At the heart of STOCCAT’s mission in our primary schools is the commitment to delivering an ambitious, inclusive, and coherently planned curriculum that secures excellence for every child. While each primary school retains autonomy to shape its curriculum to reflect its unique context and community, this is underpinned by a shared trust-wide framework. This ensures high standards, collective ambition, and fidelity to our Catholic values. The Trust supports, challenges, and collaborates with its schools to ensure that curriculum intent, implementation, and impact are of the highest quality. The following Curriculum Structure Framework outline the key features consistently embedded across all schools within STOCCAT.

STOC Curriculum Principles:

The following principles guide our curriculum design across all Trust schools:

  1. Each school uses the National Curriculum as a foundation, enhanced by the Catholic curriculum and Religious Education, to ensure all pupils gain essential knowledge, deep subject understanding, and spiritual and moral formation rooted in Gospel values. This curriculum ensures that all pupils acquire the essential knowledge and skills needed for future learning. Our intent is to promote deep learning that enhances retention and understanding over time, enabling pupils to build secure foundations in every subject.
  2. Pupil progress is defined by how well they master the intended curriculum, rather than simply covering content. Curriculum sequencing is carefully considered, and subject-specific pedagogy is prioritised to ensure coherent and meaningful learning experiences.
  3. Subject leaders are at the heart of curriculum decision-making. They are entrusted with ensuring academic rigour, inclusivity, and ambition across the curriculum, particularly for pupils with SEND and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
  4. Our curriculum is designed to challenge and support all pupils, regardless of ability or background. We ensure equal access to the full curriculum while also enriching pupils’ learning with a broad range of academic, artistic, vocational, and cultural opportunities.
  5. While examination results are important, we evaluate the quality of our curriculum by its depth, breadth, and impact on pupils’ readiness for the next stage in their lives. A strong curriculum nurtures character, creativity, and critical thinking alongside academic success.
  6. We are committed to maintaining a broad and balanced curriculum across all key stages, and actively resist any narrowing of subject provision. Our use of technology is strategic, supporting both in-class learning and independent study beyond the school day.

This holistic approach to curriculum development underscores our commitment to delivering a robust educational experience that meets the diverse needs of all pupils within our Trust.

Primary Curriculum

At the heart of STOCCAT’s mission in our primary schools is the commitment to delivering an ambitious, inclusive, and coherently planned curriculum that secures excellence for every child. While each primary school retains autonomy to shape its curriculum to reflect its unique context and community, this is underpinned by a shared trust-wide framework. This ensures high standards, collective ambition, and fidelity to our Catholic values. The Trust supports, challenges, and collaborates with its schools to ensure that curriculum intent, implementation, and impact are of the highest quality. The following Curriculum Structure Framework outline the key features consistently embedded across all schools within STOCCAT.

  1. Faith-Centred Curriculum

The Catholic faith is the cornerstone of all curriculum design. Pupils are given frequent opportunities to reflect on, explore, and live out Gospel values across all areas of school life. A high-quality RE curriculum, based on diocesan guidance and the Bishops’ Conference expectations, is taught weekly and enhanced through daily prayer, liturgy, charitable action, and links to the liturgical calendar.

  1. Full National Curriculum Entitlement

All primary schools ensure full delivery of the National Curriculum from Years 1 to 6. This provides pupils with a broad, knowledge-rich foundation in all subjects, including English, mathematics, science, history, geography, art, design and technology, music, computing, and PE. EYFS settings follow the revised EYFS framework and Development Matters, ensuring a strong start for all children.

  1. Knowledge-Rich and Coherently Sequenced

Curricula are deliberately structured to build cumulative knowledge over time. Core and foundation subjects follow clear progression models, enabling pupils to revisit and deepen prior learning through well-sequenced units. Subject leaders ensure coherence within and across year groups, using trust-agreed curriculum principles and templates.

  1. Prioritisation of Reading and Early Language

Reading is the golden thread running through the curriculum. Systematic synthetic phonics is taught with rigour from Reception using validated SSP programmes. Early language and vocabulary are prioritised from EYFS onwards, and all schools foster a strong reading culture through reading aloud, book corners, class libraries, and author-linked events.

  1. Inclusive and Adaptive

The curriculum is inclusive of all learners, including those with SEND, EAL, or disadvantaged backgrounds. Teachers make precise adaptations to ensure every pupil can access learning and achieve success. Scaffolding, modelling, and challenge are embedded within all lessons, with teaching assistants used strategically to support independence and progress.

  1. Broad and Balanced Experiences

All pupils access a broad curriculum that values creative, practical, physical, and academic domains equally. This includes subjects like music, art, PE, and computing, as well as opportunities for outdoor learning, cultural capital experiences, and spiritual development.

  1. Curriculum Enrichment

Schools provide meaningful enrichment through trips, themed weeks, guest visitors, clubs, and residentials. These experiences extend learning beyond the classroom, promote Catholic social teaching, and help pupils grow as compassionate and responsible citizens.  This is underscored by the 60 Before 16 initiative which promotes enriching learning and experiences across all STOC schools.

  1. Workload-Aware Curriculum Design

Curriculum planning is designed to reduce unnecessary workload, ensuring teaching and subject allocations support a sustainable and positive work-life balance.

  1. Personal Development and PSHE

All schools deliver a well-sequenced PSHE curriculum in line with the Catholic Education Service and statutory RSHE guidance. Topics include relationships, health, safety, economic education, and citizenship. Character education and Catholic virtues are integrated through assemblies, pupil leadership, and social action.

  1. Foundation for Future Success

The primary curriculum is carefully crafted to ensure pupils leave Year 6 with the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to flourish in the next stage of their education, and as people of faith, compassion, and curiosity.

Secondary Curriculum

At the heart of our Trust’s educational mission is a commitment to delivering an ambitious, broad, and balanced curriculum that secures the highest possible standards for all pupils. Each school within STOCCAT retains the autonomy to design and implement its curriculum in a way that best meets the needs of its community. However, this autonomy exists within a shared framework of expectations. The Trust supports, challenges, and collaborates with its schools to ensure that curriculum intent, implementation, and impact are of the highest quality. The following Curriculum Structure Framework outline the key features consistently embedded across all schools within STOCCAT.

  1. Faith-Centred Curriculum
    As Catholic schools, the curriculum is firmly rooted in Gospel values and provides regular, meaningful opportunities for pupils to explore, develop, and live out their faith. This includes participation in liturgy, prayer, charitable outreach, and a high-quality Religious Education programme aligned with the Bishops’ Conference expectations.
  2. National Curriculum Coverage
    All schools ensure full and comprehensive coverage of the National Curriculum as a minimum entitlement, establishing a strong foundation of knowledge and understanding across all subjects.
  3. Appropriate Pathways
    Pupils are supported to follow appropriate curriculum pathways that reflect their individual needs, strengths, and aspirations. Where suitable, this includes the full suite of English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects.
  4. Three-Year Key Stage 3
    Key Stage 3 is delivered across three academic years (Years 7 to 9), enabling a rich and varied curriculum that builds knowledge, deepens understanding, and prepares pupils effectively for Key Stage 4, which begins in Year 10.
  5. Prioritisation of Reading
    Reading holds a central place in each school’s curriculum. Dedicated time is allocated to promote reading fluency, comprehension, and a love of reading. Targeted reading interventions are implemented to support pupils who require additional help, ensuring all learners make progress.
  6. Broad and Balanced Curriculum
    The curriculum is broad and balanced, with the timetable structured to provide generous curriculum time to core subjects, including Religious Education, while maintaining strong provision across the arts, humanities, practical, and vocational subjects.
  7. Workload-Sensitive Timetabling
    Curriculum planning and timetabling are designed with staff wellbeing in mind, ensuring teaching loads and subject allocations support a sustainable and positive work-life balance.
  8. Enrichment and Targeted Intervention
    All schools offer a rich programme of enrichment that broadens horizons and develops personal and social skills. High-quality, evidence-informed interventions are in place to close attainment gaps and accelerate pupil progress where needed.
  9. Personal Development and PSHE
    A robust and sequenced PSHE curriculum is embedded across all year groups. It includes statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), personal safety, financial education, mental health awareness, and citizenship. Personal development is a golden thread running through both the taught and wider curriculum.
  10. Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)
    A well-planned and progressive CEIAG programme is delivered in all schools, raising aspirations, providing meaningful encounters with employers, and equipping pupils with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their future education and careers.