We want children at Stepney Park to have the widest possible range of experiences as they move through our school, particularly given the enormous wealth of opportunities that London has to offer. Our children visit the world-class museums and galleries available in the capital and receive visitors and workshops as part of the curriculum to help develop their cultural capital. 

We have developed a programme of trips and visits across each year group that we believe offers a fantastic breadth of experience. Importantly, our starting point for developing this programme was to consider the best things for children to do and see in London. As such, though many of our trips link to what is being studied in school, others are offered purely to build children's cultural capital and to expose them to what London has to offer.

Our programme of trips includes a number of residentials. This starts with a sleepover in school in year 4 but also includes a night away in year 5 and camping in year 6.

Our programme of trips is subject to change, but currently includes the following:

 

At Stepney Park, we are very proud to offer excellent music provision. Naturally, all children in the school benefit from our music curriculum, taught by a specialist music teacher. However, there is also a rich wider offer. This includes:

• Instrumental Groups. We offer small group instrumental tuition in guitar, violin and flute. These groups perform in assemblies and for parents and, where children have the talent and interest, they take part in Awards programmes.
• School band. Our school band involves children learning a range of instruments. In the 25-26 school year, they took part in a project with a professional harpist.
• Choirs. As our school choirs are so popular, we run two: one for younger children in KS1 and one for older children in KS2.
• Live Music. We offer opportunities for children to watch live music, particularly as part of a project with the London Symphony Orchestra.

As the arts offer us all so much, whatever are stage of life, we want children to benefit from a broad range of arts experiences. In addition to the music provision described above, and our art curriculum, this includes:

• Performances. Children have opportunities to perform in a range of year groups across the school, including nativities and Y6's Leavers' Show.
• Drama Club. We offer a lunchtime drama club that puts on a performance to parents or peers roughly three times a year.
• Talent Show. Our annual talent show is a highlight of the year for many children. 
• Poetry Slam. We hold a poetry slam every year. Every child learns and performs a poem, while some choose to write their own. The best performances from each class go through to the final each year.
• Gallery Visits. Our programme of trips includes visits to a number of different galleries across children's time in school.

At Stepney Park, we strive to improve all our pupils' life skills. In particular, we want to develop their:

• Problem-solving and decision-making skills

• Critical and creative thinking skills 

• Communication and interpersonal skills 

Chess teaches all of the above through play. In addition, the game helps children to think logically and solve problems; it develops sportsmanship and resilience and it teaches children to plan ahead and take responsibility for their actions. For these reasons, chess has become an important part of programme of curriculum enrichment.

Chess lessons within the curriculum

By the end of Year 4, all children will have received 15 chess lessons in class from a specialist chess teacher from the charity ‘Chess in Schools’. These lessons are very popular with the children: they introduce them gradually to the rules and strategy of chess, as well as giving them plenty of time to play and practise.

Chess Club

This club is open to all children who can already play chess and it has been a popular choice this year, particularly with older children. As well as playing matches, the specialist teacher sets fun challenges and teaches a range of different strategies, for example different types of openings. In addition, the children learn some unusual and enjoyable variation games.

Stepney Chess League

Our school currently hosts the Stepney Chess League, and indeed we are the reigning champions from 25-26. This is a competition between local schools that takes place each half term. Six children from each school compete against each other and in July, the team at the top of the league wins an impressive trophy which they keep for one year. It has been very popular with the children this year.

ChessFest

We take part in the annual ChessFest in central London to further raise the profile of chess in our school. Here they have the chance to play against a Grandmaster, play in a tournament, participate in a chess lesson and play team matches on a giant chessboard. The event is organised by Chess in Schools and is hugely enjoyable. 

In addition to the obvious health benefits, sport is a passion for many children, and we want them to have opportunities to enjoy sport and to compete. In addition to our PE curriculum, we offer children the following sporting opportunities:

• Sport at Lunchtime. Our sports coaches work over lunchtime to give children opportunities to engage in structured sports activities over lunch.
• After school clubs. Though the particular clubs available in a given term vary, we offer a range of after school sports clubs. This includes football, badminton, table tennis, multi-sports and more.
• Tournaments. We take teams to compete in tournaments and competitions in a range of sports. 
• Sports Days. We run Sports Days for all children in the school. For key stage 2, this involves heading to Mile End Stadium to make use of their running track.
• Parasports. Every year, the school sends a number of children to take part in parasports events, including competitions. 

Clubs provide opportunities for children both to develop their talents and interests and to find new ones. As such, we offer a wide range of clubs, some of which take place at lunchtime and others after school. The clubs available at a particular time vary through the year, but they often include those below:

• Lunchtime clubs. Sports clubs (including some specifically for girls), drama club, choir, coding club.
• After school clubs. These can include sewing, arts and crafts, board games, henna art, computing, chess, a range of sports and cooking.

If you are interested in your child attending a club, you can find more information here or by speaking to a member of school staff.

Children in key stages 1 and 2 attend three assemblies each week:

• Headteacher's Assembly. This is an opportunity to reflect on important issues, including topical events.
• Music Assembly. Children gather to sing and enjoy music together. These assemblies are wonderful for building a strong sense of community.
• Celebration Assembly. Once a week, children gather to celebrate the achievements of others from across the school.

Our school council is made up of 15 councillors: one child from every class in years 2 - 6. During the first half-term of the year, councillors are democratically elected by their class to be the representative for the remainder of the year. Through PSHEE lessons, children learn about democracy and the importance of having a voice and being able to speak out. The school council meets every three weeks to discuss their ideas and work on child-led projects that have a positive impact on the school.

What has our school council done so far this year?

It has been a very busy year for school council so far:

• The school council were given a budget of £500 to buy playground equipment. The children asked their classes for the most popular equipment and then used the budget to buy items for the playground. 
• The children worked as a team to write a leaving speech for Edith, our former headteacher, which they then presented in her leaving assembly. 
• The school council raised £536.56 at the Winter Fayre for Islamic Relief. They then worked with the charity to decide which projects to donate the money to. 
• Look out for the raffle the school council will be running at the Summer Fayre where we will be raising money for charity. 

 

What has the school council achieved before?

Over the last couple of years, the school council has made a great contribution to the improvement of our school:

• The School Council identified a problem with children getting to lunchtime clubs on time. Through discussion in their meeting, they found the solution in lanyards for the children in clubs. Members of the School Council presented their solution to the Headteacher, with costings, and designed the badges to go with the lanyards when they arrived.
• Feedback from representatives' classrooms suggested that children wanted new books to read. The School Council was given a budget to spend on new books. The representatives collected ideas from their peers and researched new books that had been published.
• The School Council was asked to promote the Learning Behaviours at lunchtime. They spoke to their peers in the classrooms and the playground and 'Dinner Winners' was created - each week the most responsible year group is rewarded.

We want to provide children with a breadth of opportunities to develop skills and interests. As such, our enrichment offer also includes the following:

• Cooking. All children in Y1-Y6 have a cooking project each year. This involves developing new skills and, crucially, cooking the same product multiple times to practise skills and to refine the recipe.
• Reading Room. Our reading room is open to children at lunchtime. This provides a quieter space for children away from hustle and bustle of the playground.
• Financial Education. We provide financial education as part of our PSHEE curriculum. This is particularly focussed on year 5.
• Enterprise Project. Children in year 6 take part in an enterprise project in which they design, make and sell a particular product to raise money for charity.