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The New Forest Small School

Our Academic Approach

'Learning how to learn is life's most important skill.' Tony Buzan

At the New Forest Small School we understand the value of achieving academic excellence. We believe that knowledge empowers our students and equips them with vital skills needed for life's journey.

This has led us to question how we can most effectively create an educational environment and atmosphere that fosters in each student the desire to learn and aspiration to academically succeed. Do students need more lessons, more homework, more tests etc... to help them achieve? Or do we need to focus on how children learn, what motivates them and what might hold them back? In this section we will address these questions as we explore how we can optimise a child's education.

Optimizing Education

At The New Forest Small School we have tried to rethink firstly what we want to nurture in our children to achieve academic success, and secondly what is the most effective way to achieve this?

Education in Context

Academic subjects are taught to in a way that helps them to see the connections between other subjects and most importantly their everyday lives. Subjects are taught both in the context of...

Framework of Aims

These include fostering in each student self-confidence, self-awareness, mental well-being, social awareness, emotional intelligence, self-motivation, self-discipline, free thinking, academic and physical skills...

Assessments

At the New Forest Small School we assess all aspects of each child’s development, from the personal, social and emotional, to the academic. At staff meetings each child is discussed from a holistic perspective...

Also See

Human Scale Education

We believe that the educational, social and emotional needs of each child are best served in a small-scale environment. We operate our school along the lines of a caring, extended ‘family’ where the classes...

Developing Strong Foundations

Life, as we all know, requires many different skills. Therefore our school day is designed to give time for the children to develop not just academic skills but also the many vital personal and social skills...

Working with Children's Natural Skills

'If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.' Ignacio Estrada. At the New Forest Small School we work with children's natural skills rather than against them...

Freedom & Discipline

One of the most outstanding features of our school is the excellent behaviour of the children. We very rarely have any disciplinary issues. Why is this? At our school we focus on creating an environment...

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