Gainsborough Primary School

Our school is in an area of high socio-economic stress in the London Borough of Newham (East London). Children join us, either in nursery or as mid-phase admissions, well below the national average and the majority of them have limited life experiences. Despite this, our children make excellent progress and have higher than average attainment in the end of year expectations.

At Gainsborough, we build on children’s prior learning; provide first hand learning experiences; allow the children to develop interpersonal skills; build resilience and ensure that our children leave primary school being creative, critical thinkers. We believe that their childhood should be happy and we strive to ignite passion in their learning. There are no limits to our children’s curiosity and satisfying the thirst for new experiences and knowledge.

We have designed our curriculum to provide opportunities to develop the whole child so that learners will be able to transfer their skills and knowledge into various real life contexts that will prepare and equip them for life in Modern Britain in the 21st Century. We believe that every child is recognised as a unique individual and we develop their learning pathways.

Careful design of our curriculum ensures that key knowledge and skills are learnt. We build long-term memory and fluency through revisiting key concepts to deepen the understanding.

Through clear planning, lessons are sequential and skills and knowledge are progressive. This enables our children to link their previous learning to their current and future learning and build schemas. This allows children to know more and remember more.

We believe that in our curriculum, it is vital for our children to have a deep understanding of the world around them; the area that they are growing up in and their role within it. In our school, it is important that every child is recognised as a unique individual therefore we celebrate and welcome differences within our school community.