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At Benenden, we do not mistake a syllabus for an education.
Benenden's unique academic programme aims to encourage a lifelong enthusiasm for learning and discovery. We have a curriculum that blends the very best of educational tradition with an innovative, enquiry-based cross-curricular approach that allows students to make connections, synthesise knowledge and develop advanced research skills.
By the time a student leaves Benenden, she will have achieved her very best possible grades at GCSE and A Level, but also have a love for learning and a set of aptitudes that fit her to meet the challenges of both her professional and personal life in the years ahead.
Benenden's ethos is strongly committed to the development of the whole person: we do not see the learning that happens within the classroom as separate to that which happens beyond it.
Throughout the School, lessons are designed not just to teach students content and how to apply this in exams, but to nurture the skills of resilience, resourcefulness, reflectiveness and collaboration, and to help the girls become creative and critical thinkers. We want them not just to be able to answer questions, but to formulate and ask the questions that will shape the future.
We are extremely proud of our exam results and our value added scores, which show each student achieving excellent results for her. But we are not a hot-house: things that live in hot-houses cannot survive outside them. At all times, we place the girls' academic education in the wider context of her wellbeing, her co-curricular activities and the need to flourish in a world where exam results, whilst very important as a passport to opportunities, are not the source of contentment and fulfilment.
Benenden's ethos is strongly committed to the development of the whole person: we do not see the learning that happens within the classroom as separate to that which happens beyond it.
The lessons, the clubs and activities, the Weekend Programme and the collaborative skills that are nurtured by being in a boarding environment will all help a young person to grow and develop.
Lower School
The Benenden Diploma is our bespoke curriculum for the Fourth and Upper Fourth (Years 7 and 8, our 11 to 13-year-olds). This is a two-year curriculum, unique to Benenden, and is designed to capture the sense of awe and wonder that students of this age still have about discovering new knowledge and skills.
Through the Diploma, the students are given a solid and stimulating grounding in all the traditional academic disciplines, but they learn these through an integrated curriculum based around six cross-curricular themes.
As well as the 32 hour-long subject lessons a week, each term the regular timetable is suspended as the students tackle challenging questions across all subjects, sometimes off-site and with experts from industry and the professions.
Middle School
From Lower Fifth to Upper Fifth (Years 9 to 11, our 13 to 16-year-olds) the students study on average ten or 11 GCSEs but these are set into a wider learning experience where the girls also undertake enquiry learning, research projects, enterprise education and a unique Personal and Professional Development Programme.
Upper School
In the Sixth Form, students choose three, four or five A Level subjects, and study these alongside the bespoke Benenden Professional Skills Programme which has been designed and delivered by experts from industry and the professions and whose aim is to prepare the students to navigate the complex employment market. The course includes an internship, instruction on how to perform well at interview, CV preparation and an enterprise project.
| Lower School | Middle School GCSE Options | Upper School A Level Options |
|---|---|---|
|
English |
Compulsory/Core Options |
Art & Design Biology Chemistry Computer Science Design and Technology Drama and Theatre Studies Economics English Literature English Language & Literature French Geography German Government and Politics Greek History History of Art Latin Mandarin Mathematics Further Mathematics Music Physics Psychology Religious Studies Spanish Sports Science and PE Extended Project Level 3 Qualification |
Forms
| Form | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fourth Form Upper Fourth Form Lower Fifth Form Fifth Form Upper Fifth Form Six One Six Two |
IV UIV LV V UV VI1 VI2 |
Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13 |
11+ Entry - Benenden Diploma 12+ Entry - Benenden Diploma 13+ Entry - Foundation for Key Stage 4 study GCSE - Year 1 of GCSE programme GCSE - Year 2 of GCSE programme A Level - Year 1 of A Level programme A Level / University Entry - Year 2 of A Level programme |
Explore Further
We chose Benenden for our daughter having seen how beautifully a friend’s child had been educated there. Articulate and confident, she was an ambassador for the school.
Lower Fifth Form mother
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