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Approach to Learning

We teach by creating curiosity and setting challenges.

Confidence grows as the children grow, and, with it their desire to question and discuss. Our distinctive approach to learning helps children excel academically.

We follow our founder's vision of focussing on all aspects of a child's life – head, hand and heart – and we believe that education should empower children through opportunity and experience.

Much learning takes place through making and doing, especially through our activities programme. Surprising talents are often unearthed by the children themselves and by our supervising staff. Pottery is one example. Students were inspired by images of Margaret Dodd's quirky car sculptures to produce slab-built creations that were bulging with life. There was little intervention by the teacher; the students were invited to use their new technical knowledge and to fire it with their own imagination.

The pottery studio is open long hours, so students can develop their craft when they choose. Pottery is one of our many after-school optional activities and also forms part of the curriculum. Choosing an activity because it sounds interesting, or because a friend persuades you to 'have a go', is often just a beginning. It's a seed that we nurture with enthusiasm and encouragement, to give it the best chance of developing into an all-consuming, lifelong passion.

Children at Dunhurst are encouraged to find their own voice in every aspect of school life. Presenting their own scientific research on how plants and animals adapt to their environment, the children field testing but courteous questions from their peers. The lab becomes a relaxed forum for inquisitive minds to develop analytical thinking: assumptions are tested, assertions discussed, conclusions drawn – both collectively and individually. More on Dunhurst Science.

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