The Art department at St Neot`s is a joyful happy place with many interesting cross- curricular projects. It is a place where children from Year 1 to 8 learn how to draw, paint, print and work with ceramics and textiles. They learn about many famous artists, sculptors and architects and explore their work. We visit museums, galleries, festivals and have many inspiring opportunities to work with visiting artists and creative professionals. Students can also attend a lunch time or after school club which gives them opportunity to further expand their skills using a variety of media and enriches their scholarship portfolio submissions for future schools.

Design and Technology is a hugely popular subject across the school, where pupils learn, design and create in a well equipped classroom with state of the art technology.

Here at St Neot’s, pupils from Year 3-8 receive specialist teaching for an hour a week in a safe, creative and innovative environment. Pupils follow the PSB assessment scheme and are encouraged to maximise their skills in the following areas: Leadership, Communication, Thinking and Learning, Independence, Collaboration and Reviewing and Improving.

In DT, pupils follow a project based curriculum where skills develop rapidly and effectively through an exciting range of practical and rigorous tasks. Each project begins with a ‘Design Brief’ which carefully explains the expectations of the task and provides information about resources available and processes that will be used.

Through this focused project work, pupils are introduced to a range of traditional and ‘Smart’ materials, processes and techniques; they develop a secure understanding of how to use handheld tools and operate machines such as a fret saw, pillar drill and laser cutter safely and effectively.

Every pupil has the opportunity to explore, develop, research and design ideas, ensuring they complete personalised projects to take home each half term.

Sport is an integral part of school life at St Neot’s and teaches all pupils valuable lessons to take with them throughout life. The main aims of the Sports Programme for pupils at St Neot’s is to:

Be physically active in a range of different activities

Be good sportsmen and women, gracious in defeat or victory

Strive to achieve our very best in every task, be it competitive or friendly games

Foster a lifelong love of physical activity, leading to benefits in health, wellbeing and self-confidence

Our fantastic facilities provide the perfect environment to nurture these qualities in our pupils. We have extensive playing fields, a large sports hall and an indoor swimming pool which is used all year round. We also have a full size floodlit all weather pitch as well as three floodlit tennis and netball courts, and a gymnasium used for gymnastics and dance lessons.

Pupils in years 3-8 are timetabled 4 hours of Games a week, alongside additional 1 hour lessons in PE, Swimming and Outdoor Learning. Lessons are taken by our talented and fully qualified Games staff, who are dedicated and passionate about sport. All pupils participate in weekly fixtures in the main sports for that term, giving every child the opportunity to represent the school and fulfil their potential.

Pupils focus on football, rugby/netball, hockey and cricket. Children also have the opportunity to participate in athletics, cross country, tennis, basketball, swimming, gymnastics, health related fitness and horse riding. All pupils have the opportunity to compete in weekly fixtures against local schools and we also compete in county, and even national competitions. Our U13 football team recently made the IAPS National Finals in 2019 and the U11 girls hockey team finished 9th Nationally in 2021. We have also had individual pupils representing Great Britain, and numerous pupils receive district and county honours. We have a fine record of pupils progressing to senior schools having been awarded sports scholarships with 19 sports scholarships gained in the last 4 years.

Highlights of the sporting calendar include our annual inter school cross country, where our magnificent grounds and woods provide the perfect setting to host a cross country event featuring over 15 schools and 400 pupils. The summer term sees our annual house triathlon event, where pupils again take full advantage of our facilities to compete in swimming, cycling and running, with the whole school there to cheer them on. Our sporting year finishes with Sports Day, which culminates in our famous house relay, which sees all pupils in years 3-8 in one huge relay. Last year there were 36 legs for each house!

Music is part of the fabric of life at St Neot’s. We aim to foster a love of music in every child, from the very beginning of their St Neot’s journey.

From their start in Tiny Tuskers, children visit the Music Department once a week, building their confidence by singing songs and playing percussion instruments.

In Main School, the children have one hour each week, exploring composition, listening, performance, singing and instrumental skills. Year 7 and 8 enjoy a rolling programme of music and music technology lessons.

Our team of 10 peripatetic music teachers offer a wide range of individual lessons. Children are encouraged to take music exams, and we have an impressive record of children receiving music scholarships.

We offer a wide range of extra-curricular musical activities, including choirs and a variety of instrumental groups. Music Technology Club is also a popular after school activity.

The Music Department collaborates with departments across the School, creating musical productions which include Harvest Festival, nativity plays, the Middle School Musical and the Main School production. There are also regular recitals, our traditional Christmas concert, and the highlight of the musical year, our Summer Concert and Picnic in the Park.

All the World’s a Stage,” as Shakespeare put it so aptly, and it is through the stage we can explore this world in a creative, confident and collaborative environment. Drama at St Neot’s encompasses a skill based approach that explores a wide variety of styles and genres within theatre, acting and the wider world around us. From physical based focus in the early part of the curriculum to GCSE based frameworks focusing on devising, script writing and improvisation in the senior programme.

Drama at St Neot’s prepares students to take on any challenge that involves the stage and the students’ presentation and performance skills. We explore a Shakespeare play each year and surround these schemes of work with other themes, stories and character explorations through historical and textual exploration.

Drama at St Neot’s aims to: stimulate the imagination of our students; to encourage self-confidence develop an ability to effectively communicate both verbally and physically acquire a good understanding of the history, nature and function of theatre, the history and theatrical skills, provide a broad and exciting experience for students learn subject specific skills within acting, performance, directing and stagecraft promote respect and appreciation of all cultures – particularly relevant in our culturally rich world – develop lively, creative, enquiring minds and the ability to question and debate rationally.