Learning and Teaching

At Neston High School, learning and teaching is central to a student’s experience, future happiness and prosperity. Students are encouraged to be independent and creative. Staff expertise is excellent and teachers continue to adapt and apply new and innovative approaches to ensure that students enjoy an enriching range of activities across the curriculum.

Student voice is of great importance to us and we regularly ask students for feedback on their learning experience. Great  emphasis  is  placed  on  the  individual  learning needs of each student, and a wide range  of strategies are in place to support them and to remove any possible barriers  to successful learning. This is supported by an outstanding system of care, support and guidance from the pastoral team.

Literacy

Strong Literacy skills are the foundation of all learning and at Neston High School. We place an extremely high value on literacy skills  for all. Reading, Writing and Speaking and  Listening  skills  are  crucial  in  ensuring  success within all curriculum  areas, but also in our pupils’ lives beyond the school. The ability to communicate is a crucial part of life, and necessary for the work place as well as further education. For this reason, we have formulated a whole school approach whereby all staff are committed to focusing on Literacy objectives as part of every lesson that your child experiences.

Each class room displays Literacy support, such as key words, spelling rules and examples of punctuation. Our aim is to create an explicit focus on Literacy, in order to develop each pupil’s ability to communicate clearly and accurately. This is enhanced further by the Pupil Planner where your child can also reference Literacy support and key curriculum terminology if they need to; whether it is in the classroom or when completing homework.

In addition, all students complete a reading test at the start of Year 7 and then again, each Spring Term until they leave in Year 13, in order for us to establish their reading age and track  their  progress. This helps the school to identify the needs of all students of all abilities so that we can support each student as appropriate.

Where pupils may require extra support in their Literacy Learning we have created a formalised  programme  in order to develop specific Literacy skills.  Some students whose reading ages fall below their chronological age will be given one-to-one support. This is either in the form of personalised tuition and phonic training or through being given the opportunity to read aloud to a personal tutor and discuss their books.

Numeracy

As well as strong Literacy skills, we are also keen to ensure that  students have a thorough grounding in numeracy skills.  At Neston High School, we have a wide range of students:  some  who  will  go  onto  read  mathematics at University; some who will never need more than a functional application in the rudimentaries  of numerate mathematics. The school is proud to cater for all students of all mathematical abilities. If your son/daughter needs extra tuition in maths – there is a formalised programme of  one-to-one  tuition  that  will  help  support  progress as well . For those students who are gifted in mathematics, we run a programme of ‘Stretch and Challenge’ that helps to develop the talents of those who will go on to use mathematics in their careers and future lives.

Homework

We place great emphasis on the early development of good study habits.

Homework is an essential part of this process. Your child will be expected to record information such as homework, involvement in activities, important dates such as one-to- one tuition  slots and break out mornings  and sporting events.