UPPER PREP (PREP 6 - PREP 7)

Our academic curriculum flows along the Cambridge Pathway programme to the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) programme, all interwoven with the Compulsory Education Curriculum of China so that students will be successful in their Cambridge IGCSEs in subjects as varied as Art and Design, Biology, Chemistry, Chinese, Computer Science, Drama, English, Geography, History, Mathematics, Music and Physics when they sit them in Year 10 or 11 when they are in Bromsgrove School (or other Senior Schools).

With specialist well qualified and experienced overseas and Chinese teachers in all subjects, most with master’s degrees, Upper Prep provides students with an array of opportunities for leadership and character development through our student-led house system, societies and co-curricular activities. Amongst the activities students engage in from Prep 6 to Prep 7 are: Model United Nations, Parliamentary Debating, LAMDA, Maths Olympiad, Science Olympiad, World Scholars Cup, VSTEAM, Performing Arts Society Productions, Computer Science Club, School Sports Teams and Specialist Sports Coaching in Basketball, Football, Tennis, Volleyball and, of course, Golf with the PGA Academy.

Through the simultaneous implementation of the UK's IGCSE curriculum, a T-shaped talent development system is constructed. This system focuses on both the depth of disciplines and the breadth of development, which meets the requirements of top international Senior Schools and helps students prepare for admission to these schools.

All Bromsgrove School Mission Hills students should be stretched well beyond the confines of the curriculum, but the most able sometimes need specially tailored programmes. Comfort zones are unhelpful places for young, lively minds.

Able students will be identified using a variety of methods including aptitude testing, recommendation by subject teachers, results in tests and performance in examinations. Senior students join subject specific groups and have extension sessions. These aim to prepare the students for Oxbridge and World Class Universities entrance, but are designed to be as enjoyable as they are rigorous. Oxbridge and World Class Universities preparation also involves one-to-one tutorials and seminars on broader themes.

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. - Mark Van Doren

Reports are always written to encourage and advise, but they are above all honest. Classwork, homework, assessment and overall percentage and attainment grades are awarded throughout the year. Tutors and Houseparents add overviews to the detailed subject comments that constitute a full report, so a student is never left merely with a sum of the parts. Whenever a student is failing to fulfill potential, they will be given positive guidance alongside any criticism.

There are parent-teacher interviews and meetings for each year group several times each year. Of course, parents are most welcome to visit tutors and teachers throughout the year.

The teacher advisor program is an arrangement wherein each school staff member meets on a regular basis with a group of approximately 15 to 20 students to consider issues or concerns of students which are not generally dealt with in academic classes. Through our teacher advisor program, staff members learn about the needs and interests of students in a way superior to learning about students through normal classroom contact. In addition, our teacher advisor program provides students and their parents with a specific adult in the school to whom they can turn for assistance with academic, social and personal problems. The teacher advisor program fulfills four essential functions: providing educational advisement, increasing schoolwide communication, improving home-school-community relations, and enhancing the personal and social development of each student.

As a bilingual and bicultural school, identifying and optimising learning opportunities and best pedagogical approaches for different learners is key, and the provision of a blended curriculum and bilingual teaching staff aim to provide ample resources to achieve this. It is also important for teachers to be aware of expectations in the different areas of learning, such as achievement in reading progress each term or scores in local examinations. At BMH, success and excellence in learning is measured in three key ways:

1) Progress - mainly demonstrated through assessment systems, work samples and feedback
2) Grades - both those reported internally in BMH reports as well as external examinations
3) Competencies - connected to engagement in our BMH Values and Virtues and 21C Skills