The school curriculum reflects the requirements to provide a broad and balanced curriculum as per the Academies Act 2010and the National Curriculum programmes of study which we have chosen to follow.

It also reflects requirements for inclusion and equality as set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 2014 and Equality Act 2010and refers to curriculum-related expectations of governing boards set out in the Department for Education’s Governance Handbook.

 Further information on how we achieve this can be found in our statement of equality information and objectives, and in our SEND policy and information report. Please see the SEND policies on the SEN page and the equalities policy on the policy page.

Curriculum Intent

Our aim is to provide our children with an exciting, engaging, collaborative and empowering curriculum that equips them for today and for the future. At its centre is our Catholic Faith, restoring, reconciling, respecting and showing love for others.

At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, the curriculum is designed to: recognise children’s prior learning, provide first hand learning experiences, enable the children to develop communication and interpersonal skills, build resilience and become creative and critical thinkers, developing questioning skills and curiosity. The learning of knowledge and skills have equal importance and the curriculum is sequenced to reflect this; integral to this is investigation and enquiry, promoting positive attitudes to learning which reflect the values and skills needed to promote responsibility for learning and future success. The curriculum is chosen to celebrate the school’s rich diversity and as such the importance of vocabulary and communication is at the heart of it.

Every child is recognised as an unique individual, we aim to develop talents and potential through the curriculum. The curriculum recognises, welcomes and celebrates our diverse and multi-cultural school community, our excellent local resources, as well as enabling every child to widen their experience. A rich vocabulary is at the centre of any teaching and learning.

We aim to provide enrichment opportunities to engage learning. Community involvement is an integral part of our curriculum, inviting families and visitors to facilitate new learning skills and share experiences.

Children leave St Mary’s School  with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community where they have a sense of well-being and have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and cherish the opportunity to become life- long learners.

Implementation

At Saint Mary’s our Curriculum is very important to us. We want children to have as many opportunities to be the best they can be and to enjoy their learning.

We follow the 2014 National Curriculum, but enrich it with as many practical tasks and opportunities for visits as we can. The Curriculum objectives are taught thematically through topics, based on the Lancashire Grid System, with science being taught discretely, White Rose for mathematics, Come and See for RE and Life to the Full the Ten Ten, RSE programme, all of which were chosen because they follow the National Curriculum.

Have a look at the different subjects and on the class pages to see how the curriculum is adapted for each year group.

Personal Development Curriculum

At St Mary’s we plan and teach to develop the personal development and qualities of our pupils.

Personal Development Overview

At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, we are committed to providing a purposeful and empowering curriculum that fully prepares learners for the next steps in their school career and the wider world. We want our children to aspire to achieve and believe that it is essential that they understand the world they live in. Broadening our children’s horizons and giving them the belief that they are capable of achieving great things drives our curriculum. Our Personal Development offer gives the children the knowledge and understanding they need make informed choices and to be a positive influence in the communities that they belong to.

Today’s children and young people are growing up in an increasingly complex world and living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also includes challenges and risks. In this environment, children and young people need to know how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way. Our aim is to develop skills and attributes such as resilience, self-esteem, risk-management, team-working and critical thinking.

Personal Development is woven in to all aspects of school life at St Mary’s Catholic Primary and we pride ourselves on providing an environment for all pupils to thrive and mature into well-informed young adults. Our PSHE curriculum underpins this aim in the context of three core themes: relationships, physical health & mental wellbeing and living in the wider world (including economic wellbeing and careers education).

We aim to embrace the many talents and interests of our pupils and offer a vast amount of extra-curricular opportunities based on pupil voice, Chaplaincy, Eco-Committee and regular school council meetings.

We want our learners to feel empowered with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage life’s challenges and make the most of life’s opportunities. We aim to give our learners the knowledge and tools they need to understand how to take care of themselves, physically and mentally, and how they can stay safe and thrive in an ever changing world.

Please click on the links below to see how we do this:

Personal Development Curriculum At St Mary’s