Frequently asked questions.

This is one of the most important questions British international primary schools are asking right now, and it is the question Cornerstones is best placed to answer. The new Cornerstones International curriculum has been designed with the direction of the UK Curriculum and Assessment Review in mind from the start. Oracy is embedded. Diversity is built in. Coherence and depth are at the centre.

As the programmes of study are finalised and updated ahead of 2028, Cornerstones will do the realignment work. Schools using Cornerstones will not have to track the changes, interpret the guidance or rebuild their planning. We update the curriculum. Schools teach it.

Communication platforms do a valuable job, and we understand why schools invest in them. But a platform is only as good as the curriculum it sits around. Maestro is not a communication platform. It is the home of the Cornerstones curriculum: over 400 handcrafted projects, fully sequenced from Nursery to Year 6, with integrated planning, timetabling and assessment all built in. It gives you something coherent and expert-designed to communicate about.

We are actively developing parent-facing communication functionality for Maestro, and schools that join Cornerstones International now will be at the front of that journey.

Yes. Some schools use Cornerstones as their complete primary curriculum. Others use it alongside an existing approach, to strengthen specific subjects, fill coherence gaps or provide the British curriculum alignment their school needs. A curriculum conversation is the best way to work out what that would look like in practice for your school.

This is exactly the context Cornerstones was designed for. The consistent four-stage pedagogy, Engage, Develop, Innovate, Express, gives every teacher a shared professional language regardless of where they trained. Every lesson plan is fully resourced and ready to teach. Maestro provides the shared school-level curriculum spine that means a teacher new to the English national curriculum is never starting from scratch.

Many of our partner schools have found that Cornerstones actively reduces the coherence risk that comes from staff diversity rather than adding to it.

Onboarding is a structured process designed to make sure every teacher and leader in your school has what they need from day one. It includes Maestro access and training, adviser support through the first term, and guidance on introducing the curriculum to parents and the wider community. For schools making the switch from another curriculum, we offer transition support to plan a phased implementation.

The speed of onboarding depends on your school’s situation, a curriculum conversation is the best place to start.

Yes, in two ways. The curriculum framework has cultural capital and localisation opportunities embedded throughout, so teachers can adapt content to reflect the community the school serves. And through Maestro, teachers can upload their own resources and planning, add locally relevant content and annotate lessons for their specific class.

For schools in the Middle East, the new Cornerstones International enquiry-led curriculum also includes specific regional content, The Mangroves, Islamic art, locally relevant significant figures, built directly into the curriculum itself.

Three things stand out. First, Cornerstones produces its own curriculum content, every project, every lesson plan, every resource is handcrafted by our specialist team, not pooled from elsewhere. Second, the curriculum and the delivery platform were built together, Maestro was designed specifically to deliver the Cornerstones curriculum, so the content, planning, assessment and progression frameworks work as one.

Third, Cornerstones does the 2028 alignment work on behalf of partner schools, when the new programmes of study arrive, we update the curriculum. Schools do not have to.

Every Cornerstones International partner school has access to our curriculum adviser team every weekday from 8am to 4pm UK time by phone, email and live chat. CPD, webinars and curriculum guidance are regularly updated and free to access for partner schools. INSET days and school visits are available across the GCC and North Africa.

And as the 2028 curriculum changes arrive, we provide ongoing alignment updates so schools are always teaching a current, compliant curriculum.