Independent Christian school · Ages 4 to 16 · Braunstone, Leicester
Growing in Christ, Thriving in Learning, Shaping the Future.
A small school in Leicester where every child is known by name, taught by every member of staff, and treated as a person made in the image of God.
Who we are
A school small enough that no child is a stranger.
Emmanuel began as a prayer meeting in 2001. Two years later, in August 2003, the school opened its doors. It is still what those parents started: a school that belongs to families rather than to a chain, run by the Leicestershire Christian Education Trust.
Christ at the centre
Not an assembly bolted onto an ordinary school day. What we believe about God shapes how we teach history, science, art and everything else — and how we speak to a child having a difficult morning.
Small on purpose
Seven classes, and room for seventy-five children in the whole school. Every member of staff knows every child by name, and most will have taught them. Nobody drifts through unnoticed here.
Alongside parents
We hold that raising children is entrusted to parents, not to schools. Our job is to support that work with skill and care, not to take it over.
One school, seven classes
Twelve years, and we watch the whole thing.
A child can arrive at four and leave at sixteen. Our classes are mixed-age and named for trees, which suits us: growth is slow, it happens underground first, and it cannot be hurried.
Willow
Reception to Year 2First years in school. Reading, number, and learning how to be part of a class.
Hazel
Years 3 and 4Reading becomes fluent and writing becomes their own.
Oak
Years 5 and 6Wider subjects open up, and specialist teaching begins.
Maple
Years 7 and 8Subject teachers, and the first taste of secondary work.
Birch
Year 9Choosing GCSE subjects and building the habits they will need.
Ash
Year 10GCSE courses begin in earnest, in very small groups.
Cedar
Year 11Examinations with AQA and Eduqas, and the move on to college.
Each class is mixed-age, so a child works at the level they are actually at rather than the level their birthday implies.
What your child would learn
A full curriculum, taught by people who believe Christ holds it together.
Pupils here sit the same GCSEs as anywhere else and are taught the same subjects. What differs is the account we give of them. Our framework, Christ in All Things, takes its name from Colossians 1:17 — that in him all things hold together. In practice that means a science lesson is a science lesson, taught well, by someone who thinks the order they are studying was put there.
Lower School
Reception to Year 4. Reading, writing and number secured early, with the wider curriculum taught through topics across mixed-age classes.
Oak · MapleMiddle School
Years 5 to 8. The move from one teacher to many, with specialist subject teaching alongside the pastoral care of a small class.
Birch · Ash · CedarUpper School & GCSE
Years 9 to 11. GCSE courses with AQA and Eduqas, taught in groups small enough that no pupil can hide at the back.
Life at Emmanuel
Real children, real work.
Not stock photographs. Worship, lessons, breaktime, lunch outside and the summer fair, taken across an ordinary year.
Inspection
Inspected by ISI. Reports published in full.
We publish every inspection report we have received, most recent first, without editing. If you would like to read one before you visit, they are all here.
Leaders implement suitable procedures to promote the safeguarding of the pupils.ISI monitoring visit, November 2025
Teachers make good use of time in their lessons.ISI monitoring visit, November 2025
Admissions
Come and see the school on an ordinary day.
We would rather you saw us mid-week with the school running than at a polished open evening. Visits are with the Head Teacher and take about an hour.
Get in touch
Ring the school or send the enquiry form. Tell us your child’s age and anything we should know.
Look round
You will see classes teaching, meet staff, and have time to ask whatever you want to ask.
Apply
We give you the forms after the visit. Places are offered subject to the admissions policy.
Prayer newsletter
The school was founded in prayer and still runs on it.
A short letter each term with news and things to pray for. Open to anyone, whether or not you have a child here.
We use your address for the newsletter and nothing else.
