Individual Assistance | Kensington School

RATIOS AND SMALL GROUPS

At Kensington School, we have 12 Teaching Assistants from Nursery to Year 2, and more Support Teachers for the British curriculum from Year 1 to Year 9. In addition, we have support teachers in the Spanish curriculum from Year 1 to Year 7. In Pre-Nursery, the ratio is one adult to eight children. From Nursery to Year 2, the children are normally in class with at least two adults: teacher and assistant, with a ratio of 1:13, guaranteeing individual attention. In addition, in Year 10 there are small groups in Maths and Spanish Language, and from Year 10 to Year 13 in English, allowing for groups of 12-15 pupils for these subjects. In French, from Year 8 to Year 13 a native Assistant enables the groups to be split into 5 groups of 10-12 pupils. These are the years in which pupils prepare for the Cambridge, DELF and University entrance (EvAU) examinations, and working in smaller groups enables us to reinforce preparation for these external examinations.

TUTORS AND BREAK TIMES

The tutor is the main point of contact for each pupil during their daily school life.Tutors have the initial responsibility of guaranteeing a pupil’s wellbeing and detecting any issues that require attention through protocols and instructions.Tutors are in contact with pupils at least once per day, so the monitoring and insight is constant. As part of this monitoring, communication between teachers and families is fundamental, and is carried out with the support of Heads of Department,Pastoral; Department, Guidance Department and Management.Teachers and Classroom Assistants supervise the playgrounds and school trips, encouraging a friendly and informal relationship with the children.The children are always cared for by professionals they know and trust.

WITH FAMILIES

Coordination and communication with families is fundamental. In all stages, parents and teachers can request interviews through Alexia, our school platform. From Pre-Nursery to Year 2, urgent information can be passed on when collecting children at the end of school. From Nursery to Year 6, parents see their children’s work and talk with tutors in the classrooms on Open Days. We also maintain daily communication via the traditional homework diary to encourage pupils’ responsibility. From Year 7 to 9, pre-assessment results or inappropriate behaviour are communicated to families by letter. On the internet, we use ClassDojo in Primary, and Mathletics and Edmodo in Primary and Secondary to provide information about progress of each pupil and classroom activities. From Year 10 to Year 13, pre-evaluation results are communicated to pupils and, in the event of any academic concerns, we carry out individual meetings with families.