What your child would learn here

What we are trying to do

We want every child who leaves Emmanuel at sixteen to read well, think clearly, work hard at things they find difficult, and understand the world as God’s world. The qualifications matter, and we take them seriously. They are not the point.

Pupils here are taught the same subjects and sit the same GCSEs as pupils anywhere else in Leicester. What differs is the account we give of what they are learning. We do not teach a separate Christian version of science or history. We teach science and history, taught well, by people who believe the order being studied was put there.

Christ in All Things

Christ in All Things is the framework that shapes our curriculum across the whole school. It takes its name from Colossians 1:17 — that in him all things hold together.

Most schools with a Christian ethos have Christian assemblies, Christian values and a Christian RE department, and a curriculum that could belong to any school in the country. We are building something different: mathematics taught under the conviction that the universe is ordered because a faithful God ordered it; history taught within the conviction that history is purposeful; English taught by people who believe words carry truth because God speaks.

The faith does not sit beside the subjects. It sits inside them.

The six threads

Six biblical themes run through every subject, giving the whole curriculum one grammar.

The rule that governs it

No forced analogies. Every faith link must survive the scrutiny of a thoughtful sixteen-year-old. If a connection would make a sharp Year 11 roll their eyes, we do not use it. Stapling a verse to a worksheet is exactly what this framework replaces.

Three things it never means:

• Never reduced rigour. Statutory content and examination specifications are taught fully and accurately, including content we interpret differently. That is taught properly first, and then engaged with from conviction.
• Never assessing faith. We assess knowledge, understanding and application — never a pupil's beliefs or agreement with the school's convictions. A pupil who believes differently can achieve the highest outcomes here.
• Never conviction without grace. Where our beliefs differ from prevailing views, pupils learn our position clearly, learn what the law and the discipline actually say, and learn to engage other views with gentleness and respect.

Built over three years

The framework is being introduced in phases, and we would rather tell you that plainly than claim a finished job. It launched in 2026/27, with mathematics first and a written rationale for every subject. Further subjects follow through 2027/28, and the whole curriculum is reviewed against the six threads in 2028/29.

Nothing is withdrawn before its replacement is ready.

How we teach

Alongside what we teach, we are clear about what good teaching looks like here. Six principles guide every lesson observation and every conversation about teaching in this school.

How the school is organised

We teach in seven mixed-age classes. A child joining in Willow at four can stay through to Cedar and leave with GCSEs at sixteen, taught along the way by nearly every member of staff.

Mixed-age teaching is a deliberate choice, not only a consequence of our size. Children work at the level they are actually at rather than the level their birthday implies, older pupils learn by explaining, and a child who needs another year on something can have it without moving class or losing face.

Lower School — Willow and Hazel

The first years are about securing reading, writing and number, because everything after depends on them. Children who read fluently and early can access the whole curriculum; children who do not spend the rest of their schooling catching up. We would rather spend the time now.

Alongside that, pupils are taught science, history, geography, art, design and technology, music, physical education and Bible. Much of it is organised into topics so that a child sees how subjects speak to one another, but the subject knowledge underneath is planned and sequenced deliberately.

Mathematics follows a mastery approach built on the White Rose sequence, adapted for mixed-age classes. Children move on when they have understood, not when the calendar says so.

Middle School — Oak and Maple

Oak and Maple are where the shift happens: from one teacher who knows a child in every subject, to several teachers who each know them in one. We do this gradually, and every class keeps a teacher who holds the whole picture of that child.

Pupils are taught English, mathematics, science, history, geography, religious education, modern foreign languages, art, design and technology, music, drama, computing, physical education and PSHE. World religions are taught from Year 7 upwards: our pupils should be able to give a fair account of what a Muslim or a Hindu actually believes, not a caricature of it.

Upper School and GCSE — Birch, Ash and Cedar

Birch, Ash and Cedar work towards GCSE. Courses are examined with AQA and Eduqas. Because our cohorts are small, pupils are taught in groups where nobody can sit quietly at the back and nobody’s misunderstanding goes unnoticed for a fortnight.

Design and technology and Biblical Studies are taught throughout the school but are not currently examined at GCSE.

Not every option runs every year — with cohorts of this size, a subject needs enough pupils choosing it to be viable. We talk that through with each family at the point of choosing.

See our most recent examination results →

How we assess

Assessment exists to tell a teacher what to do next. Pupils are assessed continuously in lessons, with formal assessment points across the year recorded on our management information system. From September 2026 that system is Go4Schools, which also gives parents a live view of their child’s work rather than waiting for a report.

Parents receive a written report each year and are invited to consultation evenings each term. If something is going wrong, we will not wait for the report to tell you.

Pupils with additional needs

Every pupil with an identified need has a Passport: a short working document that says what helps, what hinders, and what every adult teaching that child should do. It is written with the pupil and their parents, and reviewed termly.

Our SENDCo is Libby Harris. Small classes mean needs are usually noticed early, and adjustments are made without fuss. We also make provision for pupils with English as an additional language and for pupils with education, health and care plans.

Read more about SEND and support →

Relationships, sex and health education

Our programme is called Growing in Christ. It is taught across seven strands from the youngest class upwards, at a level appropriate to each age, and is rooted in the biblical account of what people are for. It meets the statutory requirements in full.

Parents have the right to request that their child is withdrawn from sex education, and we will always talk that through with you rather than process a form.

Read the full RSHE programme and policy →

Careers guidance

Pupils in the secondary years receive impartial careers guidance covering the full range of options open to them: sixth form, college, apprenticeships and employment. It is impartial in the proper sense — we do not steer pupils towards a particular path, including a Christian one.

Beyond the timetable

Trips, sport, music, and the wider life of the school are part of the curriculum, not decoration around it.

Policies and documents