Learning
Excellence and a nurturing environment go hand in hand
At Victoria College Preparatory School, we celebrate the friendships forged and memories made as much as the boys’ academic successes.
We recognise that the years at Victoria College Prep are critical for setting a boy's foundations and putting them on a trajectory for future success at senior school and beyond. It's a responsibility and opportunity that our staff embrace.
Learning at VCP is more than just the acquisition of knowledge and skill. We aim to nurture a sheer love of learning in our boys. VCP offers a broad, balanced, relevant, differentiated and inclusive curriculum to all students.
But learning is not limited to the curriculum or the classroom. We pride ourselves in offering a wide range of extracurricular activities to help our boys explore their individual interests and talents, whether they are into ukulele or orchestra, football or cooking, art or maybe a bit of break-dancing.
Throughout the school day - be it in the classroom, the playground or on the sports pitch - they are also learning to be respectful, kind and supportive to one another.
Our teachers guide each student through the curriculum to reach the levels of academic excellence for which our school is renowned. They are also trusted and empowered to use their professional expertise, imagination and passion to deliver lessons in a way that sparks the boys' interest and make learning irresistible.
Read the Year Group Learning Plans below to see what exciting topics your son will explore as each half-term unfolds.
Year Group Learning Plans
Curriculum Years 3-6
We follow the Jersey Curriculum, which is based on UK National Curriculum 2014 and adapted to include Jersey history and citizenship, Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) and French.
Our curriculum has been created to provide quality teaching and rich learning experiences that encourage pupils to aspire to achieve, whilst developing themselves as respectful, resourceful and resilient young men. We aim to:
- Nurture a positive and passionate approach to learning
- Create academic and extracurricular opportunities for all pupils to fulfil their potential
The Jersey Curriculum
Every school in Jersey must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based, and:
- Provides an entitlement for children and young people of compulsory school age to learn about local history, geography and culture
- Ensures that children and young people cannot only achieve recognised qualifications but also understand and learn from Jersey's culture and benefit from a vocational programme aligned to the Island's economy and economic needs
- Promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and
- Prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
Specialist Teachers
At VCP the following subjects are taught by specialist teachers:
- French: one hour per week
- Music: one hour per week
- PE: one hour, plus Games as a whole year group for one and a half hours per week
- Science: one hour per week
Learning Support
For learning support queries, please email Caroline Finch, Senior Educational Needs Coordinator: c.finch@vcp.sch.je.
We have a dedicated Educational Needs Co-Ordinator and a team of Learning Support Assistants who work with teachers to identify barriers to learning and help students to overcome a range of physical, social, psychological, emotional and behavioural issues.
Every student is an individual, and we know that some boys may need a different approach or a little more time and encouragement to learn successfully. Some boys need ongoing extra support while others just need help from time to time to master specific skills or subjects.
Our staff are well-trained and work as a team and with parents. Safeguarding and wellbeing of our boys is very much understood to be a shared responsibility among all staff, and we hold a weekly briefing to ensure that we are all aware of those boys who may need our special care and attention.
We also identify and support those boys classed as High Potential Learners, who require a different set of strategies to remain focused and stretched.
Read more about our SEN Policy here.