Stratford School Academy - Grosvenor Road

Stratford School Academy – a vibrant, diverse, caring, inclusive school delivering excellence for all. Rooted in the local community in the borough of Newham, we aim to provide an inspirational learning journey for every student. It is our firm belief that all of our students have the potential to achieve in school regardless of their starting points or individual circumstances. Our school culture, built upon high expectations for all, ensures that our students flourish. This not only means students achieving strong examination results but also developing their wider skills and talents, character, sense of belonging and civic duty.

Our teachers and support staff are skilled and committed professionals, who work tirelessly to provide great experiences and outcomes for all of our students. Relationships between staff and students are built upon respect and understanding; behaviour is very good. Our curriculum is a rich one, rooted in academic disciplines studied to GCCSE. Our students past and present are strong evidence of our success. We are proud of their academic progress, sporting achievements, musical performances, drama productions and their contribution to the local community. We aim for our students to leave Stratford School Academy as highly educated, knowledgeable, resilient, confident and well-rounded individuals, in control of their destinies and able to make a positive contribution in a changing world.

Mission statement is to serve our local community by providing every child with the knowledge, qualifications and wider experiences they need to develop to their potential and to participate in and make a positive contribution to society.

The curriculum at SSA first and foremost serve the needs of our students. It will find an appropriate balance between prioritising the specific requirements of our students and families within the local context and ensuring that our students are well prepared for the wider challenges of life and society beyond school. At SSA we have an inclusive curriculum which ensures that every student in the school has an appropriate route through their education at SSA irrespective of their levels of attainment and individual and needs.

In Key Stage 3 (years 7-9) the curriculum will is broad and balanced, remaining true to our principles of giving students a variety of experiences that are theoretical, technical, practical, experiential and aesthetic and featuring all major subjects as deemed relevant by the government of the day. This will also consider the need for subjects to build on what they have achieved at the end of Key Stage 2, but also very focussed on stretching all students, whatever their starting points. The curriculum will be aspirational. Built in will be the opportunity and expectation that all students can attain the best possible outcomes at the end of year 11, with the curriculum providing the platform for them to do so. It will be flexible enough to cope with students who arrive at different starting points and with varying circumstances (providing alternative pathways as necessary).

Curriculum content will not be static but an area of debate and development in subject areas. Guiding principles will be students learning ‘the best that has been thought and said’ (Arnold) and gaining a thorough grounding in the key knowledge from each given subject area by the end of either Key Stage 3 or 4.

At Key Stage 4 students will have a variety of subjects to choose from, however, the core and compulsory curriculum will ensure that all students have the key knowledge and skills learnt in high-status subjects necessary for future progression in education and beyond. The curriculum will stretch students and prepare them for their chosen pathway of study at Post 16. It will also safeguard the school in terms of ensuring that accountability measures of the day are considered carefully.

At SSA we are always thinking about and trying to improve the curriculum that we offer students at SSA and so we will be planning to fully develop our curriculum in the next 5 years.