Home » High School (Cambridge) 15 – 18 Years

High School (Cambridge) 15 – 18 Years

IGCSE | AS Levels | A-Levels
School Day: 8am – 3:15pm
Extracurricular: Soccer | Netball | Mountain Biking | Trail Running | Debating

Our High School students follow the Cambridge Assessment International Education curriculum. There is no standard Montessori High School curriculum as one finds at the Toddler, Pre-Primary and Elementary levels.

For ages fifteen to eighteen, when the rapid growth of adolescence is slowing, a more rigorous intellectual schedule is most effective, combined with social work and apprenticeships in the work world. During the last three years of high school, students are more capable of abstract thought and more comfortable and capable of exercising their independence. At Newberry, a rigorously academic Cambridge curriculum and examinations are combined with opportunities to do work experience placements.

Newberry House High School follows the Cambridge International Examinations system because it provides us with flexibility and globally recognized quality; it works in similar 3-year cycles as does Montessori and students can progress at their own speed.  Cambridge IGCSE is the world’s most popular international curriculum for 14–16-year old’s. It develops successful students, giving them excellent preparation for their next steps in education and has the advantage of being recognized by universities and employers worldwide. Most importantly, it trains students to apply their knowledge in different contexts rather than just accumulate it. The ability to think critically is becoming an increasingly sought-after commodity in today’s rapidly changing world.

Harvard Psychologist and author of The Unschooled Mind, Howard Gardner, suggests that “Many schools have fallen into a pattern of giving kids exercises and drills that result in their getting answers on tests that look like understanding.”  However, several decades of research into how children learn have shown that most students, from as young as those in kindergarten to students in some of the finest universities in America, do not, as Gardner puts it, “understand what they’ve studied, in the most basic sense of the term.” They lack the capacity to take knowledge learned in one setting and apply it appropriately in a different setting.

Our goal in Montessori education is to help students to learn how to learn; to trust their own ability to discover and think logically. We seek to foster their curiosity and self-motivation. At Newberry, we guide students to form a sense of our wider world and culture: how knowledge was discovered, how it is used in everyday life, and how apparently separate “subjects” fit together. We also build in as many opportunities as possible to allow students to move around, work with their hands, and master practical life skills.