The Bridge Curriculum for Years 7 and 8 and Scholarships to Senior Schools

In Year 8 there are two routes into secondary education. The majority of senior schools require children to take either the Common Entrance examination or a programme of study that is broadly similar to Common Entrance to gain entry. 

In September 2019, St Andrew’s Prep moved away from Common Entrance in favour of The Bridge Curriculum – an exciting initiative which combines the best of Common Entrance, the National Curriculum and other programmes of study, to create a pathway of learning that is exciting, dynamic and effective in preparing pupils for senior school and beyond. It is through this route that the majority of Androvians will access senior school.  

The Bridge Curriculum will provide continuity of study across the curriculum for Years 7 and 8 at St Andrew’s Prep and Year 9 at Eastbourne College or any senior school to which a pupil moves. Assessment and teaching will look different at St Andrew’s and Eastbourne College as teachers will use a variety of methods to monitor children’s progress and maintain rigour across those three years. The Bridge Curriculum will enable us to give parents, children and future schools a clear indication of where the strengths and weaknesses of each child lie rather than just an end of year examination grade. Assessment will be rigorous and, in some subjects, may not appear to be too different from the Common Entrance exams but surrounding the assessments will be an array of information available to teachers to inform their judgements.   

There are also a small number of children who will take sit for Academic Scholarships and for those children, they will follow the Bridge Curriculum in Year 7 but then, in Year 8, they will move into a scholarship group where they will cover everything in the Bridge Curriculum for Year 8 alongside any additional scholarship work which is required. As the curriculum teaches the skills required for the access of the Common Entrance Syllabus as well as the National Curriculum, it can be benchmarked against Common Entrance and the Bridge Curriculum will therefore cater for those children who do not wish to continue into Year 9 at Eastbourne College.  

At the end of Year 8, children go on to a number of senior schools, and in particular, Eastbourne College. The Headmaster is happy to advise on all future schools. 

For more information about The Bridge Curriculum, you can download the following document: Bridge Curriculum