The Elmgreen School Curriculum Statement
Everyone Achieves
Curriculum Intent
At The Elmgreen School, ensuring every member of our diverse community learns and makes strong progress is our central priority. We are fiercely committed to the principle that ‘everyone achieves,’ maintaining high expectations for all students from their respective starting points.
Our curriculum intent is to deliver a knowledge-rich, broad, balanced, and highly ambitious education for all. It is meticulously sequenced with the end in mind to ensure that substantive and disciplinary knowledge connects seamlessly across all key stages. The curriculum remains dynamic and responsive to our learners' evolving needs; this is reflected in our flexible Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 pathways, which offer a high-quality blend of academic GCSEs and A-Levels as well as technical Applied General (BTEC) qualifications. Beyond academic rigour, our curriculum is intentionally designed to foster students' intellectual, creative, physical, and SMSC development, preparing them holistically for successful post-16 and post-18 destinations.
Key Stage Three Curriculum
Our ambitious, three-year Key Stage Three curriculum provides a strong foundation for future success, fully meeting all statutory requirements through a deliberately- sequenced, broad and balanced design. Alongside core disciplines (English, Mathematics, Science, Modern Foreign Languages, History, and Geography), students explore a rich suite of creative, technical, and physical subjects including Art, Dance, Drama, Computer Science, Music, PE, Textiles, Food Studies and Resistant Materials. Personal development is supported by a progressive PSHECE programme embedded across Years 7–9. Furthermore, as part of our commitment to being an anti-racist organisation, we have reviewed our curriculum to ensure diverse perspectives are integrated into all subjects. This formal framework is enriched by an extensive extra-curricular offer designed to build students’ cultural capital.
Key Stage Four Curriculum
Our Key Stage Four curriculum is highly ambitious and carefully designed to maintain broad and balanced pathways, ensuring all future academic and career routes remain open to students. The core curriculum guarantees a robust foundation through English Language, English Literature, and either Combined or Separate Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, and Physics), alongside timetabled Core PE and a progressive PSHE programme. To support diverse learner needs and aspirations, we offer a high-quality blend of GCSE and technical (BTEC) qualifications. These include Art, Computer Science, ICT, Business Studies, Food Preparation and Nutrition, Religious Studies, and a rich suite of performing arts and physical education options. This formal curriculum is complemented by an extensive extra-curricular programme that extends students' personal development beyond the classroom.
Key Stage Five Curriculum
Our Sixth Form fosters a mature, adult learning environment that delivers high-quality education through diverse academic and vocational pathways. Students choose from a wide range of A-Level and Applied General qualifications, with the opportunity to extend their independent research skills through the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). We provide robust, targeted support for students who have not achieved a Grade 4 in English and Mathematics at 16, ensuring all learners can secure essential GCSE qualifications. Beyond the academic curriculum, a comprehensive Personal Development programme including Careers, Financial Literacy and Relationships, Sex, and Health Education (RSHE) equips students with vital real-world fiscal competence, budgeting skills, and ethical awareness, fully preparing them for successful transitions to independent post-18 destinations.
READING
Reading is fundamental to our approach to improving the academic outcomes for our students. We have adopted a rigorous and sequential approach to our reading curriculum, both in English lessons and beyond, in order to develop pupils’ fluency and confidence in reading, as well as their enjoyment of it. When students arrive at our school, we use a standardised test to assess them to identify any gaps in their reading and quickly put support in place to enable the development of proficiency in this essential skill. Students who are identified as having a specific reading need are given additional testing to ascertain what their specific need is. They are either given additional intervention to support their proficiency and confidence in phonics, through the Fresh Start programme, or placed in a reading fluency or reading comprehension intervention. Reading for Pleasure is encouraged through students' engagement with our fantastically well-resourced library, with regular library lessons for Year 7 and bespoke library lessons for Years 8 and 9 as well as one-to-ones for selected students with one of our librarians. Pupils read for pleasure independently in their English lessons and in tutor time at Key Stage Three, something which is supported through our 'What to Read After' selection of curated books which complement the English curriculum. We also have a lively tradition of celebrating World Book Day in a wonderful array of costumes and with creative activities for students and staff! For our most competent readers, we run a number of book clubs and author events and students have access to our extensive library facilities before, during and after school. The English curriculum is also centred on challenging and diverse texts by authors ranging from Arthur Conan-Doyle to Deborah Ellis in Year 7. Pupils read subject-specific texts across all their subject disciplines to ensure that their reading proficiency is developed across all their lessons.
Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)
At The Elmgreen School, our careers provision is rooted in our mission to encourage students to look after themselves, each other, their school and their community.
We support students to look after themselves by helping them make informed and ambitious decisions about their future. Students learn to look after each other through collaborative learning, shared experiences and peer support. Through developing leadership, responsibility and pride in their achievements, they are encouraged to look after their school, while meaningful engagement with employers, universities and local partners enables them to look after their community.
Our Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) programme is designed to raise aspirations, broaden horizons and challenge stereotypes about what young people can achieve. Through a carefully planned curriculum, students develop an understanding of the changing world of work, including labour market trends, career pathways and the skills required for future success.
To bring learning to life, subjects across the curriculum make explicit links to careers and the wider world of work. These connections help students understand the relevance of their learning and enable them to see how classroom knowledge can be applied in real-world contexts.
All students have access to a comprehensive and impartial careers platform that brings together information on careers, apprenticeships, further education and higher education opportunities. Unifrog supports students in exploring their options, making informed decisions and completing applications for their next steps after school.
Enrichment and Extra-Curricular
We believe the academic curriculum should be complemented with enrichment and extra-curricular activities. We offer a wide range of before and after school and lunchtime activities for students from Year 7 to Year 13. These range from STEM clubs, Oxbridge preparation, reading clubs, medical societies, sporting activities and many arts and drama clubs. We offer our highly successful ‘Duke of Edinburgh’s Award’ scheme, including Bronze, Silver and Gold. Participation in enrichment and extracurricular improves students self-esteem and builds confidence. Students gain essential skills and attributes for work and life such as resilience, problem-solving, team-working and communication skills, while also enhancing university and job applications.
As well as clubs, our school also values and believes in the importance of visiting speakers, workshops, trips and visits in London and further afield. Students have had the opportunity to go on ski trips and visits to New York, France, Iceland and China. Throughout the year, different departments organise academic visits to enhance the learning of their subject. Students also get the opportunity to take part in residentials, supported by our strong pastoral teams, as part of building students' resilience, confidence and team building. Our Elmgreen Enrichment Days ensure that students get the opportunity to take advantage of what our great city has to offer.
Scholars’ Programme
Our Scholars’ Programme offers our High Prior Attaining Students access to opportunities that enrich their education through broadening their horizons, developing new interests and extending their skillsets. The Scholars’ Programme runs throughout the school, from Key Stage Three through to the Sixth Form. As a result, students can access different opportunities as they get older. Students can access a programme of events, workshops, and conferences, which provide stretch and challenge outside of their timetabled lessons, as well as developing some of the softer skills such as public speaking, debating and working effectively in a team. The Programme also runs trips, including visits to Oxbridge and Russell Group Universities, subject-specific conferences, in-house guest speakers, skills and employability workshops and careers showcases.
Life in Modern Britain
We prepare students to be able to navigate and succeed in the world they live in by teaching them to value and celebrate diversity and respect the cultures of others; they need to be able to build relationships and interact successfully with people from all walks of life. Developing the whole student to be fully prepared for life in modern Britain is crucial to everything we do at The Elmgreen School. The Relationship Sex and Education (RSE) curriculum is specifically taught through the PSHE programme of study through Tutor Time, assemblies, Science, other subject curriculum lessons and Elmgreen Days. RSE lessons are taught by teachers and tutors who are trained to deal with the content of this curriculum and how to deliver it in a sensitive and effective way with support of other professionals where appropriate. Our Drugs Education and Prevention Education aim to inform students about drugs and their effects and promote a positive attitude towards a healthy lifestyle. It also aims to increase students’ understanding of the health and social implications of the use and misuse of drugs and inform them about the course of action open to them if they or people they know become, or might become, involved in drugs activity and inform students about support and resources available in school and outside school.
