KINGSTON'S TAKE ON THE WORLD AND
DEBATING CURRICULUM
WHY? (This is our intent)
At Kingston, our bespoke curriculum is intentionally designed to ensure every pupil leaves us fully prepared to take on the world. At the heart are the core behaviours we teach, model and practise every day - carefully selected in consultation with our school community. These behaviours reflect what our pupils need most to thrive both now and in the future.
We focus on behaviours - rather than values or traits - because behaviours can be explicitly taught, practised, strengthened and celebrated. This empowers our children to understand not just what they are learning but how they can grow as learners and as people.
Our customised curriculum provides relevant, meaningful and enriching experiences for all pupils. It raises academic standards while nurturing personal development, ensuring that every child can achieve success in multiple forms. By weaving our core behaviours into everyday life at Kingston, we create a consistent and powerful thread that runs through all learning.
We believe every child deserves access to a world‑class curriculum crafted specifically with them in mind. Our pupils arrive with diverse backgrounds, experiences and aspirations; therefore, our curriculum must do more than deliver academic knowledge. It must help shape confident, well-rounded individuals who understand themselves, build strong relationships and contribute meaningfully to society.
Our curriculum is a layered curriculum:
LAYER ONE -CORE
Kingston motto:
- Aim High
- Be courageous
- Consider and respect others
- Dare to be your best
- Eager to learn
The Kingston Way:
- Kind hands
- Kind feet
- Kind words (Is it kind? Is it true? And Is it necessary?)
- Include others
Raise Responsibility – what level are you at?
- Level D – Democracy
- Level C – Co-operation
- Level B – Bothering
- Level A – Anarchy
LAYER TWO – PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT SKILLS OUR CHILDREN WILL NEED TO ‘TAKE ON THE WORLD’.
LAYER THREE – BIG QUESTIONS
LAYER FOUR – SUBJECT EXPERTS
LAYER FIVE – LEARNING FOUNDATIONS
Why knowledge based?
At Kingston, we place a strong emphasis on the deliberate teaching of knowledge and vocabulary. We know that true learning only happens when something has been securely stored in a child’s long‑term memory. Our curriculum is therefore intentionally designed to build, revisit and deepen key knowledge over time.
By focusing on essential knowledge and high‑value vocabulary and returning to them repeatedly through varied opportunities, we strengthen pupils’ long‑term understanding. High‑quality vocabulary is central to our approach because a strong vocabulary is closely linked to academic achievement and future life chances - they can access new ideas, express themselves and understand the world around them.
Our curriculum carefully balances memorable learning experiences with structured practice. When children commit core knowledge to long‑term memory, they free up working memory, enabling them to think deeply, reason effectively and make connections. Learning is challenging and our expectations are high. However, by reducing unnecessary cognitive load, building in regular retrieval practice and interleaving new learning with previously taught content, we help pupils secure knowledge for the long term.
We also recognise that knowledge precedes creativity. Children generate new ideas by connecting new information to what they already know. A rich knowledge base is therefore not restrictive - rather, it expands pupils’ capacity to explore, imagine and innovate.
We are highly intentional in how we teach knowledge. When delivered well, knowledge-rich lessons spark excitement and curiosity with a clear sense of purpose and progress. With every new fact or concept a child learns, the number of connections and ideas available to them grows exponentially.
Research consistently shows that a knowledge‑based curriculum has the greatest impact on disadvantaged pupils. Many children do not have equal access to the vocabulary, experiences and cultural capital often found outside school. By providing this systematically and explicitly, we help bridge the gap and ensure all pupils develop the knowledge they need to read fluently, comprehend deeply and engage fully with the wider curriculum.
Please download the document 'TAKE ON THE WORLD CURRICULUM' to find out more about our curriculum.
