Hurst Senior School is a co-educational day, flexi and weekly boarding school for students from 13 to 18 years of age.
Academic life is the core of a Hurst education. We encourage our students to be ambitious and independent. Regular Challenge Grade reviews and coaching by teachers and tutors enable our students to realise their academic potential.
Regular and timely communication between home and school allows achievements to be celebrated and strategies for learning developed. We know that this close partnership between school, parents and students is vital to success.
Progressively throughout the years, as students develop and mature, they assume a greater responsibility for their own learning and take the initiative in pushing back the boundaries of their achievements and ambitions.
At whatever stage a student joins, we seek to ensure that they learn how to learn as well as develop a love of learning. As a result, they are very well equipped to meet the challenges when they graduate to the Sixth Form.
Timetable
The School operates a two week timetable which allows us to maximise the use of academic time, structure more time for sport and extra-curricular activities, especially for the younger age groups, and create a better rhythm to the working week. Academic lessons take place in the first four to six hours of the day whilst sport and activities take place in the afternoons.
View our Day in the life of a Hurst pupil infographic
Tutors
Every child is assigned a tutor with whom he or she will meet each week to discuss academic progress. The tutor checks pupils’ prep diaries and ensures each student is keeping up with their work.
A tutor is a parent’s first point of contact about any academic matter and their names and e-mail addresses are provided to each parent when their son or daughter joins the school.
Parents are invited to attend a parents’ evening once a year to discuss their child’s work and progress, and a parents’ and tutors’ meeting which informs parents of issues relevant to their child’s year group.
Students receive one full report per year. Those in Shell and Remove (Years 9 and 10) who sit formal, internal examinations at the end of the academic year will also receive a statement of results.
Challenge Grades
Every student’s academic progress is monitored via our Challenge Grade process. At the beginning of each academic year every pupil will be set a Challenge Grade in each subject. These grades, set by Heads of Departments, will be ambitious and – with hard work – achievable. They are based on the detailed academic information we have about each individual, gleaned from tools such as MidYIS, verbal and non-verbal reasoning scores, Common Entrance scores and other tests. Parents have direct and immediate access, via our Parent Portal, to all their child’s Challenge Grade results and accompanying subject and tutor comments.
Shell (Year 9)
The Shell curriculum has been designed to allow pupils to experience a good range of subjects, before they have to make decisions about which subjects they wish to continue studying at GCSE level. All Year 9 pupils will be taught a core academic curriculum comprising: English, Mathematics and Science, in addition all pupils will study a core creative curriculum of Dance, Drama and PE. These compulsory subjects take up 56% of the timetable leaving 44% for the optional subjects. To complete their timetable pupils choose six subjects from the following list: Art, Computer Science, DT, French, Geography, History, Latin, Music, REP, Spanish, Learning Support and English as a Second Language. This means that pupils in the Shell will study up to fourteen subjects as the three sciences are taught separately. Pupils receiving scholarships or exhibitions in Art or Music are required to study those subjects in the Shell year.
Learn more about the Shell Curriculum
Remove & Fifth Form (Years 10 & 11)
In Remove and Fifth all students study the same academic core as they did in Shell (Year 9). In addition, four optional subject choices are selected from blocks which include the following: Art, Classical Greek, Computer Science, Dance, Design Technology, Drama, French, Geography, History, Latin, Music, Physical Education, Religious Studies and Spanish.
View our GCSE Art and Photography students’ work in the Art & Photography Exhibition 2020 book
Learn more about the GCSE Curriculum
Sixth Form (Years 11 & 12)
Hurst is an A-level school with a vast array of subjects on offer. Most Hurst students study three A-levels, unless they are taking Further Maths or pursuing a personal languages interest.
Learn more in our Sixth Form section.