skills and knowledge on which to build, and the Senior School site and some of the teachers will already be familiar to them. This familiarity, both with their surroundings and the educational ethos they’ll encounter, will help to ensure the transition from Junior to Senior School is as smooth as possible.
I have been at BGS for two years and it has been the best years of my life so far. I have tried many new things and met so many people and I’m really excited to move up to the Senior School.”
Scarlett Year 6
You can find your own path at BGS. Come and discover how.
