Summer Term Learning
The final half of the summer term has spawned a wealth of new teaching and learning opportunities, both at home and in school.
Junior School pupils were the first to return after half term, with Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 ‘bubbles’ swiftly followed by all other year groups.
At the Senior School, following six weeks of guided home learning and end of year exams for five year groups before half term, teachers worked hard to ensure the final weeks of term provided a range of stimulating activities above and beyond the girls’ usual timetabled lessons.
Year 10 and Lower Sixth students, mid-way through their GCSE and A Level courses, were welcomed back in small groups for subject-specific days. Girls met with their teachers to discuss coursework progress and enjoyed getting hands on again in the Design & Technology workshops, Art studios and digital music suites. A Level Scientists came in to complete practical work in the laboratories, which necessitated very careful logistical planning – but some practical insight into epidemiology for our Biologists, at least. Regular and thorough hand-washing was evident throughout.
Students in Year 11 and the Upper Sixth, whose public exams were cancelled, took part in fascinating new elective programmes, with the freedom to explore new areas of interest. Upper Sixth students delved into the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Renaissance poetry, courses developed from scratch by our own teachers, as well as joining the GDST Limitless Learning programme – nearly 200 different electives covering academic material similar to what they will encounter in their first year as undergraduates. Meanwhile, Year 11 took courses and developed subject-specific skills in readiness for A Levels and Sixth Form, joined by pupils from partner schools who gained a great deal from the experience.
Younger pupils had the opportunity to broaden their horizons too: Year 7 Historians went on a virtual tour of the Tower of London; Year 8 spent a two-day team project planning educational trips while Year 9 embarked on massive online open courses covering subjects as diverse as black holes and elementary Korean, suffrage and archaeology. They also took part in an entrepreneurial project, developing business ideas, complete with Dragons’ Den style pitches.
Even music concerts, art projects, co-curricular clubs and Sports Day continued online, while nearly all girls were invited back in for pastoral sessions. Despite the restrictions of lockdown this term, life at South Hampstead has most certainly not stood still.