Junior School at metropole
Junior School
The Junior School, which includes Year 3 - 6 (age 7-11 years), offers children a high-quality education in a friendly and supportive learning environment. We seek to develop students leadership through student voice and confidence building. We believe it is essential that all pupils acquire a good grasp of English, Mathematics, Science, and Humanities. Arabic, Islamic, Art, ICT, Languages, Music, Drama and PE are taught by subject specialists who are experienced in teaching primary aged pupils. Student voice is at the heart of what we do. The SSAT Pupil Leadership Award, which is a program that focuses on core leadership skills provides students an opportunity to develop as leaders. The elective student options of Spanish and French allows for students to become leaders of their own learning and begin to make informed choices about their future pathways. Our radio station, TED style talks and project presentations encourage confident public speakers.
Through our commitment to ensuring every child has the responsibility and experience of a leadership role, members of the Junior student leadership team work on key priorities in conjunction with the school Senior Leadership Team to develop the school from a student perspective. We believe that student self-confidence and independence from an early age is important in the development of leaders. The Junior Duke Award will give students the opportunity to complete a range of personal challenges including First Aid, cookery, domestic challenges, caring for others, playing chess and many other fun things! The four years of developing pupil voice and confidence building will prepare students in their transition to the Prep School where they will further establish themselves as leaders.
Please click below to download Curriculum Books:

Tara Foster
Primary Headteacher
Leadership Team
Meet The Head of Primary
"I made the transition from teacher to leadership as I knew my experience would enable me to impact on the learning and future of all children in the school, not just the children in my class."
Explore the Junior Curriculum
Our curriculum focuses on several different areas below
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Spoken Language
At all ages, the ability to listen and respond appropriately to others is a critical life-skill and key to accessing and developing children’s learning in school and the world around them.
We use talk in the classroom daily, we model and teach children to articulate their answers, questions, opinions, arguments, descriptions and explanations, as well as express their feelings.
We encourage children to use the English language articulately in order to communicate with their audience effectively. We regularly use talk to clarify and solidify thinking and learning through cooperative learning structures in the classroom.
We provide real life contexts throughout the curriculum that provide opportunities for children to adapt their tone and style for a particular audience, from presentations to performances and role plays to debates. Talk is very much seen as a key to success.
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Reading
At GEMS Metropole we have a passion for books and the written form; this is at the heart of our teaching from early reading until the children are ready for secondary school.
We believe that children must develop a love for reading in order to motivate and develop their own reading fluency and comprehension skills. Children at GEMS Metropole are able to access all that books have to offer through high-quality shared class texts and book talk that give them opportunities to develop their skills as well as a vivid imagination and advanced vocabulary. Children can choose their own book to take home from an array of individually levelled reading books, including books from the Oxford Reading Tree, ORT Phonics, Usborne First Reading and Project X reading schemes. This is encouraged across the school as the most useful and enjoyable element of home learning.
GEMS Metropole has three well-stocked libraries where children visit regularly and can relax and enjoy a book. Our children read regularly to teachers, learning support assistants and volunteers in a group or 1:1 environment, but also relish the opportunity to hear a magical tale read by their teacher.
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Writing
At GEMS Metropole we value writing as a fundamental communication skill that enables our children to share their creativity, ideas and emotions; and this starts right from day one.
Children are given rich experiences to encourage and develop a love and purpose for writing. In English lessons, we use high quality texts as a stimulus and as a model of writing excellence for them to emulate. Throughout the primary school we use Talk 4 Writing to support early stages of the writing process. This develops sentence structure, imagination and creativity through using images and symbols. Our aim is to make writing purposeful and meaningful so we will often link it to the current topic that our children are immersed in. Editing is an important skill our children develop, refining their work and striving for their absolute best to meet the needs of the audience is a key skill. We are exceptionally proud of what our children achieve and therefore celebrate their writing through publishing and displays.
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Maths
The British Curriculum focuses on teaching of the following three fundamentals:
- Becoming fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
- Reasoning mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
- Solving problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
Across the school, we teach Maths in a practical way giving children opportunities to explore number relationships using models, images and manipulatives including Numicon, Dienes and Cuisenaire Rods. Once children have a secure understanding of mathematical concepts, we challenge them to solve more abstract and complex problems through offering a variety of rich, mathematical tasks as opposed to moving them on to new content. Application in a range of concepts, reasoning and exploring mathematical ideas are a key part of learning and challenge for our children.
In lessons we link maths concepts to the real world beyond the classroom so that children develop an appreciation of the application of maths for future employment and real life. We don’t use a particular ‘maths scheme’ as such, but we do use a variety of published and online resources including White Rose. Our teachers are very skilled at structuring lessons and tailoring material to embed learning and provide stretch and challenge.
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Science
Science at GEMS Metropole contributes significantly to pupils’ enjoyment and understanding of the world and their place within it. This awareness is to extend as far as the pupil is able from being aware of themselves and their immediate environment through to an appreciation of the natural and man-made world within Science. This area is important as it contributes to a broad, balanced, differentiated, and relevant curriculum but will also link across the curriculum.
Science is made accessible to all pupils through a focus on practical work, first-hand experience and special events designed to inspire and engage learners. Teaching key skills such as making observations, predictions and evaluation of first hand observations are of equal importance to knowledge and understanding.
In the primary school, science is taught by class teachers and is incorporated throughout other subjects and the relevant topic at the time. This ensures a holistic approach in the acquisition of scientific skills and knowledge.
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Moral Social and Cultural Studies
At GEMS Metropole we follow the Moral, Social and Cultural Studies (MSC) curriculum as published by the Ministry of Education in the UAE. This curriculum focuses on three domains; moral, social and cultural. There are 10 strands that fit into these domains; Character morality, individual and community, history, geography, sociology, economics, information literacy, information processing, heritage and civics. MSCs outcomes are incorporated across all areas of the curriculum from Year 2 to Year 6 for 40 minutes each week. In addition, some of the time will be integrated throughout discovery lessons when necessary. When teaching MSC, we aim to contribute to the making of better global citizens through the development of human capital capabilities, promoting the values of tolerance and respect and being responsible for looking after the place where they live as well as the wider world.
We provide students with an awareness of the world around them to help them navigate and be successful in the future, making informed and reasoned decisions as members of a tolerant and culturally diverse society. This will include deepening their understanding of social, political and economic systems. At the end of each term, students will complete a project to enhance their MSCs knowledge and skills.
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Subject Coverage
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Junior Subject Coverage
Year 3 to Year 6
Age: 7 years old to 10 years old
The foundation of learning has already been laid by Key Stage 2, and students begin to learn at a higher level and apply the knowledge they have gained in their earlier years. Students have a better understanding of their own identities and likes, and they also begin to be curious about areas they are interested in discovering.
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Computing and Innovation
- Art and Design
- Design Technology
- Performing Arts (music and drama)
- Physical Education (PE)
- Modern Foreign Languages (French and Spanish)
- Arabic
- Islamic Studies
- Moral, Social and Cultural Studies
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Computing and Innovation
- Art and Design
- Design Technology
- Performing Arts (music and drama)
- Physical Education (PE)
- Arabic
- Islamic Studies
- Moral, Social and Cultural Studies
Option: French or Spanish
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Computing and Innovation
- Art and Design
- Design Technology
- Performing Arts (music and drama)
- Physical Education (PE)
- Arabic
- Islamic Studies
- Moral, Social and Cultural Studies
Option: French or Spanish
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
- Computing and Innovation
- Art and Design
- Design Technology
- Performing Arts (music and drama)
- Physical Education (PE)
- Arabic
- Islamic Studies
- Moral, Social and Cultural Studies
Option: French or Spanish
Students are encouraged to find solutions by applying developed skills and knowledge. This introduction to independent learning gives them the opportunity to explore possibilities.
Curriculum Overviews
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Junior Curriculum Overviews
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Year 3 Term 1 A
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Year 4 Term 1 A
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Year 4 Term 1 B
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Year 4 Term 2 A
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Year 4 Term 2 B
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Year 4 Term 3 A
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Year 4 Term 3 B
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Year 5 Term 1 A
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Year 5 Term 1 B
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Year 5 Term 2 A
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Year 5 Term 2 B
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Year 5 Term 3 A and B
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Year 6 Term 1 A
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Year 6 Term 1 B
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Year 6 Term 2 A
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Year 6 Term 2 B
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Year 6 Term 3 A
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More To Explore
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Facilities
We have a state of the art campus and facilities which create a rich learning environment.
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Extra Curricular Activities
We offer programs that introduce students to a variety of exciting and enriching experiences.
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School Policies
Policies are important as they help a school establish rules and procedures and create standards of quality for learning and safety.