The School
Burys Court Junior School specialises in helping children who are dyslexic. It shares with Moon Hall College a beautiful Victorian mansion in an idyllic Surrey countryside setting which is easily accessible from a wide catchment area. We are only 3 miles from Reigate, 4 miles from Redhill, 6 from Dorking and Gatwick and approximately 10 from Epsom, Couldson, Godstone and Crawley. Our extensive grounds include a bluebell wood, a walled garden and an orchard, as well as sports fields, lawns and a woodland area in which the children can play and make dens. It is an inspirational setting for a school that is dyslexia friendly in all its aspects.
After Year 6, the children can proceed either into the Senior School, Moon Hall College, or on to other schools.
The Nursery and Reception classes both follow the National Curriculum guidelines for the six areas of learning, and by the end of their time in reception we expect them to be competent readers and to have begun writing with confidence. Our teaching of pre-reading skills through play helps the children of dyslexic parents to acquire the underlying skills needed before they face problems with reading and reduces the impact of those problems.
A|though Burys Court shares the same building as Moon Hall College it is mostly on different floors and the timetabling separates them. There are separate break and lunch times. Our school hours are 8:30 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. but there are optional clubs afterwards on most days that continue to 5:30 or later.
We have modelled Burys Court after Moon Hall School. We provide a full curriculum education with emphasis on literacy and numeracy. We teach to the child’s ability, not to his or her chronological age.
We take very seriously the importance of having a firm base in literacy and numeracy on which to build further academic achievement, and the importance of acquiring the skills needed for a happy and successful life. This approach has also proved very beneficial to pupils who are not dyslexic and who benefit from having the individual attention we can give.
We believe all children should be given the opportunity and support needed to learn to read with understanding especially if they have fallen behind. For reading and spelling we use a phonics system, Phono-Graphix, which we have now used for many years both at Burys Court and at Moon Hall School with considerable success. The programme enables children to learn to decode words efficiently and is very successful with the children, including those who join the school through Little Berries when it can avoid failure in reading. We give talks to parents to explain the system.
We teach in small classes, aiming to have a maximum of 14. These are split into smaller matched groups for English and Maths. Our pupils’ timetable includes the following subjects: English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, ICT, Design Technology, Art, Drama, Music, Religious Education, Personal Social and Health Education, P.E. and Sport. We offer French as a foreign language but our dyslexic pupils do English instead during these periods. We also teach touch-typing to all our pupils.
In Years 4, 5 and 6 all children in the class learn to play either the violin or the clarinet. In this way all children receive three years of tuition in one or other instrument. This is done in class rotation and while not every child keeps it up afterwards it is good experience for them and many do continue with their music.
Sport
For team sports, our children play football in the Autumn Term, hockey in the Spring Term and cricket in the Summer Term. Swimming is done throughout the year, in the winter terms at a local pool and in the summer in our own open air pool. In the summer the children also do athletics and in the winter cross country running at which a number of pupils excel. In 2009-10 our junior hockey team was undefeated in the season. Our Head of Sport organises opportunities for the children to enjoy a wide variety of other sporting activities both outside and in our large gymnasium. He also runs after school clubs on most days. These include basket ball, netball, volley ball, badminton and golf.
The Staff
Under the leadership of Berry Baker, Founder and Principal of Moon Hall Schools, the teachers at Burys Court and Moon Hall College have all the expertise required to deliver the specialist education that enables the school's pupils to fulfil their potential.
Each dyslexic pupil has his or her own teaching plan and specialist support is given on an individual basis as and when required.
Most importantly, staff will work to build on the strengths of each child and so develop confidence and a sense of self-worth in all students. This is frequently a key aspect in helping students to improve performance and meet new challenges in a positive way.
