Our Approach

Our Curriculum at Gordon Children’s Academy

At Gordon, we transform life chances by supporting children to become Gordon Greats - ambitious learners, brave thinkers, confident in themselves, kind friends, and proud of what they achieve together. This allows them to become their best selves.

To ensure that our pupils can maximise their academic, social and physical development, we strive for a curriculum that is relevant, meaningful, engaging and enjoyable. It is carefully designed and implemented to be broad, balanced and inclusive, ensuring that it reflects the needs, interests and aspirations of our children while preparing them for the next stage of their education and life in modern Britain.

Gordon Greats and the Six Thinking Areas

Our curriculum is underpinned by the Gordon Greats attributes that we want every child to master during their time with us:

• Ambitious
• Brave
• Confident
• Kind
• Proud

To bring these attributes to life, our curriculum is structured around six interconnected areas of thinking:

This framework ensures that pupils gain not only the essential knowledge and skills but also the character, resilience, cultural capital, and wider experiences they need to thrive in school and beyond.

A Curriculum for the Whole Child

Across all six areas of thinking, pupils develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and wider experiences needed to be successful now and in the future.

Our curriculum is:

• Ambitious and inclusive – ensuring every child, regardless of starting point or background, can access and succeed.
• Broad and balanced – providing richness across all subjects, not narrowing to a few.
• Coherently planned – building knowledge and skills progressively year on year with regular systematic retrieval included.
• Relevant and engaging – connecting learning to children’s lives, interests and future aspirations.
• Culturally rich – ensuring all pupils develop the cultural capital needed to flourish in wider society.

Through this, pupils leave Gordon academically strong, socially confident and personally fulfilled—ready to take their place as ambitious, brave, confident, kind and proud members of society.