Why choose Sheffield Girls' Infants and Juniors?
We accept pupils into any year group in our Infant and Junior school but we feel passionately about the benefits of seven full years with us in our unique setting, supporting eventual transition into our Senior School.
7 Years, 7 Reasons.
From day one we put our pupils at the centre of everything we do. Your journey with us starts with your first visit to our school. On this occasion, you will meet our Head, Miss Emily Green, and be given a tour of the school meeting class teachers, other members of our school community and most importantly our current pupils. Following on from this, ‘taster days’ can be booked, where your daughter spends a full day with us at school, experiencing lessons, lunchtime and play.
Whether she is starting at the beginning of the school year, or mid-way through a term, we work hard to ensure we understand her interests, passions and talents. We provide a learning environment where she feels challenged, enthused and engaged. We are there to support transition and alleviate any concerns. This is done in partnership with parents.
We work hard to quickly understand the interests, passions, talents and in some cases fears of our young pupils, so that we can provide a learning environment where she feels challenged, but supported. Where she can feel free in her curiosity about the world but be closely guided, so that she gets the most from every opportunity.
The beauty of a smaller setting such as ours is that every girl is known, by every member of staff and pupils quickly feel familiar and comfortable at School. We see ourselves less as a ‘small school’ and more as a very ‘large family’.
Small class sizes and high staff to pupil ratios allow for individual interactions between our fantastic teachers and their pupils. Infants Girls read with an adult daily and supervised reading continues in Juniors, with literacy and maths assessed regularly and updates shared with parents and carers. There is a focus on building core skills in literacy and maths, where regular reading and spelling practice are part of the curriculum, as is the learning of times-tables and number bonds. Literacy and Numeracy is assessed regularly, with other aspects of the curriculum being teacher assessed. Parents are informed regularly of their daughter’s academic progress, through parents’ evenings, reports and informal meetings with the teachers.
Transitions between year groups and into different classes are handled with care, allowing pupils the time to adjust to new people and environments.
Our incredible state of the art facilities are spacious, welcoming, and bursting with equipment. Our pupils learn and play in spaces designed for their specific needs.
Our Fusion Curriculum is structured to provide pupils with the foundations to develop six core competencies: creativity; independence; morals and ethics; confidence; appreciation; and curious cognition.
Alongside this our Girls of Steel programme supports the girls to embody and demonstrate our school ethos of courage, positivity and kindness, every day.
Sheffield Girls’ is in a league of its own, and this is down to the level of education which is delivered by brilliant teachers who always go the extra mile - Year 6 parent
Pupils in every year group enjoy dedicated lessons in sport, modern foreign languages and music, delivered by specialist teachers. They get to explore a range of sports, try a multitude of instruments, and get to grips with both Spanish and French in their first years with us and will be able to specialise as they get older, taking part in a range of extra curricular activities alongside our timetabled provision.
We are the Primary Hub for robotics in the region and our pupils learn coding and digital literacy from a very young age. Through our digital learning they develop technical competencies, critical thinking and collaboration skills as they access more challenging tech and robotics activities.
Every class will take part in a number of trips each year and in Juniors there is a residential trip in each year group. We visit local attractions and environments across the city and explore further afield for subject related activities and adventures.
There are extra curricular clubs every day of the week, usually run at lunch time or after school, with something to whet every appetite.
Every year there are opportunities for classes and year groups to come together to deliver performances, musical recitals and group activities and we invite parents, carers and the wider school community to come and enjoy these events together.
We have been surprised by how nurturing the teachers are and how much fun our daughter has each day. She was quite a shy little girl when she started at Sheffield Girls’ but has developed a quiet inner confidence and resilience, which is helping her to navigate high pressure situations with ease - Year 6 parent
Our pupils grow and develop unrestrained by any sense of gender stereotypes or expectations. We provide multiple leadership opportunities and watch as our girls grasp their new responsibilities with gusto.
The sense of ownership and autonomy are modelled by our older pupils, from Year 6 right through to Sixth Form who join our infant and juniors each week to provide peer support and mentoring for a variety of activities. We are very much a family at Sheffield Girls’ and our youngest pupils benefit from the example set by their ‘big sisters’.
Our Senior school regularly tops the rankings for academic performance in the region and in 2023 was voted the top independent secondary school in the north by the Sunday Times. Our GCSE and A Level results are the best in the city.
Our Year 6 pupils do not sit SATS exams, but will be assessed in maths and English prior to moving into Year 7. We provide a wide range of transition activities and visits to the Senior school which start in Year 5, to support our pupils as they prepare to move up to secondary education. As a result pupils are familiar with our senior school teachers and the senior school site, and settle in quickly to life in Year 7.
