At St Alphonsus’ Catholic Primary School, we aim to provide our pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum that meets the needs of all pupils and which is underpinned by our Mission Statement ‘Learning, Serving, loving with Christ.’ The core values of our Catholic education remain central to the life of our school and are at the heart of everything we do. We aim to develop resilience, independence, confidence and the ability to solve problems. We want our children to have a sense of self-worth through their experience of belonging to a loving, caring community and where everyone is accepted and respected.
Intent
Our curriculum is designed to be challenging for all learners, regardless of their abilities or backgrounds. It also aims to provide all children with the knowledge and skills they need to enable them to succeed in their future lives and careers. We want to provide a curriculum that enthuses our pupils so that they enjoy school, love learning and feel safe.
Our school is situated in east Middlesbrough, an area of high deprivation and complex social issues with very low aspiration in its population. Based on the 2014 National Curriculum, it is therefore our intention to have a curriculum that provides opportunities for children to develop as independent, confident and successful learners, with high aspirations, who know how to make a positive contribution to their local community and the wider society by being ‘the best we can be.’
Class teachers have the highest expectations of all pupils. Pupils are supported to constantly work to improve their personal best, which raises self-esteem and contribution. The St Alphonsus’ Curriculum is:
- Connected
- Cumulative
- Coherent
The curriculum is broad and literacy rich. Schemes of learning are underpinned by evidence, research and cognitive science. Blocks of learning are deliberately sequenced for robust progression. There is an emphasis on oracy and vocabulary acquisition and this is used to break down learning barriers and accelerate progress. A rich diet of language and vocabulary is deliberately planned for.
Specific skills are discreetly taught and practised so that they become transferable. The sequenced lessons activate prior learning, build on skills and deepen knowledge and understanding. Learning, vocabulary and content is cumulative; content is learned, retrieved and built upon.
Substantive knowledge and key concepts are mapped out in each subject area; key knowledge is revisited and reinforced.
Implementation
The curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 and other experiences and opportunities which best meet the learning and developmental needs of the children in our school. The curriculum provides children with memorable experiences, in addition to diverse and rich opportunities from which children can learn and develop a range of transferable skills.
The children’s own community, its heritage and traditions are frequently used as a starting point for engaging interest to enrich children’s learning experiences.
The school’s curriculum is broad and balanced, using a 2 weekly timetable to ensure each curriculum area is given its entitlement and a key focus in teaching and learning. We regularly review the two weekly timetable to ensure it is still meeting the needs set out in our Curriculum implementation plan.
The outdoor environment and the local community are considered an opportunity for active learning for all our children. The school grounds have been developed so that Forest schools learning can be provided for all children. All learners have access to good quality educational experiences beyond the classroom walls.
Our lessons at St Alphonsus’ are structured in the following way:
- Retrieval (remember more, know more, learn more)
- Explain and Model (The teacher models subject matter clearly and prompts discussion)
- Checking for Understanding (Effective questioning to assess understanding and identify misconceptions accurately; provide clear, direct feedback; responding and adapting their teaching as necessary)
- Applied Learning (Provide a challenging, ambitious curriculum for all learners. Through a united approach and high expectations, all classes promote a culture of: high challenge, low threat.)
Our curriculum plans are well structured and set out in a way which builds on prior learning, ensures high expectations and supports teacher workload.
From their earliest time in the school, children have clear and high expectations in their work and this is evidenced in pupils’ books across all age groups. Assessment is finely tuned to identify and respond to positives and aspects needing improvement.
Teachers demonstrate a high level of ambition for their pupils and the ongoing use of questioning; vocabulary building and application are features of agreed pedagogy.
A varied timetable for extra-curricular activities is offered by the school, with clubs that support the core curriculum offer, as well as those which develop specialist skills, whilst also extending the range of children’s experiences. A primary focus of our curriculum is to raise aspirations, promote a sense of personal pride in achievement, and provide a purpose and relevance for learning.
The school takes pride in providing a highly inclusive environment, where learners demonstrate high levels of enjoyment in their education and make good progress in most subjects and areas of learning. Children at all levels are helped to achieve their potential. Those who are most able are challenged and supported through being offered tasks which provide opportunities for greater depth and those who require further support are encouraged and given adaptive teaching or targeted support to embed skills, to develop at their own pace or simply to learn in a style that best suits their individual needs.
Subject leaders play an important part in the success of the curriculum by completing a regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review and the celebration of good practice contributes to the ongoing commitment to evolve and improve further. All subject leaders are given training and the opportunity to keep developing their own subject knowledge, skills and understanding, so they can support curriculum development and their colleagues throughout the school.
Impact
The teaching and learning practice across the school provides a strong foundation and opportunities for children to collaborate and develop social skills both indoors and out. This curriculum design ensures that the needs of individual and small groups of children can be met within the environment of high quality first teaching, together with adaptive teaching and supported by targeted interventions where appropriate. In this way it can be seen to impact in a very positive way on children’s outcomes.
Enjoyment of the curriculum promotes achievement, confidence and good behaviour. Children feel safe to try new things. High quality visits and visitors to the school enhance the curriculum and provide opportunities for writing for a purpose.
Children have opportunities to share their learning with each other, their parents and carers through assemblies, parents evenings, social media and events involving other schools. Developing their independence and motivation as learners and their sense of responsibility as future citizens is at the heart of all our teaching and learning.
