The school curriculum reflects the requirements to provide a broad and balanced curriculum as per the Academies Act 2010, and 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 2010, and 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.