Seniors – Developing future leaders
The senior school provides a distinctive experience which furthers personal growth and increasing independence. Being the oldest pupils in the school gives ample opportunity for leadership and for working with the younger members of the St. Martin’s family. Small class and set sizes of around twelve pupils give the opportunity for going beyond the expectations for that age and engaging in a challenging and comprehensive curricular offering. Our seniors consistently demonstrate a self-motivated attitude towards learning. This is enhanced by them using their own devices/laptops to access large parts of their learning and encourage high levels of collaboration with their peers and teachers. For some of the boys, this comes alongside preparation for examinations at 12+ and 13+ for the local academic day schools and also ISEB common entrance for schools such as Harrow and Eton, who require this. We have a superb track record of success at 13+ in gaining additional places and scholarships to these schools. Making a proactive decision to stay within the smaller world of a prep school for these two years, has many benefits. Boys demonstrably develop slower than girls at this age and the opportunity to develop academically and emotionally in a known environment cannot be underestimated. We also know that our boys can move to their next schools at 13 excellently prepared for what lies ahead. All of these aspects can be difficult to replicate in years seven and eight of a large senior school where the year groups and class sizes are inevitably much larger.
My son is in Year Eight at St. Martin’s and he has really enjoyed the smaller class sizes, leadership roles and school trips etc in those final two years. Personally, it would have been a shame for him to move in Year Seven.
