The Curriculum
St Mary’s Primary School, a Voluntary Academy, is committed to meeting the requirements of the Primary National Curriculum and to providing an even sharper focus on the curriculum.
Intent:
Our intent is to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all our pupils building on the values of a strong Christian Ethos. Our curriculum reflects the content and challenge of the National Curriculum with the creativeness to encourage our pupils to be individuals and enrichment days to enthuse learners. Topics have been designed to complement and build on one another with clear progression and links, so that in subsequent years, pupils will be able to explore concepts deeper, applying their knowledge in different contexts. Our pupils will gain the knowledge needed for their future learning and gain life skills through our specialism days.
Our school has links with all primary schools within the Trust and we are making more links with our local schools.
Implementation:
Our curriculum has been designed to encompass knowledge and understanding of the world in which we live as well as the events that have shaped it in the past, making it what it is today. We are particularly proud of the respect and care that our children show for one another, the environment, and the community around us.
· Catholic Education provides the foundation for all aspects of learning throughout the curriculum.
The curriculum is taught with the consideration of the needs of all our learners; it is exciting and inspires children to nurture a passion for learning.
High priority is given to foundation subjects and curriculum coverage ensuring that our children have a breadth of knowledge to inspire them and fully prepare them for life beyond the classroom.
Learning sequences are clear, highlight skills progression and contain milestones to ensure children are at the expected standard.
Subject leaders are given responsibility for leading, managing, monitoring, evaluating and reviewing their curriculum areas.
Teachers and Teaching Assistants are given excellent opportunities to use their subject expertise to enhance the curriculum.
Enrichment opportunities are taken to enliven the curriculum using educational visits, experience days, visitors. Thus, developing connections in their learning and aid long-term retention.
An extensive range of high-quality resources including ICT are used effectively to underpin the curriculum. Online safety is taught both discretely and throughout lessons wherever applicable.
Impact:
The rich curriculum we provide enables our children to develop and embrace their God given gifts, talents and skills. They use their excellent grasp of English and Maths to access the skills and knowledge required to achieve high standards in all subjects.
Our carefully planned curriculum enables them to retain information and apply it in a variety of situations. All children become resilient and independent learners.
Our curriculum is underpinned by effective systems to check progress to ensure continuity and challenge. Leaders’ commitment and passion for their subject is infectious and has a tangible effect on the quality of teaching.
Parents can find out more about our curriculum by clicking on the following links:
Click here for the link to National Curriculum 2014
Click here for the link to Cornerstones Curriculum
Click here for New Curriculum Parents Information Booklet
Click here for Curriculum Enrichment Opportunities Info
The Curriculum (Years 1 to 6)
The curriculum at St Mary’s is organised in accordance with the National Curriculum laid down in the Education Reform Act 1988 and the new National Primary Curriculum 2014. As a Catholic school our Mission Statement is with Christ at the centre, we show Unity, Respect, Joy, Love and Courage.
The curriculum at St Mary’s is designed to:
teach children to be numerate, literate and independent learners.
show children that learning is purposeful and pleasurable.
encourage the children to be self-disciplined, courteous and co-operative.
make each child self-confident and emotionally secure through achievement.
The curriculum is everything that the child experiences during his/her time in school. It includes those aspects that are difficult to quantify - play, assemblies, and social relationships - as well as the teaching/learning situation in class time.
Key Skills
The following skills have been deemed ‘key skills’ in the revised National Curriculum:
communication
application of number
information technology
working with others
improving own learning and performance
problem-solving
Our school believes that all children need to make good progress in these skill areas in order to develop to their true potential.
The Curriculum is made up of Religious Education plus the National Curriculum of three core subjects: English, Maths and Science, and eight foundation subjects: Computing, History, Geography, Design Technology, Languages (French), Music, Art and Design and Physical Education.
We believe in offering a broad, balanced curriculum, which gives time for each subject area - delivered in a variety of different ways, respecting the three different learning styles. Class, group and individual teaching/learning situations are all used according to the children's needs.
Maths
At St Mary’s, we see the importance of maths in everyday life and we want our children to: be number fluent; solve problems; to reason; to think logically and to work systematically and accurately. All children are challenged to excel in Maths and have a positive attitude and enjoyment when approaching lessons.
New mathematical concepts are introduced using a ‘Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract’ approach; enabling all children to have a hands-on practical experience when learning new mathematical topics throughout school. Through this approach, our children have clear images and models to aid their understanding. This then helps the children with making connections across the different areas of maths. We understand that the fluency and recall of basic facts and times tables are key to mathematical concepts, therefore arithmetic and times table are practised daily to embed these facts.
Maths intent, implementation and impact document 2023-2024
Progression of skills Document 2023-2024
Calculation Policy: Addition and Subtraction 2023-2024
Calculation Policy: Multiplication and Division 2023-2024
Calculation Policy simplified 2023-2024
Reception Calculation Policy 2023-2024
Promoting British Values in Maths
Numbots and Times Table Rock Stars
Numbots and Times Tables Rock Stars aim to help develop fluency in mathematic skills; number bonds and times tables. All children at St Mary’s can assess the website using their unique TTRS or Numbots log-in.
If you’re not sure what your child’s username and password/pin is, then contact your child’s class teacher.
Maths - parent information
Maths workshop for parents slides October 2023
White Rose Maths:
English
Intent
The overarching aim for children within the English National Curriculum is to be able to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. The curriculum promotes high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and develops their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. In Key Stage 1, we use the Floppy Phonics scheme for the teaching of Phonics.
At St Mary’s, we are dedicated to encouraging all children to be passionate about writing. During their time at St Mary’s, all children will be exposed to a high-quality education in English. Pupils will be taught how to plan, revise, and evaluate their writing. These aspects of writing have been incorporated into the programmes of study for composition. Opportunities for teachers to enhance pupils’ vocabulary arise naturally from their reading and writing.
Implementation
· Carefully designed text-led learning journeys, with a clear starting point and end outcome. The writing sequence includes teaching of specific text-type features, contextualised punctuation and grammar objectives and spelling rules suitable for the unit before the children reconstruct and independently produce a piece of their own writing.
· Cross-curricular writing based on learning in other subjects.
· Tasks which are designed to engage, support, and challenge all learners.
· Opportunities are given to apply taught skills in other areas of the curriculum.
· Whole school writing days/weeks, followed by opportunities for children to share their learning across school.
· Use of Pobble for model texts, celebrating work and moderation of writing across school.
· High importance is placed on the children editing their own writing in their journey to becoming competent, independent writers. Children’s first attempts at writing are in pencil/black pen, with self-editing attempts in red pen. Children peer-edit using red pens to show appreciation of each other’s work. Following adult feedback, further editing happens with red. This ensures a visible learning journey.
Handwriting
· Daily handwriting activities.
· Taught handwriting lessons each week.
Spelling
· From Y1-6, children have weekly spelling lessons using Spelling Shed, this can also be accessed to support learning at home.
· Year 1-6, weekly spelling tests.
· Teaching of the Common Exception words during English lessons.
· Daily systematic teaching of Phonics is taught in EYFS/Key Stage 1, following the Floppy’s Phonics programme, which is closely linked to the reading scheme. The phonic session comprises of: revisit and review (using Floppy flashcards and frieze resource), teach (using the Floppy flashcards and PowerPoint resource), practise (using the Floppy practise sheets and other appropriate provision) and apply (using the cumulative texts for reading practice and the grapheme tiles for spelling practice).
Grammar and Punctuation
· Grammar objectives are taught explicitly through English units of work.
· Evidence of the taught SPAG is then expected to be seen in pieces of extended writing at the end of the unit.
· Teachers use success criteria to ensure that children apply this knowledge to their work.
Impact
When children leave St Mary’s, their writing will be of a high standard. They will have developed skills to use in their future learning and they will be able to apply their writing skills to other areas of their learning. We strive to ensure that our children's attainment is in line with or exceeds their potential when we consider the varied starting points of all our children. We measure this using both formative and summative assessment opportunities, whilst always considering the age-related expectations for each year group.
Reading
Intent
At St Mary’s, we strongly value the importance of reading in everyday life and we want our children to be confident, fluent readers who read for both meaning and pleasure. We develop pupils’ reading in all subjects to support their acquisition of knowledge and language and encourage our children to read fiction, non-fiction texts and prose. Our ambitious curriculum is designed around the needs of the children in our school and there are a variety of approaches to enable all children to make rapid progress from their starting point.
Reading is at the heart of all our English lessons. By reading extensively and frequently and through choosing quality texts, we want children to develop a lifelong love of reading, enabling children to recognise the pleasure they can get from their reading, as well as an understanding that reading allows them to discover new knowledge, revisit prior knowledge and understand more about what they learn, fuelling their imagination for ideas to use in their own work
Implementation
Phonics: Early reading starts with phonics. We follow the Floppy’s Phonic scheme to teach our children in EYFS and Key Stage 1.
Reading Scheme: We use the Oxford Reading Tree scheme to provide a wide variety of appropriate quality texts for children to read covering all genres. All our books are ‘banded’ to ensure progression and challenge for all children and these book bands are monitored regularly by both class teachers and the Reading lead, ensuring children are making appropriate progress. Each child reads independently with their class teacher at least once per half term to ensure that their allocated book is closely matched to their ability. We have a weekly Reading Raffle to encourage reading at home, this involves Reading Records being checked weekly to ensure the expectation of being heard read by an adult at home 3 times per week is being met, children are then given a raffle ticket and have the opportunity to win a book of their choice at the end of term if their ticket is selected.
Reading across school: Reading forms the core of our English curriculum. In order to expose children to a variety of genres, books are purposefully selected by teachers in order to promote a love of reading, engagement and high quality writing from each child. These books are set out on our long-term plans. Where possible, books are chosen with cross-curricular links to give learning more purpose and to make it more memorable. Our chosen books are then used within a learning journey, exposing our pupils to inference, high-level vocabulary, a range of punctuation and grammatical concepts and characterisation.
We have guided reading sessions daily. These sessions are all planned by teachers in order to teach the skills of vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, sequencing and summarising. Within one of the sessions, children are given the opportunity to provide written responses to questions.
We have a number of Reading interventions in place across school if children need some extra support with either word recognition or comprehension and the impact of these support groups is monitored regularly.
Progress in reading is monitored by termly Reading Assessments.
Reading for Pleasure: At St. Marys, we encourage a love of reading both in school and at home. To ensure that all children have access to a range of books, all classrooms have a reading area that children are free to use and these reading areas are refreshed regularly including some non-fiction texts to match the current Topics being covered in other subject areas. Children are given the opportunities to recommend books to peers. Our children are also encouraged to use our school library regularly, giving them a chance to choose books which interest them. We also value the importance of being read to at St Mary’s. Daily story time sessions are timetabled in and the class teacher reads to the class using carefully and appropriately chosen books. These sessions provide a quality model for reading and time for children to enjoy being read to.
Wider experiences: Reading is not only celebrated during lessons at St. Mary’s. Throughout the school year, the importance of reading is enhanced through World Book Day, library visits, assemblies and participation in the Summer Reading Challenge. All of these opportunities assist in enriching and complimenting the children’s learning. Parents are supported in reading with their children by phonics evenings and book marks sent home with suggested questions to use when hearing their child read.
Impact
· Show high levels of achievement and exhibit very positive attitudes towards reading
· Children will rapidly acquire a secure knowledge of the alphabetic code and make sustained progress in learning to read fluently and with automaticity by following Floppy’s Phonics
· Apply a knowledge of systematic synthetic phonics to decode unfamiliar words with increasing accuracy and speed
· Children will read easily and fluently with good understanding across both fiction and non-fiction
· Pupils will acquire a wider vocabulary
· Develop their reading in all subjects to support their acquisition of knowledge
· Children will develop a love of reading
· Read for pleasure both at home and school on a regular basis
· Through their reading, develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually;
· Develop good comprehension drawing from their linguistic knowledge
· Recognise that their reading knowledge and understanding will be required and applied in other areas of the curriculum
· Show high levels of achievement and exhibit a love of reading
· Are positive, enthusiastic and curious about their learning in reading and strive to achieve their full potential
· Demonstrate our school values of unity, respect, joy, love and courage through their approach to their learning
VIPERS
During guided reading we use VIPERS texts for discussion, word reading and comprehension.
What are Vipers?
VIPERS is an acronym to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains as part of the UK’s reading curriculum. They are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts.
VIPERS stands for
Vocabulary
Inference
Prediction
Explanation
Retrieval
Sequence or Summarise
The 6 domains focus on the comprehension aspect of reading and not the mechanics: decoding, fluency, prosody etc. As such, VIPERS is not a reading scheme but rather a method of ensuring that teachers ask, and students are familiar with, a range of questions. They allow the teacher to track the type of questions asked and the children’s responses to these which allows for targeted questioning afterwards.
Religious Education
Religious Education is a core subject in all Catholic Schools. Here at St Mary’s we recognise its importance and the teaching of RE is given 10% of our timetabled teaching time. We use The Way, the Truth and The Life for our RE teaching. It begins in Reception and goes through to Year 6. It is broken into 6 topics across the year. We also teach other major faiths across the school in Multi-Faith weeks that reflect the diverse world in which the children live. We have daily Collective Worship; Whole School Assemblies and Collective Worship on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and class based Collective Worship on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We have regular whole school masses and Key Stage 2 children go to church at least twice a term for Wednesday morning Parish Mass.
Science
Intent
At St Mary’s our intent in science is to spark children’s curiosity in the world around them, motivating them to ask questions and explore a subject more deeply through the 5 types of enquiry. In line with EEF Improving Science report (2023) science teaching at St Marys is “about ensuring that opportunities in science remain accessible to pupils from all backgrounds—should they wish to take them—now, and as they get older. We are all—in the broadest sense— scientists, but high-quality teaching at an early age does much to support pupil attainment that can facilitate a pathway towards further study in science, and foster aspirations to be scientists.” At St Marys we aim to inspire and excite our children through our practical and exciting curriculum, creating opportunities for out door learning wherever possible. We aim to deliver a curriculum based on the National Curriculum, which includes the teaching of:
· “scientific knowledge and concepts across biology, chemistry, and physics;
· the nature, processes, methods, and skills of science to answer scientific questions;
· and the application and implications of science in the wider world, presently and in the future.” (Department for Education 2015)
At St Mary’s we:
· Develop pupils’ scientific vocabulary
· Encourage pupils to explain their thinking
· Guide pupils to work scientifically
· Relate new learning to relevant, real world contexts
· Use assessment to support learning and respond to our pupils needs
· Ensure that all children develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding.
· provide a high-quality science education which provides the foundations for understanding the world.
· develop children's natural curiosity and encourage their inquisitive nature through our science lessons.
· ensure that all children are exposed to high quality teaching and learning experiences, which allow children to explore their outdoor environment and locality, thus developing their scientific enquiry and investigative skills.
· encourage children to focus on the work of great scientists.
· ensure that all children develop an understanding of how their body works and how to stay healthy.
Implementation
At St Mary’s we create a positive attitude to science learning within the school and reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in science. Our whole school approach to the teaching and learning of science involves the following;
· Science is taught through our Cornerstones Curriculum (See Science overview for more details), this ensures that the National Curriculum statutory requirements are taught and that they progress throughout school building on previous learning.
· It is taught weekly and arranged so that cross -curricular links can be made across the curriculum. This enables pupils to develop scientific vocabular and a greater depth of knowledge.
· Children are given regular opportunities to explore the outdoors, through outdoor learning, creating a love of nature and allowing pupils to ask their own questions and create investigations, depending their understanding of the world around them and developing their scientific enquiry skills.
· Teachers use precise and open ended questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills and assess children regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning, so that all children keep up.
· Teachers will use a wide range of formative and summative assessment tools to ensure that learning meets the needs of all pupils
· The 5 types of enquiry and Working Scientifically skills are embedded throughout the science curriculum to ensure new vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching.
· Teachers demonstrate how to use scientific equipment, and the various Working Scientifically skills in order to embed scientific understanding.
· Children are offered a wide range of extra-curricular activities, visits, trips and visitors to complement and broaden the curriculum. These are purposeful and link with the knowledge being taught in class.
· Regular events, such as Science Week and Investigation Afternoons, such as ‘Healthy Week’, allow all pupils to come off-timetable, to provide broader provision and the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. These events often involve families and the wider community.
Impact
The impact and measure of this is to ensure children not only acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge and vocabulary linked to the science curriculum, but also critical thinking skills to explore and question the world around them.
All children will have:
· A wider variety of skills linked to both scientific knowledge and understanding, and scientific enquiry and investigative skills.
· A richer vocabulary which will enable to articulate their understanding of taught concepts.
· Be inspired to independently research and question the world around them and apply their scientific knowledge to answer questions and solve problems.
· Be inspired by the outdoor environment and understand the importance of it in our world and use scientific knowledge and skills in their every life.
· High aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life.
Important Documents
History
Intent
At St Mary’s, children are provided with a high-quality and engaging history education that helps them to gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain's past and that of the wider world. We inspire pupils' curiosity to know more about the past and ensure that our teaching equips pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement.
We teach history in a way that helps pupils to understand the complexity of people's lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
The history projects are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s historical knowledge, skills and subject disciplines. Key aspects and concepts, such as chronology, cause and effect, similarity and difference, significance and hierarchy, are revisited throughout all projects and are developed over time. All projects also develop historical skills based on evidence and historical enquiry. The choice of historical periods follows the guidance set out in the national curriculum, with specific details relating to significant events and individuals chosen to present a rich and diverse account of British and world history.
Implementation
We use Curriculum Maestro to teach History. Throughout the history scheme, there is complete coverage of all national curriculum programmes of study. CurriculumPRO allows you to interrogate the sequencing of curriculum aspects and concepts, vocabulary and connectivity of the history scheme with other curriculum subjects.
https://maestro.cornerstoneseducation.co.uk/
Where there are opportunities for making meaningful connections with other projects, history projects are sequenced accordingly. For example, the project Dynamic Dynasties is taught alongside the art and design project Taotie to give children a better all-round understanding of ancient Chinese arts and culture. All history projects are taught in the autumn and summer terms, with opportunities for schools to revisit historical concepts in some of the spring term geography projects.
Key Stage 1
In Year 1, children begin the autumn term by studying the project Childhood. This project builds on children’s past experiences, including their family history and events within living memory, and works well as an introductory project. In the summer term, children study the project School Days. This project enables children to learn the history of their school and compare schooling in the Victorian period. In the autumn term of Year 2, children extend their studies to explore a broader range of periods in the project Movers and Shakers. This project explores the concept of significance and the significant people that have greatly influenced history. In the summer term, children study the project Magnificent Monarchs. This project introduces children to the challenging concepts of power and monarchy in preparation for more complex historical topics in Key Stage 2. The projects studied in Key Stage 1 provide numerous opportunities for children to explore significant historical events, people and places in their locality.
Lower Key Stage 2
In Year 3, children begin the autumn term by studying the chronology of British history in the project Through the Ages. This project teaches children about the significance of prehistoric periods and the changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. In the summer term, children continue to develop their knowledge of the chronology of British history in the project Emperors and Empires. This project teaches children about the Roman Empire, its invasion of Britain and Britain’s ensuing Romanisation. In the autumn term of Year 4, children resume their learning about British history in the project Invasion. This project teaches children about the Roman withdrawal and the invasion and settlement of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. This project concludes at 1066, which meets the guidance from the national curriculum for British history. In the summer term of Year 4, children begin their studies of ancient history by studying the overview project Ancient Civilisations. This project enables children to learn about the achievements of the earliest civilisations, including ancient Sumer, the Indus Valley civilisation and ancient Egypt.
Upper Key Stage 2
In the autumn term of Year 5, children continue to build their knowledge of ancient civilisations with an in-depth analysis of ancient China in the project Dynamic Dynasties. This project enables children to study the significance and influence of ancient China and its prowess and advancements in the written word, technology and metalwork. In the summer term, children further study ancient and world history in the project Groundbreaking Greeks. This project enables children to explore life in ancient Greece, including examining the achievements and influence of ancient Greece on the western world. In the autumn term of Year 6, children study the more complex historical issues of enslavement, colonialism and power in the project Maafa. In this project, children explore a range of African kingdoms, including the Kingdom of Benin, and study Britain’s role in the development, perpetuation and abolition of the slave trade. In the summer term of Year 6, children complete their historical studies with the project Britain at War. This project enables children to study the role war has played in Britain’s history since 1066, focusing on the First and Second World Wars as crucial turning points in British history.
Impact
When children leave St Mary’s, they will have strong chronological understanding; knowledge and interpretation of events, people and changes in the past; and historical enquiry skills. At the end of each unit, children share their learning with the rest of the school and with parents and carers through a Topic Homework Showcase. Children are also given the opportunity to creatively and independently express what they have learned by using their Celebration Book. Teachers carry out post-assessments to inform future teaching and learning and to ensure that children know more and remember more.
Geography
Intent
At St Mary’s we strive to ensure that children are provided with a high-quality geography education that inspires in them a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Our teaching equips pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth's key physical and human processes.
Our aim is to ensure that as pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world will help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.
The geography projects are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s geographical knowledge, skills and subject disciplines. Geographical locations are not specified in the national curriculum, so they have been chosen to provide a broad and diverse understanding of the world.
Implementation
We use Curriculum Maestro to teach Geography . Throughout the geography scheme, there is complete coverage of all national curriculum programmes of study. CurriculumPRO allows you to interrogate the sequencing of curriculum aspects and concepts, vocabulary and connectivity of the geography scheme with other curriculum subjects.
https://maestro.cornerstoneseducation.co.uk/
Key Stage 1
In Key Stage 1, each autumn term begins with essential skills and knowledge projects (Our Wonderful World in Year 1 and Let’s Explore the World in Year 2). Teaching these projects in Years 1 and 2 enables children to be introduced to, or revisit, critical geographical concepts, aspects, skills and knowledge. These projects prepare children for the study of more thematic geography projects in the following term. In the spring term of Year 1, children study the project Bright Lights, Big City. This project introduces children to the geography of urban environments and the physical and human features of the United Kingdom. In contrast, in the spring term of Year 2, children carry out a detailed study of coastal geography in the project Coastline. This project introduces children to the geography of coastal environments and provides children with the opportunity for in-depth coastal fieldwork.
Lower Key Stage 2
In Lower Key Stage 2, children begin with essential skills and knowledge projects (One Planet, Our World in Year 3 and Interconnected World in Year 4). Teaching these projects in Years 3 and 4 enables children to further develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of key geographical aspects and concepts and prepares them to study more thematic geography projects in the following term. In the spring term of Year 3, children study the project Rocks, Relics and Rumbles, which explores physical features and geographical phenomena, including earthquakes and volcanoes. In contrast, in the spring term of Year 4, children carry out a detailed study of the physical features of mountains and rivers, which includes opportunities for in-depth fieldwork.
Upper Key Stage 2
In Upper Key Stage 2, children again begin with essential skills and knowledge projects (Investigating Our World in Year 5 and Our Changing World in Year 6). Teaching these projects in Years 5 and 6 enables children to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of key geographical aspects and concepts and prepares them to study more thematic geography projects in the following term. In the spring term of Year 5, children study the seasonal project Sow, Grow and Farm, which explores farming, agriculture and rural land use. In the spring term of Year 6, children study the polar regions in the project Frozen Kingdoms. The project includes an in-depth analysis of the characteristics of these regions, including environmental issues.
Impact
When children leave St Mary’s, they will have a secure understanding of the Geography curriculum, developing a deep knowledge, understanding and appreciation of their local area and its place within the wider world. Children will develop a love of the subject and deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes and how this affects landscapes and environments over time.
At the end of each unit, children share their learning with the rest of the school and with parents and carers through a Topic Homework Showcase. Children are also given the opportunity to creatively and independently express what they have learned by using their Celebration Book. Teachers carry out post-assessments to inform future teaching and learning and to ensure that children know more and remember more.
P.E.
Intent
At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, it is our intent that all children will be ‘lifelong participants’ in sport, with the skills and abilities to apply their learning to a range of different sports or activities. As a school and staff, we share the vision that Physical Education is not only important for children’s physical health but also their mental health. With the ever-increasing demands put on young children, Physical Education should be a way for the children to truly express themselves. No matter what the purpose, Physical Education and sport supports team building skills and helps to maintain fitness and vigour, self-esteem and confidence. Our curriculum aims to improve the wellbeing and fitness of all children at St Mary’s, not only through the sporting skills taught, but through the underpinning values and disciplines Physical Education promotes.
Implementation
The PE curriculum is taught through the use of the GetSet4PE, which is in-line with the National Curriculum, and is used to aid teaching staff in their subject knowledge and planning of PE. Teachers are able to adjust and change lessons to suit the needs of their classes but the scheme provides a strong basis of what is expected in each year group. The curriculum map sets out the PE units which are to be taught throughout the years and ensures that the requirements of the National Curriculum are fully met and that progression is clear year on year. Pupils participate in two high quality PE lessons each week, alongside the chance to partake in various after-school clubs and lunchtime activities.
Throughout the year (and across all year groups), children are invited to attend competitive sporting events within the local area and further if successful. This is an inclusive approach which endeavours to encourage not only physical development but also mental well-being. These events also develop teamwork and leadership skills and are very much enjoyed by the children.
Sports Leaders also play a fundamental role in sport across the school. They develop into sporting role models for the younger children, by running/assisting lunch time clubs and encouraging all children to participate in active playtimes. Children in Years 3, 4 and 5 also swim once a week for a term each to ensure that by Year 6 they are all able to swim 20m and perform self-rescue.
Impact
Our curriculum aims to improve the wellbeing and fitness of all children at St Mary’s; not only through the sporting skills taught, but through the underpinning values and disciplines that PE promotes. Through our lessons, we promote the overall well-being and health of each child through teaching about self-discipline and that to be successful you need to take ownership and responsibility of your own health and fitness. We equip our children with the necessary skills and a love for sport. They will hopefully grow up to live happy and healthy lives utilising the skills and knowledge acquired through the quality and enthusiasm with which PE is taught here at St Mary’s.
French
At St Mary’s Primary School, the children will learn to understand and respond to spoken and written French. They will also begin to speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation. As they progress through Key Stage 2 our children will be able to write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt.
Music
Intent
In Music we will aim to ensure that all children perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians. They will learn to sing and use their voices to create and compose music on their own and with others and will have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. Children will also understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the interrelated dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.
Implementation
Using the Collins Connect scheme the children will learn how to sing, play musical instruments and compose their own music. Regular singing opportunities throughout school allow children to practice and share their musical talents. In Key Stage 1 children will learn to play tuned and un-tuned instruments and showcase their talents in the annual Nativity performance. In Year 3 children have the opportunity to learn and perfect playing the Ukulele. In Year 4 and 5 children have weekly singing lessons with the dioceses of Leeds singing scheme. Across the school children can learn how to play musical instruments in a band with the Rock Steady music tuition. Year 6 present a fantastic end of year production and the whole school annually takes part in Make Music Day.
Impact
When children leave St Mary’s they will have a broad knowledge of music from exploring genres, composers and instruments. Regular opportunities throughout their school life to create and share high quality music performances.
Computing
Intent
At our school we want pupils to be MASTERS of technology and not slaves to it. Technology is everywhere and will play a pivotal part in students' lives. Therefore, we want to model and educate our pupils on how to use technology positively, responsibly and safely. We want our pupils to be creators not consumers and our broad curriculum encompassing computer science, information technology and digital literacy reflects this. We recognise that the best prevention for a lot of issues we currently see with technology/social media is through education. Building our knowledge in this subject will allow pupils to effectively demonstrate their learning through creative use of technology.
We recognise that technology can allow pupils to share their learning in creative ways. We also understand the accessibility opportunities technology can provide for our pupils. Our knowledge rich curriculum has to be balanced with the opportunity for pupils to apply their knowledge creatively which will in turn help our pupils become skilful computer scientists.
We encourage staff to try and embed computing across the whole curriculum to make learning creative and accessible. We want our pupils to be fluent with a range of tools to best express their understanding and hope by Upper Key Stage 2, children have the independence and confidence to choose the best tool to fulfil the task and challenge set by teachers.
Implementation
The teaching of Computing throughout St Mary’s is based on the National Curriculum and supported by the NCCE’s Teach Computing. Alongside this, we also strive to ensure children’s awareness of online safety is strong through the use of Project Evolve.
We have created a comprehensive skills and vocabulary progression document for staff to follow to best embed and cover every element of the computing curriculum. The knowledge/skills statements build year on year to deepen and challenge our learners.
Children’s work will be stored on the local network for reference and assessment.
Together with a weekly computing lesson, we at St Mary’s feel the majority of computing should be embedded across the curriculum. This could be seen throughout English, History and many other wider curriculum subjects.
Impact
We at St Mary’s encourage our children to enjoy and value the curriculum we deliver. We will constantly ask the WHY behind their learning and not just the HOW. We want learners to discuss, reflect and appreciate the impact computing has on their learning, development and well-being.
Finding the right balance with technology is key to an effective education and a healthy life-style. We feel the way we implement computing helps children realise the need for the right balance and one they can continue to build on in their next stage of education and beyond. We encourage regular discussions between staff and pupils to best embed and understand this. The way pupils showcase, share, celebrate and publish their work will best show the impact of our curriculum. We also look for evidence through reviewing pupil’s knowledge and skills digitally through tools like our local network.
Progress of our computing curriculum is demonstrated through outcomes and the record of coverage in the process of achieving these outcomes.
Art and Design
Intent
At Our intent is to provide our children with art and design projects that are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s skills and knowledge of visual elements, art forms, artists and art movements.
Our intention is for the children to leave Year 6 with a lifelong love of art. Children from EYFS to Year 6 are encouraged to develop an appreciation of art in all its varied forms which will enhance their future lives.
We provide our children with projects that are well sequenced to provide a coherent subject scheme that develops children’s skills and knowledge of visual elements, art forms, artists and art movements. Children will be able to evaluate and appreciate their own and others work by proudly sharing their creations and showcasing the skills and progress they have made.
Implement
The teaching and implementation of the Art and Design Curriculum at St Mary’s is supported by the Cornerstones Scheme plans. This ensures high standards of teaching and learning in art and design, in addition to a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school.
Cornerstones scheme allows us to enquire projects are placed alongside other subject projects where there are opportunities for making meaningful connections. For example, Beautiful Botanicals has been placed in the same teaching sequence as the science project Plant Nutrition and Reproduction.
Seasons are also a consideration for the placement of art and design projects. For example, if children are required to work outdoors, these projects have been placed in either the latter part of the spring or summer term.
Key Stage 1
In Key Stage 1, each autumn term begins with essential skills and knowledge projects (Mixing Colours in Year 1 and Exploring Colours in Year 2). Teaching these projects enables children to be introduced to and then revisit colour mixing and the colour wheel with plentiful opportunities for the children to explore primary and secondary colours and hues.
In Year 1, children explore themes directly related to the children themselves, such as their facial features, the surrounding natural world and their local community. In Year 2, the projects expand children’s artistic horizons to study a more comprehensive range of artists, artistic movements and creative techniques.
Lower Key Stage 2
In Lower Key Stage 2, each autumn term begins with essential skills and knowledge projects (Colour Theory in Year 3 and Warm and Cool Colours in Year 4). Teaching these projects enables children to build on their previous understanding of colour and further develop their expertise by studying tertiary, analogous and complementary colours with many opportunities for the children to explore warm and cool colours.
In Year 3, children expand their experiences to study a broader range of art forms, artists and genres. They also begin to study art from specific and diverse periods of history, including prehistoric pottery and Roman mosaics. Other genres studied in Year 3 build on previous techniques learned in Key Stage 1 and include more complex techniques in printmaking, drawing, painting and textiles.
In Year 4, children develop more specialised techniques in drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. They explore ways in which ancient cultures have influenced art and crafts by studying, for example, medieval weaving techniques and the religious significance of Islamic art.
Upper Key Stage 2
In Upper Key Stage 2, each autumn term begins with essential skills and knowledge projects (Colour in Landscapes in Year 5 and Colour and Style in Year 6). Teaching these projects enables children to build on their previous understanding of colour theory and develop further expertise with colour by studying tints, shades and tones and more complex colour palettes.
In Year 5, children develop and combine more complex artistic techniques in a range of genres, including drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture. Children continue to build on their understanding of other historical periods and cultures by studying the ancient Chinese art form of taotie and the significance of the Expressionist movement.
In Year 6, children are encouraged to work more independently in projects like Environmental Artists and Distortion and Abstraction. Such projects require them to consider more conceptual representations of personal, environmental, social or political messaging. Children explore diversity in art by studying the projects Inuit and Trailblazers, Barrier Breakers.
Throughout the art and design scheme, there is complete coverage of all national curriculum programmes of study. CurriculumPRO allows you to interrogate the sequencing of curriculum aspects and concepts, vocabulary and connectivity of the art and design scheme with other curriculum subjects.
Impact
Through following a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum, it expected that teaching and learning will show progression across all key stages within the strands of Art and Design. Subsequently, more children will achieve age related expectations in Art at the end of their cohort year and Key Stage. It is our aim that children will retain knowledge and skills taught within each unit of work, remember these and understand how to use and apply these in their own art work, whilst beginning to understand what being in ‘artist’ means.
At St Mary’s, we are able to measure the impact that Art and Design has had for all children by:
• Determining the extent to which objectives are met within each lesson and overall, at the end of each unit.
• Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.
• Images of the children’s practical learning.
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
• Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work.
• Annual reporting of standards across the curriculum.
By the time children leave St Mary’s Primary School, we want them to have developed a passion for art and creativity, working both independently and collaboratively. They will have grown in confidence when using a range of tools and techniques, becoming artists that can apply the skills and knowledge that they have developed throughout the years and respond critically to their own and other’s work.
Design Technology
Intent
At St Mary’s Primary School, we recognise that design technology develops children's skills and knowledge in design, structures, mechanisms, electrical control and a range of materials, including food. It inspires children's creativity and encourages them to think about important issues.
By fulfilling the requirements of the National Curriculum for design technology, pupils will be able to build on what they already know, understand and can do. This will be achieved through the teaching of a broad and balanced curriculum that ensures the progressive development of knowledge and skills.
Pupils will be taught how to develop creative, technical and imaginative thinking skills and to develop confidence to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world. Alongside this they will learn how to talk about how things work and to develop their technical knowledge, thus supporting the application of pupils’ reading, writing and mathematical skills, using subject specific vocabulary.
Following the process of design, make and evaluate, pupils will learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. This sequence of learning will be consistently revisited to embed learning and enable pupils to reach expected level in design technology by the end of the Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 milestones.
We will foster enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose in designing and making things, through experiential learning, using the local environment as a context for learning in design technology.
At St Mary’s Primary School, design technology is fully inclusive for every pupil. All pupils with SEND are fully supported and more-able technicians will be challenged accordingly.
Implementation
Design Technology is planned through the Cornerstones Curriculum 22. All projects contain focused, practical tasks in the Develop stage to help children gain the knowledge and skills needed to complete their Innovate tasks independently.
Throughout Key Stages 1 and 2, children build up their knowledge and understanding of the iterative design process. They design, make, test and evaluate their products to match specific design criteria and ensure they fit their purpose. Throughout the projects, children are taught to work hygienically and safely.
Key Stage 1
In the autumn term of Year 1, children begin to learn about structures in the project Shade and Shelter before designing and making a shelter. In the spring term project Taxi! They learn the term ‘mechanism’ and assemble and test wheels and axles. In the summer term, children begin to learn about food sources in the project Chop, Slice and Mash and use simple preparation techniques to create a supermarket sandwich.
In the autumn term of Year 2, children learn more about food in the project Remarkable Recipes, where they find out about food sources, follow recipes and learn simple cooking techniques. In the spring term project Beach Hut, children develop their knowledge of structures further, learning to cut, join and strengthen wood for the first time. In the summer term, children begin to develop their understanding of textiles in Cut, Stitch and Join. They learn to sew a simple running stitch, use pattern pieces and add simple embellishments. They also continue to learn about mechanisms in the project Push and Pull by using sliders, levers and linkages in products.
Lower Key Stage 2
In the autumn term of Year 3, children continue to learn about food, understanding the concept of a balanced diet and making healthy meals in the project Cook Well, Eatwell. In the spring term project Making it Move, children extend their understanding of mechanisms by exploring cams and using joining and finishing techniques to make automaton toys. In the summer term project Greenhouse, they continue to develop their knowledge of structures, using triangles and braces for strength. They design and build a greenhouse, using their understanding of opacity and transparency and the needs of plants from science learning to inform their design.
In the autumn term of Year 4, children continue to develop their understanding of food in the project Fresh Food, Good Food. They learn about food safety and preservation technologies before designing and making packaging for a healthy snack. During the spring term project Functional and Fancy Fabrics, children continue to explore textiles, learning about the work of William Morris before designing, embellishing and finishing a fabric sample. In the summer term project Tomb Builders, they build on their knowledge of mechanisms, learning about six simple machines and using their knowledge to create a lifting or moving device prototype. They also explore and use electrical systems and IT monitoring and control in the science project Electrical Circuits and Conductors for the first time.
Upper Key Stage 2
In the autumn term of Year 5, children deepen their understanding of mechanisms by studying pneumatic systems in the project Moving Mechanisms. They learn about the forces at play and create a prototype for a functional, pneumatic machine. In the spring term project Eat the Seasons, children continue to explore food and nutrition, learning about seasonal foods and the benefits of eating seasonally. In the summer term, they learn more about structures in the project Architecture, studying the history of architecture and developing new ways to create structural strength and stability. They use computer-aided design and consolidate their making skills to produce scale models. They also explore the electrical conductivity of materials before making products incorporating circuits in the science project Properties and Changes of Materials.
In the autumn term of Year 6, children learn about processed and whole foods in the project Food for Life, creating healthy menus from unprocessed foods. In the spring term project Engineer, children consolidate their knowledge of structures, joining and strengthening techniques and electrical systems by completing a bridge-building challenge. In the summer term project Make Do and Mend, they extend their knowledge of textiles by learning new stitches to join fabrics and using pattern pieces to create a range of products.
Impact
Design and Technology learning is enjoyed by teachers and pupils across school. As a subject, Design and Technology combines skills, knowledge, concepts and values to enable children to tackle real life problems. They learn to take risks, be reflective, innovative, enterprising and resilient. Through the evaluation of past and present technology they can reflect upon the impact of Design and technology on everyday life and the wider world. This is a collection of skills that they can take into their future and have a significant positive impact on their development and the communities that they are part of.