Our Curriculum

Intent

The Learner is at the heart of all that we think, do and say. A creative and engaging curriculum, rooted in the Catholic ethos, is the way in which we strive to deliver learning opportunities, promoting learning experiences which are imaginative, stimulating and challenging. The way in which our curriculum is designed, allows our learners to be immersed in their learning, enabling them to be fully engaged and learning with a purpose. The National Curriculum is the basis upon which all planning is devised; choosing and sequencing the content from EYFS to Year 6 utilising our unique setting and environment. This enriching and enhanced learning allows our children to acquire knowledge, understanding and skills so that they learn more and remember more; applying this in a variety of ways.

Implementation: How we deliver our curriculum

All subjects are delivered discretely with some subjects taught in blocks. For example, each half term begins with either Geography or History which are taught each afternoon, so that children are immersed in their learning, ensuring better retention. Each unit of work is carefully sequenced, ensuring progression and identifies the critical knowledge, including vocabulary, that teachers need to emphasize and pupils need to learn. Formative assessment is part of every lesson and each unit ends with a synoptic task which informs future planning. Assessment opportunities and teacher evaluation are intrinsic in all learning. To support and ensure secure learning, every lesson begins with a form of prior learning retrieval. We are committed to delivering an ambitious and vocabulary rich curriculum.

English and Maths are taught on a daily basis. Structured reading / phonics lessons take place with the aim of enhancing and improving children’s reading ability so that they can fully access the broad and balanced curriculum that we deliver.

Aims and Vision of the School

As a whole school we promote positive relationships within a caring, inclusive, learning community. All staff will focus on developing successful learners and leaders who make effective contributions and responsible pupils. Governors will hold leaders to account and monitor with rigour the work of the school ensuring the school fulfils all statutory duties and the best possible outcomes for all pupils. Promote learning experiences which are imaginative, stimulating and challenging. Pace and challenge for learners will ensure sufficient focus on challenging and successful learning for all. Accurate assessment will underpin all planned experiences for learners enabling all learners to apply their learning in active and creative ways. Pupils will have the opportunities to make their opinions known and their views are taken into account when decisions are made. Parents will be well informed about their child’s learning and will be included at all times. All staff will have a good understanding of the needs of pupils of meeting the needs and in reviewing progress. We will reinforce community links and develop children’s awareness of the wider world engaging with all agencies. All will be achieved through an ethos based on the Gospel values and our Mission Statement.

We achieve our aims through our:

ETHOS AND ENVIRONMENT – We use Jesus’ life as the basis for our Faith and Prayer life, our relationships and our understanding of our rights and responsibilities and as a consequence our school is: –

A welcoming, friendly, bright, lively and happy place where children feel SAFE and where BEHAVIOUR FOR LEARNING is embedded.

An INCLUSIVE SCHOOL where all are treated equally and fairly and given equality of opportunity and voice regardless of gender, religion, additional need, disability or race.

An ACHIEVING SCHOOL in which success and achievement are promoted and all of our children are supported to set high standards for themselves and to work hard to achieve these.

A HEALTHY SCHOOL in which we ensure the physical, social spiritual and emotional education and development of our children through both our curriculum and extra curricula provision.

An active PARTNER with parents, the Parish and the wider community to continuously improve all aspects of our provision.

Provision

Excellence in inclusive planning, teaching and assessment for learning which promotes a culture of high expectation is at the heart of what we do and as a consequence the teaching of the basic skills and the development of knowledge, skills, understanding and values: –

Is responsive to learners’ strengths and needs and engages, motivates and inspires them.

Is of the highest quality and ensures every child succeeds.

ENJOYMENT OF LEARNING is at the heart of what we do and in our school.

Children are supported to learn how to learn and to develop positive learning behaviours and intellectual and emotional resilience. Learning is focused on individual pupil needs and abilities and is an active process which develops and stretches our children and excites their imagination.

Planned learning challenges enables our children to learn different things in many different ways; they learn through listening, watching and doing; they learn indoors and out doors and through play; they learn both independently and collaboratively; they learn through art, music, drama and sport; they learn from adults and from each other.

Learning supports our children to develop a hierarchy of transferable skills and the knowledge and values necessary to make positive decisions with regards to their personal, social, health and emotional development and to their role as world citizens.

A CREATIVE AND DIFFERENTIATED CURRICULUM is at the heart of what we do and in our school.

Our VALUES CURRICULUM supports our children to understand and develop their Faith and Prayer Life as well as alongside the knowledge and skills necessary to make positive decisions with regards to their personal, spiritual, moral, social, health and emotional development and their role as world citizens.

Our CORE CURRICULUM ensures that reading, writing and maths are taught to a very high standard.

Our WIDER CURRICULUM reflects statutory requirements whilst ensuring that our children have access to rich, broad and balanced experiences presented in an interesting, exciting and imaginative manner with lots of opportunities for firsthand experience, practical work, investigation and learning through play. The creative aspects including art, poetry, story, dance, music and performance are central to our provision in this area.

All aspects of our curriculum provision are enriched by themed weeks, trips, visits, visitors, celebrations and assemblies.

Our curriculum:

Is underpinned by aims, values and purpose.
Develops the whole person – values, attitudes, knowledge, skills and understanding.
Is broad, balanced and has clear progression in subject knowledge and skills.
Is filled with rich first-hand purposeful experiences and encourages the use of environments and expertise beyond the classroom.
Has local, national and international dimensions and makes meaningful links between areas of knowledge across the curriculum. and real life issues and contexts.
Is flexible and responsive to individual needs and interests.
Has an eye on the future and the needs of future citizens.

For each subject there are specific characteristics that we expect children to demonstrate in their learning. These characteristics form the basis of all work and have been developed with the children so they have an understanding of what is expected of them.

Our Curriculum Aims

Our Curriculum aims to ensure that all of our children become

Successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve.
Confident individuals who are able to lead safe, healthy and fulfilling lives.
Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.
Our Curriculum aims to ensure that all of our children develop
1. Great learning attributes and attitudes and are resilient, reflective, resourceful, responsive and responsible.
2. Key skills, both subject specific e.g. literacy and numeracy and personal, learning and thinking.
3. Knowledge and understanding. The big ideas that shape the world.

Our Curriculum Organisation

Our curriculum is an entire planned learning experience underpinned by a set of common values and purposes.

Values Curriculum

Social, Moral, Spiritual and cultural education.
Faith Life
Religious Education
PE
Focus weeks / Days – Wellbeing, Lent, Climate Change
School Council

Core Curriculum

Foundation Stage

Communication and Language, Physical Development, Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Literacy, Maths, Understanding the World, Expressive Arts & Design.

KS1 & KS2

Reading, Writing, Spelling. Grammar, Punctuation, Maths, Science.

Citizens of the World Curriculum