As your child moves from Primary to Lower Secondary you may be wondering what changes this may bring. Our Lower Secondary courses are designed to be engaging and fun as well as academically rigorous. They offer an accessible challenge for children aged 11-13, though younger and older children may also study at this level.
Independent study
At Primary level, you are likely to have been involved full time in supporting your child in their studies. But as they progress to Lower Secondary, we encourage them to become more independent in their learning. The courses are therefore designed for children to follow the instructions themselves on Canvas and to develop their independence and confidence. Your support will still be essential, but your level of involvement will now depend upon your child’s maturity and learning ability.
Choosing subjects
Wolsey Hall Oxford offers a range of Lower Secondary subjects to enable each student to create an individual, broad and balanced programme of study. In a mainstream UK school, students take 11 subjects at Lower Secondary level and our flexible provision allows families to choose the right number of subjects for them.
We advise that children take English, Maths and Science at Lower Secondary as a minimum. Each of these subjects will take approximately 150 hours of study per year plus the time needed to prepare for each assignment. You should therefore allow 450 hours of study per year if your child is taking these three subjects. This timeframe may be shorter or longer depending on your child’s ability as a learner.
If English is not your child’s first language, you can take our online assessment to confirm which English course would be most suitable. Many of our international students are able to study our English (First Language) course, rather than English as a Second Language, which can limit your child's options at GCSE level. Our Admissions team can advise you further on this.
In addition to the three core subjects, we encourage children to add other subjects when they have got into a study routine. They will experience a broader and more balanced curriculum and be better prepared for those subjects at GCSE level. Allow 100 hours of study per year for these subjects. The exception is Art and Design and Skills for Life which due to the nature of the courses require less hours of study – approximately 55 hours for each course.
Reviews at the middle and end of a course will allow your child to reflect on their learning along the way. They also give you both the opportunity to discuss progress with Tutors on a video call. The language courses include video speaking assignments with Tutors throughout rather than reviews.
Wolsey Hall has designed each ‘year’ of its Lower Secondary courses to be taken over 9 months to which holiday periods should be added.
At the end of Year 9 your child will take a test in their Maths, English and Science courses. This allows them to begin to develop their revision skills and their results will allow you and their tutors to confirm their readiness for GCSE Level.
Lower Secondary subjects available
Here is a list of all courses currently available at Lower Secondary level:
- Art and Design
- Computing
- Digital Literacy
- English as a Second Language
- English
- French
- Geography
- German
- Global Perspectives
- History
- International History
- Latin and the Roman World
- Maths
- Music Appreciation
- Music
- Science
- Skills for Life
- Spanish
Study support
Your child will continue to receive full support from Wolsey Hall Oxford while studying at Lower Secondary level. They will receive one-to-one Tutor support via Canvas and a welcome video call with their Tutors at the start of each Year. They will also continue to receive regular support from a Student Progress Manager (SPM) from our Secondary Team who will support them throughout their Secondary studies. We recommend that parents remain as observers on Canvas to keep abreast of their child's learning and to view any announcements.
We will arrange a handover meeting with your child’s Secondary SPM when you are choosing your child’s Year 7 subjects. The SPM will continue to be your main point of contact with Wolsey Hall to answer any questions throughout your child’s courses.
We ask you to help your child in the vital task of developing a study timetable for their chosen subjects based on the time they have available. Our Study Hours Calculator will help you in the process. But do ask your SPM if you need any help here.
Note that a range of services is available to help students who encounter difficulty with their studies. These include learning support, mentoring and study skills. These services aim to reduce potential barriers to learning while fostering an environment where your child can develop their organisation and independent study skills.
Student community
We warmly encourage your child to participate in our Student Community which includes clubs with monthly themes and regular student competitions with prizes to be won. Access to these clubs can be found on the Student Community website.
We have recently launched Lower Secondary Book Clubs and students are encouraged to use our Virtual Library. Borrowing books is completely free and there are hundreds of fiction and non-fiction titles to choose from.
There is also an active student forum on the Community website where your child can connect and make friends with other Wolsey Hall learners worldwide.
Connect with Wolsey Hall parents
There is a private Facebook group for parents with children currently studying Wolsey Hall Lower Secondary courses. This group provides the opportunity to connect with other families, to ask advice and share information
