Scholars Programme

The aim of the Scholars Programme is to develop the skills and aspirations of our High Prior Attainers and to provide them with opportunities to fulfil their potential both inside and outside of the classroom.

Raynes Park High School provides a broad and ambitious curriculum that supports all students to exceed expectations. The Scholars programme extends learning from inside the classroom and provides extracurricular opportunities designed to develop students’ knowledge, skills and cultural capital.

Our Programmes

Scholars weeks
In these weeks, different subject areas work together to develop students’ interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. Over their time in Key Stage 3, students take part in nine weeks covering a range of themes.

Kings Aspirations Project
Encourages students to think positively about themselves and their academic careers. The programme rovides extracurricular experiences including university visits, science workshops, drama workshops and theatre visits. Academic lectures and discussions are provided to compliment classroom learning at Key Stage 4..

The Brilliant Club
The Brilliant Club exists to increase the number of pupils from under-represented backgrounds progressing to highly selective universities. It recruits, trains and places doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in schools to deliver programmes of university-style tutorials, which are supplemented by university trips. 

STEM challenges
Over the course of the academic year, HPA students are encouraged to participate in a range of STEM based programmes. Our Year 8 students attend Science Aspirations days at Kings College and there is an after school STEM Club open for all HPA students in Key Stage Three. At Key Stage Four, students can attend a Biology focused STEM group. In Sixth Form, HPA students can attend a STEM Leaders group and take part in the British Biology Olympiad, which is an advanced problem-solving competition.

PiXL Stretch
The PiXL programme offers a series of video lectures on a wide range of topics that aim to inspire and challenge students. The videos have accompanying quizzes for students to complete to test their knowledge and understanding of the lectures.

Characteristics of High Attaining Students

• Keen powers of observation
• Read very early, often before school age
• Reads widely and rapidly
• Well-developed vocabulary – takes delight in using unusual and new words
• Have great intellectual curiosity
• Absorbs information rapidly – often called sponges
• Very good memory – can recall information in different circumstances
• Have the ability to concentrate deeply for prolonged periods
• Very good powers of reasoning and problem-solving
• Have intense interests
• Possess unusual imagination
• Have a great interest in ‘big’ questions, e.g. the nature of the universe, the problem of suffering in the world, environmental issues
• Very concerned about rights and wrongs, concerned about injustices

Supporting Your Child at Home

• Read with them, even if they are good readers
• Have a new word of the week at home
• Extend their general knowledge with a fact of the week
• Encourage physical activity to develop co-ordination and general fitness
• Do not always focus on your child’s obvious skills – encourage them to sample new activities
• Use puzzles, crosswords, logic games, word games, card games, board games to develop thinking skills and social interaction
• Learn a new language together
• Use adult language
• Give children a broad range of experiences
• Encourage children to ask questions and answer them as fully and honestly as possible but admit it when you do not have a full answer.
• Where necessary, seek to limit the number of engagements and formal activities that your child is exposed to, in order to ensure that the child has the space and ‘free time’ in which to play experiment and develop their own hobbies and interests
• Ensure learning is fun and enjoyable
• Give praise and encouragement to develop self-esteem and confidence