Prep Schools
Located on three sites across Glasgow - Kelvinbridge, Milngavie and Newlands - our pupils receive every opportunity to try new experiences and reach their potential.
Prep 1
Prep 1 at The Glasgow Academy is a unique and exciting year for children and their families. Our nurturing environments at Kelvinbridge, Milngavie & Newlands promote the well-being, happiness and academic success of our young learners.
Pupils enjoy an engaging, innovative and broad curriculum which inspires a lifelong love of learning. Our small class sizes ensure children are given highly individualised learning with Numeracy and Literacy at the core. Pupils also experience specialist lessons in Drama, Music, PE and Modern Languages which nurtures a love of healthy activity, music and languages from an early age.
Topics include; Myself and My Community, By the Sea and Fairy Tales. There are many trips and outings to extend our knowledge and guest speakers to the school to deepen our understanding and interests.
Prep 2
In Prep 2, pupils become explorers, travelling through places and time to discover more in our Transport and Journeys topic. They become budding paleontologists studying Dinosaurs before coming back to the present day and learning more about our beautiful country, Scotland. Through these topics, we develop skills within a number of curricular areas including Art, ICT, Philosophy. Outdoor Learning and STEM activities take place throughout the year and we even become real scientists while exploring the world of nature through Planting and Growing. In Literacy, we delve into the world of books, discovering inspiring novels which are linked with our topics to encourage pupils to think deeply about what they have read and create wonderful writing pieces of their own. In Mathematics our Maths Mastery approach develops intellectual competence using concrete materials to investigate mathematical concepts and embed deep conceptual understanding and problem solving.
Prep 3
Our Prep 3 pupils develop their independence and drive with lots of opportunities for enquiry-based learning through STEM initiatives, Philosophy lessons and Growth Mindset training. Our Maths curriculum encompasses the Singapore Approach. We concentrate on developing problem-solving skills through real-life applied Maths and ensuring mastery is achieved in all concepts. Our Language curriculum inspires pupils to be confident readers and writers, with our aim to up-level literacy skills beyond expected national targets. Our exciting topics include; the Romans, Minibeasts and Around the World where we motivate pupils through engaging lessons, events and visits. Our UNITE programme develops cultural intelligence, building an understanding of beliefs and cultures from around the world. Our nurturing environment encourages children to become confident learners, ready to embrace challenges with positivity.
Prep 4
Prep 4 cultivates a deeper understanding of Literacy through class reading groups and novel studies, as well as more detailed comprehension work. Pupils enjoy exciting weekly writing lessons to inspire and to encourage more creative thinking. They also experience fantastic and diverse topics, including Rainforests, Knights and Castles, Ancient Egypt and My Healthy Body. A particular highlight of our year is our Medieval Day where pupils at Kelvinbridge, Milngavie & Newlands come together dressed in period clothing and take part in activities including archery and jousting and enjoy a delicious medieval banquet. Swimming lessons are also part of our curriculum across our three campuses for children to foster a safe and healthy love of water. A special highlight is our one-night away residential trip held in May. This prepares the children for their two-night residential trip at the beginning of Prep 5.
Prep 5
Prep 5 is an exciting year at The Academy as our pupils at Milngavie and Newlands transition to Kelvinbridge. We begin the year with an exciting residential trip to PGL Dalguise in Dunkeld. This is a wonderful opportunity for pupils to bond and get to know each other in a relaxed and fun environment over the course of three days. Back in the classroom, pupils receive specialist teaching in Music, Drama, PE, French, Spanish and Sport. We are also taught Physics in our award-winning Science Centre. Our Maths sets provide focused teaching in a more personalised learning environment with further targeted support. In Literacy, pupils developing higher order comprehension skills through Novel studies, Bloom's Taxonomy and Literacy Circles. Topics include; Harry Potter, the Solar System, Tudors and Stuarts and Climate Change. Our clubs programme has a wide variety of activities including; gymnastics, taekwondo, photography, theatre, table tennis and Bollywood dancing.
Prep 6
The preparation for Senior School begins in Prep 6 as pupils receive specialist lessons in Drama, Food Technology, French, Music, PE, Science, Spanish and Sport. Our topics include the Jacobites which features an historical re-enactment of major events. Our Geography of Scotland topic enhances pupils' design and technology skills by setting bridge building challenges. In Human Body, we use our state-of-the-art 3D projector, interactively exploring major organs. We travel back in time for our Victorians topic and experience life in this definitive period during our Victorian Morning. Pupils are introduced to the world of Politics and take part in a mock election. Our Formula 1 project develops technology skills using computer-aided design to build and race a model car. The year concludes in style with a residential trip to Abernethy Outdoor Activity Centre, where children explore a wide range of pursuits such as raft building, crate climbing, zip lining and much more!
Prep 7 (Transitus)
Our Prep 7 curriculum is carefully designed in preparation for Senior School with a wide range of specialist lessons including Art, Mandarin, Drama, Biology and Computing Science. Pupils are immersed in a variety of historical and global topics and we bring these topics to life where our children experience an 'evacuation' as part of our WWII topic, fight for Women's Rights in a public debate and put their survival skills into action during our Natural Disaster Day. Our Bring your Own Device initiative positively shapes pupils’ online awareness and improve their technological skills through various software programmes. Pupils are encouraged to take on positions of responsibility to further develop their leadership skills and approach towards others. Other highlights include a Shakespeare production, school prom and an unforgettable residential trip to Winmarleigh Hall in Lancashire.