Academic Curriculum
Combining high-quality teaching with a deep understanding and modern facilities
At Berkhamsted Boys we combine high-quality teaching and modern facilities with a deep understanding of our pupils and their needs.
While we have a strong focus on academic achievement, we also believe that opportunities beyond the curriculum are just as important to our pupils’ development.
We create a warm and welcoming environment where your son will thrive as he is given the attention and support that he needs to flourish – one of the many benefits of a small class size and nurturing staff.
This combination will not only guide and support your son through his school years, it will also serve him in good stead for fulfilling his true potential and achieving success in his life beyond Berkhamsted.
We seek to inspire and encourage our pupils to enliven their interests, cultivating their appetite for learning.
We teach boys at Berkhamsted to be ambitious yet compassionate, courteous and honourable. Our aim at Berkhamsted Boys is to nurture our pupils, developing them into remarkable people with the motivation to succeed in the future.
A learning-powered school
At Berkhamsted Boys the pupils adopt a “Building Learning Power” (BLP) approach to learning.
BLP creates a learning friendly classroom culture, encouraging your son to be an innovative, confident, curious and independent learner. Our staff create a classroom environment that enables pupils to become lifelong learners, facing any future difficulty calmly and creatively.
At Berkhamsted Boys we see the positive impact of BLP on our boys on a daily basis. Our pupils:
- Understand the different roles that need to be deployed when working together as a team in the classroom
- Can explain how different topics and subjects are related and rely on each other
- Know how to improve their communication using active listening and to respond with empathy, understanding and compassion – even when they disagree
- Are able to spot patterns and identify the big picture as well as the fine detail
- Develop strength and resilience by learning how to implement strategies so that they can view any failure as a valuable learning opportunity
- Learn how to use questioning as a powerful way of learning by asking probing and insightful questions to mature their understanding and encourage innovative thinking
- Understand the importance of planning ahead and reviewing progress regularly
These skills equip your son with the learning habits and skills he will need to thrive in the 21st century.
They also provide the ability for your son to take control of their own learning, which you will see when they write their own summary report comments.
You will see how they are able to identify areas of learning habits where they have made progress and where they need to make more effort.
If you would like to know more about BLP, talk to our boys when you visit our School. We believe they provide the best example of the benefits of Building Learning Power.
Estimates now suggest that two-thirds of current school pupils will end up working in roles that don’t yet exist. Teenagers today are expected to have had between 10-15 different jobs by the time they are 40.
Where focus exists concurrently, progress will be made. In addition, establishing the concept of ‘learnable intelligence’ will stimulate independent learning, which in turn will allow pupils to develop their resilience and flexibility when confronted with difficulty.
We believe these core skills will benefit our students as they move through the school and beyond, onto university or an apprenticeship then into the workplace.
Our chosen BLP dispositions
We have chosen dispositions which, between them, represent four areas of development:
Cognitive
Emotional
Social
Strategic
Our chosen dispositions are:
Persevere Explore
Notice Plan
Question Review
Link Collaborate
Reason Listen
Each disposition is then further subdivided to provide our teachers with opportunities to provide targeted interventions to help each pupil develop their ability to become reflective, independent and interdependent learners.
GCSE Options
At Berkhamsted Boys the curriculum provides a broad and balanced education. From September 2021 Berkhamsted made some innovative changes to the Key Stage 4 Curriculum. As part of these changes, pupils now take three core GCSE subjects (English Literature, English Language and Maths) and alongside this have the option to choose six further subjects (one of which must be a Science). In order to keep breadth in their academic portfolio, pupils are encouraged to choose at least one language, one humanity subject and one creative subject as part of their option choices.
For some pupils there will, in addition, be the opportunity to join an Ad Science group that will undertake all three Sciences but only use two GCSE option choices. Furthermore, the most able Mathematicians will be invited to take Ad Maths GCSE. These additional options mean that some pupils will take up to 11 GCSE option choices.
Alongside their GCSE subjects, pupils will take part in the Learning Pathway Programme – an in-house curriculum designed to allow pupils to develop key skills in preparation for A level study and beyond. Some pupils will also be invited to complete an HPQ project (equivalent of ½ a GCSE).
To hear more about this change to the curriculum please watch the video above from our Vice Principal, Mr Andy Ford, who explains why Berkhamsted has introduced this new way of learning.
Further details of the pathways and the subject choices can be found in the GCSE Information Booklet.
We fully support and encourage every pupil throughout the exam process, making sure that the boys’ wellbeing is a priority.
The boys are taught how to be resilient – to prepare for their exams mentally as well as academically. Our staff are always on hand to discuss any worries or concerns your sons may have.
We are proud that our pupils achieve excellent exam results with the School’s full support and encouragement.
One of the Schools’ values is to ‘aim high’ and this approach promotes a growth mindset. We seek to equip pupils with the ability to understand their own capacity for success if they work hard. In this way, our boys are motivated to take an extra step academically, challenging themselves to exceed their own expectations.
Pupils at Berkhamsted Boys are also taught to see that hard work together with a positive mindset can achieve exceptional results both inside and outside the classroom, whether on the sports pitch, the stage or in co-curricular subjects. This well-rounded approach to education sets our pupils apart in an Oxbridge interview.
During the GCSE years, we encourage our pupils to continue to take part in a wide range of extra-curricular activities as these additional achievements and commitments not only provide an all-round education, but they also help to minimise GCSE exam stress and promote good mental health.
Learning Leaders
Watch the video to find out what our current Sixth Formers have said about the new Learning Pathway programme and how they feel it will benefit the pupils entering Year 10.
Digital Device Provision
Our core mission is to prepare young people for the world in which they will live, study and work. Educational research shows that putting pupils at the heart of their own learning helps develop strong metacognition, and digital tools enhance enquiry, collaboration, organisation and self-direction. Pupils value the opportunity to develop these skills, and will benefit in their future lives from a strong blend of digital and analogue literacies.
At Berkhamsted, we believe that digital devices have an important part to play in creating engaging lessons in the classroom. We also aim for pupils’ learning beyond the physical classroom to be as rich and intellectually stimulating as possible; capitalising on the interactivity and immediacy of our suite of tools. Pupil devices allow for a seamless learning experience between School and home, and the best possible resilience against disruption to education.
Watch the video to see the pupils experiencing the change to learning Microsoft devices have provided in the classroom.
Pupils show pronounced and highly effective study skills, appropriate to their age. Strong research skills are evident in many examples of project work, and older pupils, in particular, show excellent ability to assimilate and analyse a wide range of sources.