Academic

Hurst Senior School is a co-educational day, flexi and weekly boarding school for students from 13 to 16 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.

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.