School in Alum Rock transforming futures through STEM
Written by Excelsior Multi Academy Trust
At Parkfield Community School, in the heart of Alum Rock, learning goes far beyond English and maths.
Children tackle engineering, STEM, and creative projects that let them design, build, and solve real-world challenges, turning curiosity into practical skills and confidence.
The school is a three-form entry primary at the centre of its neighbourhood and the founding school of Excelsior Multi Academy Trust.
Despite the challenges of its community, Parkfield has been ranked in the top 1% nationally for maths, reflecting both its high expectations and innovative, engineering-rooted curriculum.
Children work in a state-of-the-art STEM Lab, created in response to a critical insight: while pupils grow up surrounded by technology, being digitally native does not mean they are digitally literate.
The lab includes a fully equipped woodworking suite, collaborative LEGO projects, and other hands-on activities that allow children to bring their designs to life.
Many pupils excel in maths, science, and design technology but struggle to connect these skills to real career pathways.
The scientists and innovators they encounter online rarely reflect their identities or backgrounds.
In response, Parkfield made engineering a golden thread throughout the curriculum, giving children a tangible discipline in which they can see themselves. STEM has become not just a subject, but a lens through which pupils imagine their futures.
The school serves an exceptionally diverse community, with the majority of pupils learning English as an additional language and a high proportion coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Engineering provides a practical, purposeful framework for developing problem-solving skills and applying knowledge in real-world contexts. While many local schools face declining birth rates and smaller class sizes, Parkfield continues to thrive.
Families are drawn not only by the school’s repeated Outstanding Ofsted judgments but by its commitment to ensuring every child flourishes.
Parkfield’s disadvantage strategy reflects its whole-child philosophy: nurturing positive relationships, cultivating belonging and identity, and ensuring every pupil knows they matter.
This is reinforced by the school’s No Outsiders ethos, encouraging children to embrace diversity, individuality, and the unique experiences they bring to the classroom. Raising aspirations sits at the heart of everything Parkfield does; staff work tirelessly to show children — and their families — that they are capable of remarkable things.
Inside the STEM Lab, pupils produce meaningful outcomes. The Voice Box, a podcasting and filming studio, enables them to share learning with the community while developing communication skills.
A grant from Millennium Point allowed Parkfield to become one of the first primary schools in the country to purchase a laser cutter, which pupils have used to design and build wind turbines.
The school’s next STEM project invites pupils to design their dream classroom, exploring metacognition, learning environments, and 3D-printed prototypes. Parallel to this, Parkfield is developing an E-sports Lounge, where children build resilience, practise self-regulation, and enhance strategic thinking through gaming.
Parkfield’s collaboration extends beyond its walls. The school has worked with Primary Engineer on the National Rail project, partnered with Tech We Can to encourage girls in STEM, taken part in Robot Wars competitions, and regularly hosts Maths Hub events to support teacher development across the Midlands.
More recently, professional architects from Young City Makers have guided pupils in designing their own buildings.
To prepare pupils for a rapidly changing world, Parkfield’s curriculum combines STEM learning grounded in the iterative design process with AI literacy, teaching children to think critically and use technology safely.
Across subjects, Excelsior’s Habits of Mind help pupils think, speak, and behave like engineers, designers, scientists, and creators.
The school’s next priority is building high-quality CPD so every teacher becomes a confident STEM practitioner. Two staff members are among the first primary teachers nationally to undertake a STEAM teaching qualification in partnership with Birmingham City University, strengthening the school’s long-term vision.
Future curriculum developments will focus on climate and sustainability, empowering children to tackle environmental challenges in their community.
Parkfield also seeks to broaden support for families. In an area experiencing digital poverty, the school runs workshops to support English learning, cultural exchange, and practical skills for adults.
Its long-term ambition is to open the STEM Lab to the wider community, giving parents opportunities to learn alongside their children, develop new skills, and raise aspirations across generations.
Parkfield Community School stands as a powerful example of what can be achieved when ambition, innovation, and inclusivity come together. In a community rich in culture and potential, the school is helping children not only imagine a brighter future but build it.