We are a growing academy and very fortunate to have a new spacious, attractive and modern building. Inside, we have well resourced classrooms that foster challenging and independent learning, an inviting library that also houses a range of musical instruments, a studio for cooking, art and design and a large hall. Outside, we have an expansive field, MUGA, trim trail and areas for outdoor learning across the curriculum. The Early Years classes have their own outdoor areas allowing them to continue their learning and development in a safe, purposeful environment but also have access to all other areas as appropriate.
Community is at our core and every stakeholder, near and far, is integral to the continuing success of Bearsted Primary Academy pupils. We would love to meet you, so please contact us to arrange a visit and see for yourself.
By applying to Bearsted Primary Academy, you also become part of Leigh Academies Trust.
The Trust was formed in 2008 with the linking of the Leigh Technology Academy and Longfield Academy under one governing body. Today, we encompass more than 20,000 students between the ages of 2 months and 19 in 32 primary, secondary and special academies including one all-through academy and one grammar school.
To strive for academic excellence, ensuring all children progress to reach their full potential and use their experiences as the foundations for future success.
To create a rich, vibrant and innovative curriculum which engages and motivates children. They will develop the skills of entrepreneurialism and adaptability to prepare them for their future. Real-life projects with exciting outcomes will make learning fun whilst also providing them with unforgettable experiences. Children will also be given opportunities to develop their talents and interests in academic subjects, the arts and sports.
To develop a respect for each other and expect exceptional behaviour ensuring all children feel safe and happy. Every child will be treated fairly, equally and feel included in a caring community. Children will be proud of who they are and proud to be part of a school that embraces diversity and encourages individuality.
To ensure we provide outstanding teachers who will teach exciting and inspiring lessons and ensure all children make excellent progress. Children will enjoy being challenged, be confident to take risks and persevere in their learning. Ambition will be encouraged and achievements will be celebrated.
Parents will be welcomed and involved in school life. Staff will work in partnership with parents to ensure that children reach their full potential. Excellent communication with parents will keep them well-informed of their child’s progress.
Our curriculum is delivered through the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) framework and the development of the IB Learner Profile attributes. This promotes collaborative and co-curricular learning opportunities and is delivered within relevant and purposeful contexts. It is built upon prior learning, and is designed to be challenging, interesting and motivational to all pupils.
In Early Years we work hard to ensure our pupils enter a safe, stimulating and nurturing environment, where children feel cared for and encouraged to achieve their full potential – no matter what their starting point.
We believe that Early Years education is fundamental to igniting a love and excitement for learning – it should be natural, fluid and inspiring for our children. We encourage children to be independent and to be involved in shaping their own learning and taking responsibility for it. Using the Curiosity Approach we teach through authentic and play-based activities – both in the indoor and outdoor spaces.
On a typical day our children are welcomed by their teacher at 8:30am – ready for an exciting day of adventures! Our school day involves a balance of carefully planned learning opportunities, alongside more independent play-based inquiries. Discovery time features heavily for our children – a time where they have the freedom to direct their learning and to discover the endless possibilities of the world around them. By using the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme as a framework to deliver learning, we can ensure that our children are global learners who make connections not only within their own learning, but also connect to the greater world in which they live in. Alongside the freedom of discovery, the children have daily phonics and maths teaching times.
Phonics at Bearsted follows the Letters and Sounds Programme. This whole class teaching time is designed to be fun and engaging for our children – allowing them time and space to learn the key sounds in an active way – which will then build them up to be confident and competent readers and writers. Reading is an important part of your child’s reception journey – as this is the year where reading comes alive for the very first time! At Bearsted we believe that high quality phonics teaching allows a true excitement of reading to be ignited. Children are empowered through their learning to discover that they can read – it is a truly magical moment that we are so proud to share in!
Another key part of the curriculum for our Reception children is our Maths mastery approach. Maths sessions are taught daily and are followed by opportunities for our children to put in place what they have learnt. We believe that Maths needs to be active and relevant in order for our children to become mathematically confident. We encourage the use of natural objects and loose parts in aiding our young learners to make sense of number and shape in the world around them, as well as the more traditional maths resources. Our learners are challenged to dive deeper into their understanding of number – ensuring a secure foundation for them to build upon as they move through school.
Our school day finishes at 3.00pm, when parents are welcomed onto the school site to collect their children. To support those families who may need additional child care, Wrap Around Care is available before and after school from 7:30am until 6:00pm. Here, children are able to have breakfast and tea as well as engage in a range of activities and games alongside their friends.
The IB Learner Profile
Learning experiences focus on the development of IB Profile attributes such as; open mindedness and being risk takers, to ensure our children are prepared to make exceptional contributions in their school, home and community.
The Bearsted Primary Academy (BPA) curriculum is delivered within relevant and purposeful contexts, is built upon prior learning and is designed to be challenging, ambitious, interesting and motivational to all pupils and is rooted in research and current thinking.
Every child is recognised as a unique individual and we celebrate and welcome differences within our diverse school community.
We aim to create happy inquiring, lifelong learners who respect and care for the world they live in and all those who live in it.
BPA learners will understand how they are connected to the world in order to take action to improve their own lives and the lives of local and global communities.
The BPA curriculum celebrates diversity and utilises the skills, knowledge and cultural wealth of the community while supporting the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, ensuring that children are well prepared for life in modern Britain.
Community involvement is an integral part of our curriculum, learning about, with and from it.
The curriculum will be underpinned by the National Curriculum (NC), the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will be entrenched through conferencing and an effective cycle of evaluation by all stakeholders.
Teaching staff will not only plan and deliver the curriculum, they will be responsible for monitoring and driving the impact and effectiveness of all subjects and opportunities for learning for all pupils, overseen by the Curriculum Lead. This will ensure that the curriculum is not only broad, balanced and inclusive but that all pupils learn the skills, knowledge and understanding significant to their stage of learning and for achieving their ambitions in life, building upon and augmenting these year on year.
Everything about the curriculum is designed to be aspirational through experiences and opportunities for all pupils to enrich their learning.
Inclusion and well-being are at the heart of Bearsted Primary Academy to be certain that all pupils know and understand how they are a valued member of society, how it is their right to feel and to be kept safe and how to maintain their own positive well-being.
At the heart of the curriculum is the skills, knowledge and personal development pertinent to each stage of a child’s growth as organised in the NC, the IB PYP and the SDGs.
The NC provides the core requirement of academic skills and fundamental knowledge across a wide range of areas of learning. The national curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge they need to be educated citizens. It introduces pupils to the best that has been thought and said, and helps engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement (The National Curriculum in England: Key Stages 1 and 3 framework document, 2013).
The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognising their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world (International Baccalaureate Organization 2013).
The Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection. The Goals interconnect and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve each Goal and target by 2030.(https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/).
A primary focus of our curriculum is to raise aspirations, engender a sense of personal pride in achievement, and provide a purpose and relevance for learning. Knowledge will be developed and skills appropriately applied through lines of inquiry, all the time widening and deepening knowledge and understanding through a well-resourced, truly broad, balanced and relevant curriculum. This will be further enhanced and complemented by challenging and collaborative projects for all pupils procuring ‘Agency’ (Voice, Choice and Ownership (IB PYP, 2018)), cultural capital and international mindedness.
Teaching and learning will be delivered through a range of traditional and contemporary resources with a particular focus on the most current applications in ICT to deliver the digital curriculum and blended learning. Interventions will be specific, regularly reviewed and revised and delivered within the daily teaching and learning unless agreed otherwise with the Inclusion specialists.
Skills will be taught in context based conceptual learning and discreet lessons as appropriate.
Strategies will be used to enhance the development of long term memory and embed learning. This will include, but is not exclusive to, low-stakes testing, interleaving, inquiry and regular application of skills and knowledge.
The effectiveness of the curriculum implementation will be evaluated through subject leadership, monitoring and assessment. Pupils will have ownership and understanding of the progress and focus of their learning through the high quality questioning and scaffolding approach of conferencing and together with Curriculum Leads will be responsible for ensuring appropriate sequencing and delivery of the National Curriculum.
The PYP Coordinator will ensure the philosophy and ethos of the IB and the PYP are maintained and that inquiry led learning is at the heart of the learning and teaching.
The well-being of pupils and the Academy team will be integral to the inspirational BPA curriculum and culture and will be supported through conferencing feedback together with mutually rewarding engagement with and by the local and wider community.
A varied timetable for extra-curricular activities is offered by the school, with clubs that support the core curriculum offer, as well as those which develop specialist skills, whilst also further extending the range of children’s experiences.
Pupils will progressively learn techniques and strategies for completing tests and assessments, including Government statutory assessments, as they continue through the school, mastering previously learned skills and acquiring new ones as appropriate. As knowledge and understanding will look different for each subject and in each stage of learning, so will the evidence of this learning
This curriculum design ensures that the needs of individual and small groups of children can be met within the environment of high quality teaching, supported by targeted proven interventions where appropriate, having significant positive impact upon the outcomes of all pupils.
Enjoyment of the curriculum promotes high achievement, confidence and appropriate learning behaviours in an environment where the safeguarding of pupils is paramount and they feel safe to try new things.
High quality enrichment activities and visits enhance the curriculum, particularly providing opportunities for writing for a purpose.
Pupils have opportunities to share their learning with each other, their parents and carers and other learners through school-based and external exhibitions, performances, competitions and events involving other schools.
All pupils of Bearsted Primary Academy will have equitable learning opportunities to achieve high attainment and progress by the end of key stage 2 across a broad and balanced range of subjects and associated knowledge and understanding.
Highly effective learning and teaching rooted in expert pedagogical research will ensure all pupils will make progress and achieve personally and academically enabling them to be healthy and successful in employment and in life.
Impact of academic progress and attainment will be evident through outcomes for GLD, Phonics, KS1 and KS2 SATs.
Through the use of context based learning and low-stakes testing, pupils will have a wealth of skills and knowledge that will remain a foundation throughout their lives. Further to this, through the BPA curriculum, pupils will be equipped to manage positive relationships and transitions through all stages in their lives.
Pupils will have due respect and consideration for the local and wider community and will be resilient, inquisitive, confident communicators with a strong work ethic and the desire and capacity to be responsible, principled, successful citizens.
For more information on our curriculum, please visit our dedicated page.
Outdoor learning is integral to a rich curriculum and is accessed by all pupils throughout their education at Bearsted Primary Academy. Pupils have access to a vast field, large MUGA and playground areas. Currently, plans are being implemented for Forest School provision in the wooded land adjacent to the academy grounds and conversation learning in the natural areas on the academy grounds. We are also incredibly lucky to be able to collaborate with Snowfields Academy in learning experiences using their excellent facilities including horticulture and sports.
Open Days and Tours
September 2025 Intake
We cannot wait to show you around Bearsted Primary Academy. Coming for a tour will enable you to see learning in action and ask any questions you may have.
More information on our Open Events and Tours of our Reception classes will be added soon, check back later.
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