Our Curriculum

Intent

At St Patrick’s RCVA Primary School, our intention is that our pupils grow into independent and resilient learners, with a curiosity and passion for learning about themselves and the world in which they live.

Implementation

In order to support our pupils, we will:

develop key personal and social skills, including self-esteem, resilience, curiosity, speaking, listening, good manners and co-operation (taught explicitly in pastoral sessions and embedded throughout the curriculum)
ensure that subject specific knowledge and skills are taught discreetly and progressively (subject leads are responsible for ensuring this)
make sure pupils know which particular subject they are being taught in every lesson (class teachers will ensure that this information is included at the beginning of each lesson)
plan and deliver creative and engaging lessons, with clear and relevant aims (class teachers will ensure that they plan lessons that engage their pupils and encourage independence and resilience, providing pupils with an audience for their work, where possible)
provide opportunities for pupils to build on prior learning and develop key skills in a variety of contexts (Subject Leads will ensure progressive of knowledge and skills. Teachers will find out what pupils already know, at the start of each programme of learning, and what pupils are interested in learning more about. Teachers will make clear any links to prior learning and will provide opportunities for pupils to develop key skills.)
draw on a range of resources that enhance learning and make it fun, relevant and memorable (teachers will ensure all resources are of a high quality and support learning, they will include a range of technology, visits, visitors, interesting artefacts and, where possible, the use of the local community and businesses)
record progress and celebrate success (teachers will ensure that the work of pupils is reviewed on a regular basis, in accordance with the school’s marking and feedback policy, and that pupils are clear about strengths and areas for improvement)

With mixed-aged classes (Years 1-6), the curriculum is taught on a two-year rolling programme, with topical links between subjects, where appropriate.

Impact

At St Patrick’s RCVA School, we will measure the impact of our work through a variety of methods, including:

pupils’ books – which will demonstrate their increasingly secure knowledge of curriculum content and a development of the key skills, associated with these and other subjects
class books – which will show the range of opportunities pupils have been afforded and other learning and is not easily shown in exercise books (collaborative work, visits, visitors, themed days, practical activities etc.)
discussions with pupils – which will give them the opportunity to describe what they have learnt, can do and where they think they need to develop further
observations of pupils in class and around school – which will enable a judgement to be made about the development knowledge and skills, including a range of personal and social skills (attitudes and behaviours)
national results – which will allow us to measure the success of key knowledge and skills against national levels and ascertain progress

You can download the above information by clicking the following link Our Curriculum

Curriculum Subject Overview

You can view or download an overview of our curriculum subjects on our website.

Reading and Phonics

At St. Patrick’s Primary School phonics is used as the main approach for the teaching of early reading. We have a structured synthetic phonics programme in place based upon the Letters and Sounds document. All children up to Year 2 receive a daily phonics session as well as older children that still need this.

We use the Phonics Bug resources to support our teaching of phonics.Teachers use termly assessments in order to group children according to their phonics needs across each Key Stage. Whilst children are taught to use phonics as their first approach to reading, they are also taught high frequency words which don’t follow the phonics rules.

View further information about Letters and Sounds

All of our early reading books are colour banded. Children choose their own reading books from the band which is the right reading level for them. These books are from different genres and from a range of different series, Floppy Phonics, Collins Big Cat, Oxford Reading Tree and Ginn.

Children are also encouraged to read for pleasure. Each classroom has a range of books that children are able to choose from and they also have the opportunity to use the school library and take books home. Our teachers also regularly read to their classes to give the children an opportunity to hear and enjoy longer and more challenging texts.

Early Years Foundation Stage

In the foundation stage the curriculum is very much planned around the interests of the children. Through continuous observations and knowledge of the children, we tailor our curriculum to ensure the opportunities to play and learn are engaging and fun. Below you will find a link to our long term plans which describe the continuous provision in the Foundation Stage for both indoor and outdoor learning.

Religious Education

Our curriculum follows the new Come and See programme of study as recommended by the Diocese for teaching Religious Education in Foundation Stage and Key Stages 1 and 2. This was first published in July 2012. Termly letters give information about current teaching and learning in religious education.

Curriculum Plans

Please take a look at our Curriculum Maps so you are able to see what our children learn in our school or view our classes to see the curriculum in action. Archived curriculum maps are available to view on our website.

Autumn Term Plans 2020

We will be adding our new plans in the Autumn term.

Assessing Without Levels

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

At St Patrick’s RCVA Primary School, we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers. The Curriculum is all the planned activities that the school organises in order to promote learning, personal growth and development. Further information can be found in the SEN Information Report. If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.

Adobe Reader
You may need a product like Adobe Reader (free download) to view our PDF documents on our website.