Prep school - The Active School
Where sport exceeds
Years 7 to 9
The Active School, is the third phase of education in our students' Metropole Journey, covering Years 7-9. In The Active School we cultivate well-rounded students who thrive academically and as active community members. Our comprehensive and engaging curriculum is designed to foster active minds through a practical, student-led, and enquiry-based approach, both inside the classroom and beyond. We exceed in sport supported by state of the art facilities, expert coaching and a strong focus on holistic development through competitive and collaborative opportunities.
- Specialist Teaching and Coaching: Students benefit from 3 PE lessons a week, with expert PE teachers and professional sports coaches who deliver high-quality instruction, feedback, and mentorship. Students have access to The School of High Performance Curriculum which includes: Sports Nutrition, Strength and Conditioning, Combat Sports, and Sports Psychology.
- Enrichment and Competition: Regular sport competitions, trips, events, and enrichment opportunities promote teamwork, resilience, and ambition.
- Wellbeing: Physical and mental wellbeing are embedded across the curriculum, enabling students to understand and value healthy, active lifestyles and positive mindsets. A bespoke sports psychology programme, integrated within PE lessons, further enhances this provision by developing resilience, confidence, focus and self-regulation — supporting the development of the whole child both in and beyond the classroom.
- Student-Led Approaches: Learning is hands-on, and collaborative, encouraging curiosity, creativity, and independence.
- Community Engagement and Leadership: Students are encouraged to take active roles within school and community initiatives, developing responsibility, empathy, and confidence. They can participate in the Active Baccalaureate Award to further strengthen their community leadership skills and celebrate their achievements.
Students study UK National Curriculum subjects, including English, Maths, Science, ICT, Art, Performing Arts, Humanities, Modern Foreign Languages, MSC (Moral, Social and Cultural) and Physical Education. Additionally, they learn Arabic and Islamic Studies (for our Muslim students). For Non-Muslim students we deliver Learning to Lead, which is a skills-based lesson.
Please click below to download Active School Curriculum Books:
Explore the Secondary Curriculum
Our curriculum focuses on several different areas below
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English
In the secondary school students follow a structured course in English that enables them to consolidate core skills and analyse a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. Students have dedicated library lessons with a resource pack provided to guide them through their independent reading opportunities.
The distinction between ‘comprehension’ and ‘word reading’, which operated at Key Stages 1 and 2, has disappeared. There is one set of orders, simply called ‘reading’. Pupils are encouraged to read critically through ‘knowing how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organizational features. During Key Stage 3 ‘the analytic study of language should receive greater attention, whether this study is concerned with word classes, word structure (which would include morphology),sentence grammar, text grammar, the history of change in English (including etymology) or other aspects of knowledge about language.
Students are taught to write ‘well-structured formal expository and narrative essays; stories, scripts, poetry and other imaginative writing; notes and polished scripts for talks and presentations; a range of other narrative and non-narrative texts, including arguments, and personal and formal letters’; and they mention planning, editing and proofreading.
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Maths
At GEMS Metropole students' needs are very much at the heart of the learning process. Everyone is valued for his or her experiences and questions are welcomed as part of the learning experience. Students are encouraged to develop an independent learning attitude through investigational tasks and regular homework.
The programme of study for Key Stage 3 is organised into apparently distinct domains. Pupils build on Key Stage 2 and connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. They also apply their mathematical knowledge in science, geography, computing and other subjects.Decisions about progression is based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts are challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems.
Together, the mathematical content set out in the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 programmes of study covers the full range of material contained in the GCSE Mathematics qualification.
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Science
Science is changing our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all students should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science.
In the secondary school the principal focus of science teaching in Key Stage 3 is to develop a deeper understanding of a range of scientific ideas in the subject disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Pupils should begin to see the connections between these subject areas and become aware of some of the big ideas underpinning scientific knowledge and understanding.
Studying the sciences in Key Stage 4 provides the platform for more advanced studies, establishing the basis for a wide range of careers. For others, it will be their last formal study of subjects that provide the foundations for understanding the natural world and will enhance their lives in an increasingly technological society.
Our modern science laboratories offer spacious, excellent facilities in which students can study Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and be introduced to the fundamental concepts of science that will pave the way for the more advanced topics.
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