Primary FAQ

How are students assessed for primary school?

We are an inclusive school and we welcome learners of all abilities and backgrounds. So our assessment is part of the ‘getting to know you’ process and helps us gauge their current levels so we can teach them well and present them with appropriately challenging work once they start with us.

TBS Assessment processes

● For prospective Foundation 1, Foundation 2, Year 1 and 2 children, parents and children meet with the class teacher(for a brief discussion). Children need to be toilet trained before starting at TBS.
● For children in Key Stage 2/3/4/5 (Years 3-13) there are two tests. A general mathematics test and a written English test for prospective Year 3 students. They are broad in scope and designed to be accessible for all regardless of prior school systems.

An additional two and half hour online Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) is sat by prospective students for Year 4 and above. This tests verbal, non-verbal, spatial and quantitative understandings. It is culturally neutral and tests general ability. There is also a short written task asking some basic questions about students’ educational history.

NB – We try to reassure children that these tests are to help us understand their thinking a little better and absolutely nothing to worry about! They give us a baseline and help guide teachers in supporting children to make progress!

What additional languages are taught in primary?

Children are introduced to a range of languages including German, Italian, French, Nepali and Spanish from foundation stage. We have a primary language specialist and Nepali is taught in Key stage 2 by our Nepali learning support team.

What is the homework policy?

Please visit the school’s web page School-life Primary for more details, TBS Parent, Student and School Partnership Agreement for more details.

Does the school take students for enrichment and residential trips?

School organises yearly residential trips for all year groups without additional cost. Foundation 1 to Year 2 will have short trips outside the school. The school has incorporated outdoor learning where EY/KS1 go to forest school every week. Year 3 onwards will have opportunities to be with nature and spend 3-5 days on residential trips. All classes will go on day trips that help enrich their understanding and every week there are an average of 3 or 4 trips happening in various years. In addition, we run many optional residential and foreign trips such as the FOBISIA Maths competition, FOBISIA Games, Model United Nations trips, Cultural trips to countries such as China, Sports tours etc. If there is a demand for a foreign trip or a residential trip we will try our very best to do it!

How is my child’s academic and personal progress reported to me?

TBS doesn’t follow the grading system up to Year 6. Students are individually evaluated and teachers will issue comment based reports by the end of the academic year. We use online systems to report progress on an ongoing basis and there are also a number of parent teacher meetings during the year. Additionally, you may arrange individual meetings with the class teacher to discuss progress at any time. In secondary, parents can see traffic light data on the parent portal and there are two short reports, a longer end of year report, summer and mock examination result summaries that are sent to parents and a parent teacher meeting. Again, it is possible to book an appointment with any teacher if parents would like to check on progress in a particular subject area and teachers will call parents if they have a concern. TBS believes in regular, open and non-judgemental communication about progress and students make most progress when teacher, student and parent all work closely and harmoniously together.

Who do we contact at school if we have a question?

If your query is related to teaching or practical arrangements, then the relevant Office Manager can be contacted and they can direct you to the best person to guide you. Their emails can be found on the footer of the school newsletter which is emailed to all parents every Thursday. Other key staff emails are also on the same footer (and our emails are usually our first initial, surname followed by @tbs.edu.np).