Art
The Abbey Art Department believe that an experience and understanding of the ‘arts’ is important for all students of all levels and abilities, as it enables them to develop their creativity, visual awareness, communication and self-expression, thereby teaching them to have an understanding of the impact that this subject has on all cultures and societies. The subject supports personal, social, moral, spiritual, cultural, and creative development.
In life ‘knowing how’ is just as important as ‘knowing that’. Art and Design at The Abbey introduces students to a range of intellectual and practical skills. It enables learners to use and understand the properties of a wide range of tools, machines, and materials. Students engage and explore with visual, tactile, and other sensory experiences as well as communicate conceptual ideas and meanings. An opportunity is provided to explore working with traditional and new media such as painting, drawing, printing, ceramics, mixed media, digital media, and photography. Ultimately learning to develop pupil’s confidence, competence, problem solving skills and imagination is paramount.
“Art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas, themselves, and to explore what is possible”
Maryann. F . Kohl
The interdisciplinary beauty of Art and Design means that it is the perfect complement to all other subjects and develops the learner’s life skills. Students from the Abbey tend to move into future learning opportunities by studying various visual arts courses at University. Architecture, Fine Art, Fashion and Textiles, Animation, Graphic Design, and Illustration, Interior and Product Design as well as Foundation courses are popular choices. The subject offers a wealth of career choices, prosperous and creative job opportunities (both within the UK and abroad). The creative industry is booming, and most contemporary businesses and corporations admire employees that have imaginative thinking.
Beyond the Classroom
Students are offered a variety of lunchtime clubs and open studio sessions. Articulation (Sixth Form public speaking competition) and external competitions are encouraged. House Art, trips, and gallery opportunities are offered, as well as an extensive and diverse Art Scholarship programme.
Art at The Abbey as seen through the eyes of our students:
Subjects
General overview about subjects
The Abbey offers a wide range of subjects taught by specialists in their field.
English and the Arts
The creative arts encompass everything that is vibrant, dynamic and full of life. Intrinsically bound up with emotion, performance and communication, studying the creative arts enables deeper understanding of the world we live in and our response to it. Skills are developed in practical exposition and critical appreciation and are valuable both for personal satisfaction and in an enormous range of careers.
English, Drama, Art, Music and Food and Textiles are all offered as curriculum subjects through to Sixth Form. In addition, these departments offer extra-curricular clubs which allow many students opportunities for developing their practical and performance skills.
Humanities
Humanities at The Abbey School comprises Geography, History and Philosophy of Religion at all Key Stages, and Business Management, Economics and Global Politics as additional options in the Sixth Form. These subjects, in their broadest sense, are all disciplines that study human culture. Each is taught as a discrete subject by specialists in their field and all flourish within the school curriculum. At GCSE and at both A Level and IB the results in all the humanities are impressive, with many students continuing to pursue these subjects at University.
The Humanities provide our students with a plethora of skills which will be highly valued by their employers in the future:
- Critical Thinking
- Analysis
- Research
- Communication
- Synopticity
- Creativity
- Global Perspective
The departments all enhance their offering with field trips (in the UK and overseas) and talks from visiting experts.
Languages
Whether ancient or modern, languages hold the key to communication and understanding. In an increasingly global employment market, communicating to colleagues and customers in their native tongue is a distinct advantage that sets you apart from the competition. Studying other languages and cultures broadens your horizons and is a fascinating way in which to engage in the world around you.
“Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The languages department at The Abbey is full of enthusiastic linguists (many of whom are native speakers) who delight in introducing the language and culture of their homelands. The students get their first taste of language learning in The Junior School where we teach Spanish, German and French and everyone studies French and Latin in Upper III (Year 7) and then students choose to add German or Spanish in Lower IV (Year 8). IGCSE Languages is a popular subject choice and in the Sixth Form the students can choose between IB or A-level. Many students also like to study Italian and we are delighted that a number of students now attend leading universities to pursue their studies further.
“Languages are like animals, they evolve from each other.”
Student
Of course, the best way to learn a language is to visit the country, so the department organises regular visits to Spain, France, Germany and Italy, often working with other departments to devise a cross-curricular programme with many strands of interest. Whether it’s finding the perfect present at the German Christmas markets, discussing the economic future of Europe in Paris, delving into the works of Homer or sampling the gastronomic delights of Italy and Spain, languages unlock a world of discovery. We also run a variety of clubs and our Foreign Language Assistants make speaking more fun.
Mathematics and Sciences
Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Computer Science are taught as separate subjects, by specialists, at all Key Stages with Further Mathematics and Psychology offered in addition in the Sixth Form. Bucking the national trend for students, these subjects are all popular in the Sixth Form at The Abbey and many students go on to study STEM and other related subjects at university.
These disciplines provide opportunities for the students to develop a range of skills from hands on practical work (with 4 dedicated labs for each separate Science) and computer programming to the power of combining logical and creative thinking in problem solving.
Specialist days, visits, clubs and cross-curricular activities complement the standard curriculum time and enable the students to see how solving real life problems comes from combining and applying what they learn in the different subjects.
How we teach
At The Abbey Senior School, learning is a two-way process between students and teachers that doesn’t stop at the classroom door, and which goes beyond any confines of the curriculum.
Our experienced and dedicated teachers spend time getting to know every student – what ignites their interest, any areas of difficulty, and importantly, how they like to learn. Our purpose is to engage every child in collaborative, communicative and tailored learning.
Through a broad programme of dynamic, cross-curricular activities, and by teaching ‘Theory of Knowledge’, we develop each student’s ability to listen, discuss, articulate and express. We also feel it is important that the doorway to exploring opportunities is kept open, so students continue to benefit from a broad curriculum until the start of Year 10, when they select their options.
When it comes to exam results, you won’t be surprised that The Abbey is well known for the outstanding grades achieved by our students, but you might be surprised to learn how we get there. Unlike most schools, we have switched our emphasis from the outcome to the journey.
Everything we do places the ‘why’ at its heart
Why we do it:
We believe there is a better way of learning that goes beyond academic measures
How we do it:
By bringing together forward-thinking teaching methods and a culture which inspires engaged, relaxed, responsible, and thoughtful learning
What we do:
We facilitate a balance between academic excellence, intellectual agility and emotional wellbeing
Approach to Learning Learner Profile
Highlights ten attitudes that we encourage in all those involved in learning – from Nursery to Sixth Form. We hope that our students will carry these attitudes forward into higher education and into a future of lifelong learning.
Click here
Senior School
Welcome to The Abbey Senior School
This is an exciting stage in your daughter’s life. A time of transformation, discovery, rising to new challenges and building new friendships. It’s also a time of challenge as the students become young adults and begin to step into an uncertain, complex and competitive world as individuals.
At The Abbey Senior School, our team of dedicated experts is here to nurture, inspire and support you and your daughter at every step of the way. From the moment she arrives through our doors, we want your daughter to feel at home, making the transition from junior to senior school as comforting as it is stimulating and wondrous. As a world-leading International Baccalaureate school, our ethos is one of inclusivity and care, both for each other and the world around us.
Here, academic achievement is not the destination; the journey is the most important part. So, although our students achieve outstanding academic results, this is a consequence of our focus on building happy, free-thinking, confident learners throughout every aspect of school life – and beyond.
We encourage pupils to take ownership of their learning, fostering independence and growing their self-awareness. We know that this equips them to be prepared to move on successfully to senior school, to university, and to take up roles in a wide variety of careers.
We seek to provide a ‘real-world’ education that goes outside the classroom to offer a myriad of opportunities for students to explore, identify and cultivate their passions. Far from being a blank canvas, every individual arrives with a rich palette of her own unique colours – and we encourage her to embrace them in all their glory. Our exceptional co-curricular provision sets us apart: whatever your daughter’s enthusiasm, there will be an activity just right for her and lots of new things to try.
As your daughter reaches the Sixth Form, she will have become an independent, self-aware young woman who is prepared to follow her own path, and who possesses the skills and resilience to cope with the curve balls that life will inevitably throw.
Above all, The Abbey is about creating happy, balanced students who treasure their school days.
An open door and a warm welcome await you.