The Novi Curriculum

Pupils arrive at Tonbridge School in Year 9 via a number of routes: the majority come from English prep schools and have taken Common

Entrance. A substantial minority will have taken our own Scholarship Examination. A smaller number come from overseas or from local state schools.

On arrival, the boys are placed in one of seven forms, 1F1 to 1F7. Each form has a similar spread of ability and will contain a mix of boys entering via the three different routes above. The academic scholars are distributed evenly between the seven forms. We try to spread the boys from the larger feeder prep schools around the seven forms to encourage the formation

of new, additional friendship groups. We also try to ensure that there are at least two other boys from their Boarding or Day House in each form. The boys spend just over half of their lesson time in their forms, which are used for these subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography, History, Divinity, Digital Creativity, Drama, Art, Music, Design Technology and PE.

For English, boys from the three forms 1F1 to 1F3 are mixed up into four English sets called En1P1 to En1P4. Similarly the four forms 1F4 to 1F7 become the five English sets En1Q1 to En1Q5. En1P1 and En1Q1 are top sets, with boys chosen on their performance in the entrance exams. The remaining boys are allocated to English sets such that all other sets contain a similar mix of ability. Thus, sets 1P2, 1P3 and1P4 are equivalent, as are sets 1Q2, 1Q3, 1Q4 and 1Q5. Having nine English sets means that the boys are taught in smaller groups for that subject.

For Mathematics, the whole year group is taught in seven sets called Ma1M1 to Ma1M7, not based on the forms but, instead, on the boys’ performance in their entrance exams in maths, with Ma1M1 being the fastest moving set and Ma1M7 the steadiest. Because all the boys have maths lessons at the same time, it is relatively straightforward to move boys up and down the sets as their developing ability suggests is appropriate. Moves are often made after the end of Michaelmas term exams, for instance. Some parents occasionally express surprise that their son is initially placed in what they perceive to be a lower Maths set

The Novi CurriculumOur curricular aims are underpinned by the following school mission statement...

Tonbridge School aims to provide a caring and enlightened environment in which the talents of each individual flourish. We encourage boys to be creative, tolerant and to strive for academic, sporting and cultural excellence. Respect for tradition and an openness to innovation are equally valued. A well-established House system at the heart of the school fosters a strong sense of belonging. Tonbridge seeks to celebrate its distinctive mixture of boarders and day boys; this helps to create a unique broadening and deepening of opportunity. We want boys to enjoy their time here, but also to be made aware of their social and moral responsibilities. Tonbridgians should enter into the adult world with the knowledge and self-belief to fulfil their own potential and, in many cases, to become leaders in their chosen field. Equally, we hope to foster a life-long empathy for the needs and views of others: in the words of the great novelist and Old Tonbridgian, E.M. Forster: ‘Only Connect’.

All boys in the Novi study two Modern Foreign Languages. We offer four languages: French, German, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. One of these languages should be one which a boy has been studying already (his “continuation” language) and the other can be started from scratch or continued if he has previously studied two languages. Boys are expected to take at least one of these languages through to GCSE.

The only curriculum choice that has to be made prior to arrival is which two modern languages will be studied.

Parents will be sent a form about this with the pack of information accompanying the offer of a place at Tonbridge School.

French: this is likely to be the most popular language, as many boys will have been studying it for a number of years, although it is not compulsory at Tonbridge. We do not offer French “from scratch” but boys will be setted by ability and experience if they opt for this language. Thus we only offer continuation French.

German: this language is usually available “from scratch” only, as demand is usually insufficient for a continuation set. German is the most-spoken mother tongue in Europe with 120 million speakers; it is a common language for many parts of Eastern Europe and the language of one of the world’s largest economies.

Spanish is available either as a continuation language if a boy has been learning it for two years by the time he arrives at Tonbridge, or “from scratch”. Like German, it is a phonetic language and is therefore relatively easy to pronounce, while its Latin roots and similarities to French enable rapid initial progress.

Mandarin Chinese will be offered in two sets. One set is for boys from the Far East or elsewhere who already have experience of Mandarin or Cantonese. The other will be a set of boys starting the language from scratch. Mandarin is spoken by more people than any other language in the world. China has a fast developing economy and is an increasingly important trading partner for many European countries.

Because our policy is to allow the boys in their Novi year to experience all the possible subjects they could select for their ten (usually) GCSEs, the boys have 17 different subjects in their curriculum. It follows that some subjects are allocated a relatively small number of periods in the timetable. Tonbridge School uses a fortnightly timetable in which there are 72 forty-minute periods per fortnight (ppf ).

than expected given their son’s relatively ability at his prep school. It has to be remembered that many Novi achieve A grades in their Common Entrance and still end up in set 6 or 7 for instance. Such parents should be reassured that the boys will still be appropriately challenged in their maths lessons. In Classics, we find that the boys arrive with a wide range of prior experience. A substantial minority arrive having never studied Latin; this is not a problem as we have sets for beginners. Others arrive having studied Latin, and in a small number of cases Greek as well, for a number of years. Consequently we set the boys for Classics in different groups from their other subjects. These groups depend on their prior experience. Some boys, whose Latin is very strong, are placed in one of two sets called LG1J1 or LG1L1; these boys study both Latin and Greek in their Classics lessons. The remaining boys are placed in Latin sets appropriate to their ability and prior experience.

Subjects are allocated periods as follows:

Periods PeriodsEnglish 8 Mathematics 8Continuation foreign language 6 Physics 5Second foreign language 6 Chemistry 5Latin1 6 Biology 5Geography 3 Technology2 3History 3 Digital creativity3 2Divinity 3 Art 3Drama 2 Music 2PE 2

1. Boys in the top Latin sets do Greek in some of their Latin lessons.2. Technology is a composite course involving elements of Design Technology and Electronics.3. Digital Creativity is a computing course but also involves use of our film and audio facilities

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHEE) is delivered within our programme of Wednesday Afternoon Activities in which House Novi groups cycle round a varied programme of Activities over the course of the year including, in addition to PSHEE topics, Healthy Eating, the Promotion of British Values, Anti-bullying, the work of the School Counsellor, Community Living, Debating, plus an introduction to new sports and in the summer term an introduction to the CCF (Combined Cadet Force).

Academic Scholars have a programme of additional activities under the epithet ‘Novi Athena’ organised by the Tutor to the Academic Scholars, Mr David Cooper, who also oversees the Scholarship Exams in late April/early May. This programme is also open to non-scholars should they wish to attend.

In order to provide sufficient practice time for Music Award holders, many of whom learn two or more instruments, parents are asked to consult their sons about which subject or pair of subjects they will opt out of. It is hoped that the boys can organise their individual instrumental lessons to coincide with some of the liberated periods. The possible subjects that can be omitted are from the following list:

i) Second foreign language (6 ppf ) ii) Latin (6 ppf ) iii) Art and Drama (5 ppf ) iv) Art and Technology (6 ppf ) v) Drama and Technology (5 ppf )

The Tonbridge School Learning Support Department assists those boys with specific learning issues (e.g. dyslexia) but also supports the learning of all the

boys via a programme called Learning to Learn (L2L) which takes place during some of the English lessons in the Michaelmas term. This programme contains lots of useful study skills ideas and further information about this is available from the Head of Learning Support, Mr J.D.C. Lewis.