Our curriculum at Stepney Park is broad and balanced and ensures children develop the knowledge and skills not only to succeed in later education but also to provide a foundation in learning that will stand them in good stead for their future wellbeing and prosperity.

Our curriculum takes a subject specific, rather than thematic, approach as we believe this means we can offer children the best possible experience in each subject area. As such, we draw on published curriculum resources, such as White Rose for maths and Chris Quigley’s Essentials Curriculum for foundation subjects but have made sometimes extensive adaptations to ensure these meet the needs of the children in our school as closely as possible.

At the heart of our curriculum is a drive to develop children’s communication skills. Naturally, this involves excellent teaching of reading and writing, but it extends far beyond this. Our curriculum systematically builds children’s vocabulary, supports them in expressing their ideas and responding to others’, develops their articulacy and helps them understand what it means to communicate well in a given discipline, for example in science or history.

Curriculum Principles

At Stepney Park, we understand learning to be a change to long term memory. As such, we have designed our curriculum to follow the principles below so that children not only learn more, but also remember more. 

• Specificity. Our curriculum is very specific, so we know exactly what children need to learn in each term or unit of work.

• Sequencing. We have worked hard to ensure the content of our curriculum is in the most logical possible order. This helps to ensure children learn everything they need in each year group to make them ready for the next.

• Knowledge before skills. In general, we believe children need to accrue a certain amount of knowledge before skills can be developed meaningfully. For example, in history, children learn about the background of a time period before they learn about historical interpretations of the use of sources.

• Repetition. Revisiting knowledge and skills frequently allows children to remember what they have learnt over time. For example, in science children cover each unit of work twice in a year, the second time at a more advanced level, to help them remember what they learn.

• Quizzing. We use regular quizzing and other techniques to help children remember what they have learnt over time. These are not high stakes tests but rather short classroom activities that have been shown by research to support children in remembering their learning.

Our Wider Curriculum

At Stepney Park, we aim to provide an excellent education in the broadest possible sense. As such, children’s personal development is a major aspect of our work. This includes enrichment through special days, our woodlands provision, trips and visitors, clubs, competitions and performances. You can read more about how we support children’s personal development here.