Our Approach to Learning/Curriculum and Remote learning

Embracing Learning. Inspiring Ambition. Celebrating Individuality.

Here at St Stephen’s Community Academy, we intend that children will experience and enjoy an education that effectively prepares them for their next stage of education, for modern life and to be a positive part of their community.

We do this through the provision of a carefully planned curriculum that provides a broad range of rich experiences both over each academic year and across the pupils’ time in school.

Our curriculum is designed to develop academic knowledge and skills, learning dispositions and engage the pupils with a wealth of enrichment opportunities to inspire social mobility and ambition.

There is a strong focus on early reading and vocabulary acquisition from the early years to ensure all pupils are confident speakers, readers and writers.

The vision in our school drives all decision making with regard to the implementation of practice:

Curriculum design is led by the values we hold dear
Our academic targets are defined by our inclusive ethos striving for the best for all pupils regardless of their background or starting points
Our pastoral programme and approach in school is led by the overarching belief that pupils learn best when they are motivated, happy and safe.
Guided by our school values, children will learn to be advocates for social justice, responsible citizens who show care and kindness in their lives.

Our Curriculum provision is:

Focused on the local context ,for example:

All pupils will develop a deep knowledge of the history and geography of their local area.
We enable children to develop a sense of belonging and heritage crucial in creating aspiration and ambition.
Subject specialists plan links and experiences relevant to the pupils
Topics are linked to global, nationally relevant themes
All year groups have curriculum linked to the climate curriculum

At St Stephen’s our distinctive characteristics are the whole school ethos of care, leading by modelled good practice, celebrating success and using our key values to drive the behaviour expectations in school.

We aim to have fully embedded the Capabilities Curriculum. A creative curriculum which measures social and emotional capabilities which improve children’s learning, valuing the development of the whole child and preparing them for the future.

Our revised curriculum will be consistently well taught and fully covered annually

Developing children’s understanding of their own place in the world and the positive impact they can have – we encourage courageous advocacy in their actions. We expect children to stand up for what they believe and we teach them about the rights of all and the importance of respect.

We want our children to be critical thinkers who ask: ‘How do we change things for the better?’

The success of every individual matters. We include our families in their child’s education and value their role in securing success academically, socially and emotionally. We know that every child can and will succeed, we recognise and respect all protected characteristics. We look always for ways to be better at what we do. Every individual, regardless of their starting point is welcomed and wanted. We are aspirational for every pupil. We are inclusive and celebrate individuality.

We have a powerful focus on community. We expect all of our school to be part of this community and contribute to it positively. We role model and live our vision daily from senior leaders, all staff and pupils. Much of the curriculum and collective worships programmes focus on ‘impact’ We teach our children: ‘What you do matters!’ The links to UNICEF Children's Rights are ever present in our daily school life.