A curriculum children grow into
Leicester High School for Girls is an independent school in Leicestershire with 249 pupils. Sarah Davies has been shaping the junior department’s curriculum for ten years, and in that time the difference Cornerstones has made to the children’s learning has become increasingly visible. The shift is not abstract. You can hear it in the way children speak, and in the conversations parents have when they come through the door.
I think about what our school was like before implementing Cornerstones, and we didn't have a cohesive curriculum structure. We didn't have the learning journey mapped out for the children and their families. But now, we can clearly see the children who've been brought up with Cornerstones. They have buckets of knowledge; they know the kind of language, you know, hearing them talk about their experiences and hearing the parents come in and use the same language as part of their learning process. It's so embedded and loved by all.
One digital platform, many possibilities
Adopting a framework did not mean standing still. Over ten years the team has steadily expanded what the platform can hold, folding in their own projects, their English curriculum, and subjects particular to the school, including Latin. What began as a planning tool has grown into something considerably more central to how the school operates day to day.
The beautiful thing about implementing Cornerstones is that our curriculum management is now on one central platform. Over time, Maestro has evolved into the whole hub for almost every aspect of our learning. It's where we go for everyday planning, we organise our English curriculum, develop our own projects, deliver Latin lessons, and plan across multiple subjects, while also supporting assessment and tracking progress. Our goal is to make the platform a complete learning ecosystem; we want it to be a one-stop shop for absolutely everything.
It's something I'm incredibly proud our team accomplished.
A partnership that listens
Independent schools have specific needs, and the relationship with any external provider matters as much as the resources themselves. For Sarah, what has kept Leicester High School with Cornerstones for a decade is not just what the platform offers, but how the people behind it respond when the school brings its own questions and ideas to the table.
It's always been a two-way conversation, and our ideas have always been listened to. I know you can't deliver everything without a magic wand, but the support from Cornerstones has been very beneficial to us. And not just for the small problems, you know? It's available when planning together and responding to the needs out there. It's always been incredible. That's why we're with Cornerstones.
Summary
Leicester High School for Girls did not simply adopt a curriculum and leave it at that. Over ten years, the team has taken a coherent framework and built it into something that reflects their own school, their own subjects, and their own community. The result is a learning environment where children arrive in conversations already knowing the language, and where parents feel part of the journey.
For any headteacher weighing up whether an adopted curriculum can fit an independent school’s character, Leicester High School for Girls offers a straightforward answer. The framework gives you the structure and the knowledge progression. What you make of it, and how far you take it, remains entirely yours.
