Dulwich Hamlet Junior School

Dulwich Hamlet has been at the heart of the local community since its foundation in 1897. More than a century later, and having educated many thousands of children from the surrounding area, our school has become integral to village life and a cornerstone of the community. We strive to maintain this special place in the future of Dulwich.

Now a popular and well oversubscribed junior school in the London Borough of Southwark, our reputation for educational excellence and as champions of outstanding learning through innovative, creative education is widely known. We are particularly proud of our musical tradition, with every child taught to compose, perform, listen to, appraise and appreciate music. We have developed and nurtured many young musical talents and provide many opportunities for pupils to perform and demonstrate their musicality.

Our highly enriched, 'glittering' curriculum is based on strong artistic approaches to curriculum design, robust subject knowledge and an exceptional commitment to ensuring that each and every child's needs are met.

We promote a positive, energetic and caring atmosphere in which children feel safe and secure and want to come to school. We are dedicated to equality and opportunity where all children and adults are respected.

Knowledge, skills, attitudes and values are developed to prepare the children for their next stage of learning and enable them to be successful in their community. We expect everyone to develop and show a sense of responsibility and self-discipline whether alone, together, at work or at play, and promote positive behaviour management strategies.

At Dulwich Hamlet Junior School all pupils are provided with outstanding learning experiences that lead to consistently outstanding levels of pupil achievement. We follow an 'enriched' National Curriculum, ensuring that all government standards are met whilst offering a wide range of experiences to extend pupils' understanding of themselves and their world.

At DHJS, our curriculum is at the heart of our school vision and a core component of what it is to attend the school. We are proud of our ambitious, deep and balanced offer which is drawn from the National Curriculum. Our separate subject pages give you more information, provided by our subject leads.

Our vision for teaching each subject is laid out in our ‘intent’ statement. Each subject area has a coherently and carefully sequenced curriculum, with the essential knowledge highlighted for class teachers, so that a child experiences a progressive journey as they move up the school to Year 6.​

We also consider our curriculum at the year group level so that children are able to make links between subject areas throughout the year. For example in Year 5 History, children study Nelson Mandela's impact on the world, whilst in Art they study the African artist Rufus Ogundele and in Geography the climatic zones of the African continent. This helps them build a more holistic understanding of the importance of African history and culture and its impact on our society today.

Finally, we also make links across different year groups, through the use of a whole school curriculum plan. This means that the children are able to apply the knowledge that they learnt in previous years to what they are currently working on. So, for example, when children learn about spreadsheets in Year 3 Computing, they are preparing to use spreadsheets to draw graphs and charts on African rainfall in Y5 Geography lessons.