Relationships are at the heart of our practice at LEAP and our schools are places of belonging for everyone. We believe in storytelling as a powerful tool for building connections, fostering empathy, and sharing experiences within our community. Our LEAP lived experiences; the events we share, the foods we eat, the customs and practices we observe help us the foster a sense of belonging for the whole community.  

At LEAP we want our children staff, parents and community to understand the ways in which race and racism, prejudice, disableism, religion bias, homophobia and sexism work in society, and to have the skills, knowledge and confidence to implement that understanding in teaching practice and everyday our lives. This means we are constantly learning about diversity, race, prejudice, protected characteristics and inclusion. 

We want our children to develop a positive view of themselves as we believe it’s fundamental to every child’s ability to learn and engage effectively with their world. A critical part of developing our identity comes from having an understanding of both ourselves and the people around us. We are proud of the diversity of the staff and pupils in our schools. Our heritage curriculum gives us all an opportunity to research and celebrate our own and others heritages. 

The LEAP curriculum has been meticulously designed to ensure a broad and balanced coverage of the National Curriculum which develops our pupils as motivated learners, who are able to think critically and inspire an understanding of their place in the world and how they can impact it.  What began as the Empowerment Curriculum, is now woven throughout the LEAP curriculum to ensure that all areas are rich, relevant, representative and our pupils can recognise and challenge social injustice and be advocates for positive change.   

LEAP began the journey of creating an empowering, ‘Rich, Relevant and Representative’ curriculum to: 

• provide, for all of our pupils, a sense of belonging and identity and their place in time and the world around them 
• teach an accessible educational curriculum that reflects our multi-ethnic and broadly diverse cohort, whilst raising attainment for all pupils 
• celebrate the achievements and contributions of the African, Asian, and Middle Eastern Diaspora to Britain and the world  
• explore the structural inequities they face, empowering them to overcome and change through education 
• engage, reflect and inspire our children by asking the big questions and allowing them to imagine an aspirational future  
• empower our children to dream bigger, fight harder and reach higher 

We spent the first couple of years, analysing each unit of work across the curriculum to evaluate whether it met our vision for a rich, relevant and representative curriculum.  We researched, discussed, questioned and looked at meaningful ways to develop each unit.  From history, geography, art, music to our core reading texts we have changed the content, whilst ensuring we are still covering the National Curriculum expectations.  All our staff, across LEAP, have received extensive training and our journey continues to ensure that all children, staff and families feel represented, valued and safe from prejudice. 

We have ensured that every child is accepted, valued and celebrated and pupil voice is an integral part of our curriculum.  All our children have access to quality first teaching that enables access to all areas of the curriculum and breaks down barriers to learning.  Individualised provision ensures that all children can make progress in their knowledge and skills.  Physical and mental well-being is a core focus within the LEAP curriculum and we aim for pupils to develop growth mindsets, healthy lifestyles and demonstrate compassion and tolerance to those that are different to them.  

Rich  

Our curriculum is rich with opportunities for children to raise their aspirations and see themselves as global citizens.  It ensures our children see themselves as active learners e.g. scientists, artists, mathematicians etc.  

Relevant 

Our curriculum explores the structural inequities our children face, empowering them to overcome and challenge through education 

Critically Thoughtful 

Our curriculum engages our children to reflect and inspires them to ask big questions. It teaches them to be critical thinkers effectively analysing information and forming judgments. It teaches them to be aware of their own biases and assumptions when encountering information and apply consistent standards when evaluating sources. 

Representative 

Our curriculum celebrates the achievements and contributions of the global majority, those with disabilities, neuro divergence, LGBQT and of different faiths. 

Responsive 

The curriculum is fluid in its design and senior leaders respond meaningfully and purposefully to feedback, the school community, contemporary thinking and changing contexts.