Our curriculum is more than a set of subjects- it’s a powerful tool for social mobility, personal development, and transformation. It provides learners with powerful knowledge and cultural capital that extends far beyond their lived experiences. Powerful knowledge is not just factual; it’s a disciplinary way of thinking that enables students to apply what they learn meaningfully.
We aim for all learners across our academies to experience a curriculum that is:
At the heart of our Primary Curriculum is a commitment to the Academy Transformation Trust’s mission: to ensure every child becomes capable, competent, and confident. These three pillars guide our curriculum design, teaching strategies, and the learning experiences we provide.
Click the links below to learn more about our Primary Curriculum.
Reading sits at the heart of our primary curriculum. Across our academies, we are committed to developing a lifelong love of reading and ensuring that every child becomes a confident, fluent reader. Teaching is guided by the National Curriculum, with a strong focus on word reading, comprehension, and the enjoyment of books.
Our schools use carefully chosen texts and approaches to support pupils at every stage of their reading journey. These include reading programmes like Collins Big Cat and Oxford Owl.
In our primary academies, we place a strong emphasis on developing confident, fluent readers through high-quality phonics teaching. Our schools follow structured, systematic phonics programmes that ensure every child builds secure early reading and writing skills.
Each academy uses an approved phonics scheme, tailored to meet the needs of its pupils and aligned with the latest national guidance.
At ATT, we believe every child can become a confident writer. Our approach builds strong foundations in the early years and ensures clear progression through primary school.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
In Reception, children’s writing is assessed using the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) within the EYFS Framework. Teachers observe and support early skills such as mark-making, phonics, and expressing ideas through writing. We also prioritise gross and fine motor development, which is essential for successful writing. This early focus prepares children for a smooth transition into Key Stage 1.
From Year 1 to Year 6, our academies use the Teacher Assessment Frameworks (TAFs) to assess writing. This alignment ensures that all year groups share a common understanding of writing expectations and progression, supporting accurate, reliable, and standardised teacher judgments.
The use of TAFs provides a clear structure for assessing pupils’ writing attainment, focusing on key aspects such as composition, grammar, punctuation, and transcription. By applying the same framework across all primary phases, teachers are able to identify strengths, address gaps in learning, and plan next steps with greater precision.
By aligning assessment across all primary phases, we provide continuity and coherence in writing development. This ensures pupils are well-prepared for statutory assessments and equipped with the skills they need for the next stage of their education.
At ATT, we believe every child can succeed in mathematics. Across our primary academies, we provide a rich and coherent maths curriculum that develops deep understanding, fluency, and confidence.
Our teaching approach ensures that pupils build secure foundations in mathematical concepts before moving on to more complex ideas. Lessons are carefully structured to promote reasoning, problem solving, and mathematical thinking, helping pupils make meaningful connections across topics.
We use high quality resources and approaches to learning that ensure consistency and progression across all year groups. Through practical exploration, discussion, and challenge, we aim to inspire curiosity and foster a love of mathematics in every learner.
Our Aligned KS3 Curriculum
The ATT Key Stage 3 (KS3) Curriculum is a Trust-wide initiative designed to ensure every pupil receives a high-quality, equitable education. Rooted in evidence-informed practice, it guarantees consistency, rigour, and ambition across all academies, while allowing for local adaptation to meet individual school contexts.
Strategic Purpose
The curriculum is built to meet pupils where they are and empower them to go further. It reflects the best of educational thinking and practice, exceeding National Curriculum expectations. Every pupil is entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum, including at least one modern foreign language, to build cultural capital and support progression.
Our KS3 English curriculum:
Has a pivotal role in developing pupils’ communication skills across the curriculum and ensuring success in our academies.
Will allow pupils to speak and write fluently and confidently so that they are able to communicate their ideas and feelings effectively.
Allows pupils to read a variety of texts and will ensure pupils develop critically, culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually.
Actively encourages pupils to vocalise their thoughts and feelings on the big ideas and concepts explored in fiction and non-fiction texts and develops their cultural capital by exposing them to a wealth of Literature forms from different literary periods.
Will allow pupils to gain an appreciation of different movements within literature and how they are linked and have developed over time.
Will allow pupils to know how writers, including non-fiction writers, use language and structure texts in a range of genres, to achieve a range of purposes.
Will allow pupils to become effective writers, able to use language, syntax and structure to achieve effects.
Will allow our pupils to feel empowered by what they study so that they become better thinkers and more empathetic human beings.
Will cover the breadth and depth of the 2014 National Curriculum for English.
The mathematics curriculum will:
Inspire our pupils to appreciate the beauty of Mathematics.
Provide pupils with the confidence and resilience to think critically and creatively.
Develop mathematical abilities and skills that enable students to succeed both academically and in everyday life.
Play a pivotal role in developing pupils’ communication skills across the curriculum and ensuring success in our academies.
Ensure pupils can understand, interpret and present mathematical information in a variety of forms.
Actively encourage pupils to vocalise their thoughts and ideas on the concepts explored and develops their cultural capital by exposing them to ‘real-life’ problems and applications.
Reflect our high expectations for every child to gain the powerful knowledge, by providing the support and challenge they specifically need.
Cover the breadth and depth of the 2014 National Curriculum for Mathematics.
The Science curriculum has been designed collaboratively across our academies using the expertise, experience and passion of our science leads and their teams. It is designed to inspire curiosity within our students and foster a deep understanding of the natural world and how things work around them. We aim to develop critical thinking, and real-world application of their learning, we strive to cultivate students who are scientifically literate, environmentally conscious, and prepared to thrive in a rapidly advancing technological society all to support transforming life chances and preparing all our students to lead successful lives.
National Curriculum: Fully covers and extends beyond the Programmes of Study: KS3 set out in the National Curriculum in England (September 2013).
Fostering Curiosity and Enthusiasm: By stimulating a sense of wonder about the world around us, encourages students to ask questions, explore, and engage in hands-on experiments and develop a lifelong passion for science and learning.
Developing Scientific Knowledge and Understanding: Through careful mapping we provide a comprehensive understanding of the powerful knowledge of the key scientific principles across biology, chemistry, physics, and earth sciences, with opportunities for cross-disciplinary concepts to show the interconnectedness of scientific ideas
Encouraging Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: By carefully mapping the working Scientific skill the curriculum aims to Equip students with the skills to analyse data, draw evidence-based conclusions, and make informed decisions. This is done by promoting the use of scientific methods to solve and investigate problems as well as foster an environment where questioning and intellectual risk-taking are valued.
Promoting Environmental and Social Responsibility: The curriculum explores the impact of human activities on the planet and the role of science in addressing global challenges. Instill a sense of responsibility and empowerment to contribute positively to society.
Prepares students for the Future: Prepare and encourage students for further education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Ensure students can navigate and critically evaluate scientific information in their everyday lives.
Cultivate Collaboration and Communication Skills: Encourage teamwork and collaboration through group projects and experiments.
The Curriculum Framework in History will:
Provide an ambitious and knowledge-rich curriculum
Inspire curiosity and critical thinking
Be broad and balanced, as well as diverse and inclusive
Ensure young people are developing a holistic view of the chronology of History that focuses on concepts such as migration, conflict, power, culture and diversity throughout History
Empower young people to develop a deep understanding of historical events and societies, and their impact on the present
Provide young people with the skills to evaluate and challenge the construction of historical narratives
Give young people the opportunity to study historical issues in their local, national and international contexts
Develop skills for young people to have a firm foundation for their further study and later life
Provide opportunities to develop key historical skills, such as causation, consequence, significance, interpretations, source analysis and change and continuity
We aim to inspire and develop curious learners who have a fascination about the diversity of our planet. To enhance students understanding of the social, economic and environmental issues that affect people and places, while deepening their ability to reflect upon the interconnectivity and interdependence that exist within our human and physical landscapes. As students’ progress through key stage 3 they will broaden their geographical vocabulary and incorporate previously learned core knowledge into more complex concepts, building on their critical analysis when exploring sustainable strategies to make conclusive judgements. Students will leave key stage 3 with excellent geographical knowledge and a range of geographical skills that they can apply to wider world challenges they face as they transition into global citizens.
The Curriculum Framework in Modern Foreign Languages will:
Fully cover and extend beyond the Programmes of Study: KS3 set out in the National Curriculum in England (September 2013).
Enable learners to understand and communicate with people around the world.
Aspire to teach learners to manipulate language to suit their purpose in a range of scenarios and to facilitate understanding of grammar construction.
Enhance literacy and communication skills in English and will provide learners with opportunities beyond their everyday experiences.
Aim to promote curiosity about, and an appreciation of, the culture and the way of life of the people living in the countries where the languages are spoken, as well as encouraging learners to be citizens of not just this country, but of their world.
Implementation and Adaptation
Curriculum Communities, groups of subject experts, co-create frameworks and determine sequencing to ensure logical progression from KS2 and readiness for KS4. While shared resources are provided to support delivery and reduce workload, academies retain autonomy to adapt materials to suit their pupils’ needs, drawing on platforms like Oak National Academy or creating bespoke content.
Inclusion and SEND
ATT’s KS3 curriculum is inclusive by design. Key strategies include:
Assessment and Evaluation
Assessment is embedded through formative strategies and Trust-wide summative assessments, conducted five times across KS3. These measure literacy, knowledge, and skills, with increasing rigour from Year 7 to Year 9. Moderation and data analysis support benchmarking, intervention planning, and professional development.
Evaluation is structured across three strands:
