Curriculum
The school aims to provide for the spiritual welfare, academic progress, physical development, aesthetic awareness and pastoral care of every child, within a secure, stable and stimulating atmosphere conducive to effective learning that reflects St Anne’s strong Catholic ethos.
Teaching and Learning at St Anne’s
Structure and the belief that all children can achieve is key to all learning at St Anne’s. In all subjects, recalling pre-knowledge and skills is fundamental to our rationale for all curriculum areas. This means that essential linked knowledge/ skills are revised and links made with children’s current learning in all subjects. Key concepts/ end points for each topic are highlighted and over-learning of these areas occurs through repetition, modelling and scaffolding of learning. Through our subject-specific Units of Work, we make sure that learning for all is progressive and sequential. In addition, reading and vocabulary are emphasised in all subjects. Thus, key concepts become embedded in the long-term memory.
Vision Statement
As a Catholic family we welcome all and value Christ in everyone, whilst seeking the highest possible achievements.
The School’s Vision and Mission Statements underpin all aspects of our planning, our chosen pedagogy and our delivery. We believe that all have the ability to achieve to their best and our curriculum and varied choice of pedagogy enables all children to do this.
Please click on the links below to view subject specific information and subject policies.
Curriculum Intent
At St. Anne’s, we value the uniqueness of all our children. In doing so, the school aims to provide for the spiritual welfare, academic progress, physical development, aesthetic awareness and pastoral care of every child, within an inclusive, nurturing and stimulating atmosphere conducive to effective learning that is underpinned by our strong Catholic ethos. As a result, all our pupils are given the same opportunities to leave our school as resilient, confident and well-rounded individuals with a love for learning and the necessary skills and determination to succeed.
With a commitment to a broad and balanced curriculum, we therefore seek:
- To recognise and encourage talent of all kinds and degrees, and to endeavour to stretch intellectual, creative and physical capacity of all our children/pupils.
- To enable all our children/pupils to develop into confident and mature adults, to increase their understanding of the environment, acquire the basic skills necessary to provide the widest possible choices to improve their life chances for their future particularly in relation to reading. This manifests its self with a strong focus in EYFS on reading, handwriting and early number.
- To encourage a love of reading which is embedded across the school where our pupils demonstrate their fluency and self-assurance, enabling them to confidently access all areas of the curriculum.
- To learn to adapt to the demands of the changing world where communication and the use of computing are a pre-requisite and good citizenship is essential.
- To recognise that knowledge is not isolated information, it is to be built upon previous knowledge and has clear end points in each year group. Our curriculum is progressive and regularly reviewed to adapt to the changing needs of our children/pupils.
- All our pupils to identify, use and build on their prior learning, benefit from a curriculum where sequencing of skills progression is in place across subjects, year groups and key stages
- To ensure all our pupils to make progress across all areas from individual starting points and ensure that they are appropriately challenged by the teaching they receive
- To make sure that all children have access to the curriculum and that the curriculum is adapted, where necessary so that all can learn and progress.
- To review and adapt our school curriculum regularly to our school’s context, therefore currently focussing particularly on social skills, health and well-being, reading and mathematical development in the younger years.
- To celebrate learning in a variety of forms and subject areas, making sure that children are able to learn the breadth of Curriculum subjects in all year groups.
- For our pupils to be guided by the love of God and that this is embedded in all that they do and how we celebrate everyone’s skills, talents and achievements
- To appropriately support the curriculum with high quality opportunities for children/pupils to undertake memorable learning opportunities that will influence their further learning.
- For our pupils to be excited by what they learn and how they learn, broadening their life experiences through other opportunities to learn beyond the classroom (visits, trips etc.)
- To provide learning opportunities where children/pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, especially when using the internet and know what to do if they find themselves in a dangerous or unsafe situation.
- With the support and co-operation of parents we stress the importance of a real partnership between school, home and parish community in a sound and evolving Christian Education.
We use a range of pedagogical practices throughout the curriculum to ensure that we are successful with our Intent. This can range from small group tasks, individual tasks, whole class tasks. We focus a lot on teacher modelling, expert questioning, scaffolding pupils’ learning, giving children memorable experiences and over-learning to ensure that key knowledge is transferred to children’s long-term memory.
Curriculum Implementation
- At the heart of our curriculum are the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and Religious Education. We also truly value our wider curriculum, covering all other National Curriculum subjects.
- This wider curriculum is organised into discrete subject specific work, taught as ‘stand-alone’ units of learning and ‘cross-curricular’ learning where meaningful links can be made with other subjects that help secure prior learning or develop learning further.
- The ‘units’ of learning are planned using medium term planning formats and where possible, will have an entry based ‘hook’ to excite and engage the children and a ‘purpose’ for study so that learning is meaningful and relevant for them.
- Where possible, learning will be supported and enriched by field study, visits, workshops, artefact boxes, role-play and practical resources.
- Progression of knowledge, skills and understanding is carefully planned, reviewed and adapted yearly to ensure that children’s learning builds effectively over time to ensure children are ready to meet the expectations of secondary school.
- Teachers will be self-reflective and will enhance their teaching skills and strategies to help raise standards across the full breadth of the curriculum.
- We have subject leaders in all subjects. They have clear roles and are responsible for whole school progression of skills within their subject as well as updating, monitoring and reviewing the sequence of learning of the medium term planning (overseen by Curriculum Leader, Key Stage Leaders, the Headteacher and Governors)
- Subject leaders are appropriately trained and are given time and help to develop their own skills.
- Each subject has its own budget. Subject leaders are accountable for its use, focusing on improving outcomes for pupils
- At a classroom level, key concepts are presented clearly so that they are embedded in the long term memory and over- learning is prevalent, this is also monitored by subject leaders
- Pre- knowledge and skills are retrieved and built upon in the units of work and individual lessons
- Subject leaders monitor the implementation of the subject’s units of learning, assessment and the progress of children’s learning in every year group. They produce a monitoring sheet termly. This is reviewed by the Curriculum Leader and Headteacher.
- Subject leaders ensure that teaching of their subject is of a high quality by monitoring of the subject and training staff as needed so that all teacher have expert knowledge of each subject area they are teaching
- Subject leaders produce an annual review and action plan in July and this feeds directly into the School Improvement Plan and is shared with the Governor who has responsibility for their subject
- Subject leaders ensure that appropriately designed assessment occurs in each subject, making sure that assessments lead to future learning for children
- Reading is sequential, developing pupils’ fluency and enjoyment of reading. It is promoted in all subjects
- We have a recently reviewed PSHE and RE Schemes of Work. We use the Prayer garden to help children to develop skills of reflection.
- The curriculum is effectively enhanced with a wide range of extra-curricular activities that reflect the needs of the pupils with clubs such as homework, Rock Steady and Relax Kids
- All curriculum subjects include memorable experiences and help to add knowledge to long-term memory
- Pupils undertake residential trips in Year 5 and Year 6 reflecting pupils needs to become more independent
- Directors/Governors oversee the implementation of the curriculum; most subjects have link governors who review the work of the subject leader
Curriculum Impact
- Our thorough tracking and assessment system enables us to check children’s progress in relation to the curriculum and provided targeted interventions if needed.
- Key Stage leaders and Subject leaders review assessment and progress in all year groups termly through work scrutiny, review of assessments, pupil interviews, tracker analysis and lesson observations. This is reported to the Head of School and appropriate changes made.
- Pupils will be ready to meet the challenges of the next part of their educational journey and do so with confidence and concentration.
The development of Catholic beliefs and moral values underpins the curriculum. We believe this improves the quality of life for the whole school community. A community where everyone will be treated with care, sympathy, understanding, tolerance, respect and equality, and all our children can be happy and confidently develop their potential.
The principles and practice of diversity and equality are integrated into the teaching and learning in all curriculum areas. Attainment and progress data are monitored and supportive action will be taken to improve any underachievement.