The curriculum was initially redesigned throughout 2020, with work continuing into 2021. It has been further developed throughout 2022, to create the 2022-23 curriculum which will be used in our school. Whilst based on the National Curriculum, it has been designed to uniquely fit the needs of the school and encompasses a variety of curriculum tools, including:
- Come and See (Catholic RE curriculum)
- White Rose Maths
- Reading Vipers (EdShed/Literacy Shed)
- Get Set 4 PE
Plus others.
The effectiveness of these tools is monitored and their use is reviewed annually.
The curriculum is pedagogically sound in that it is:
- Progressive and developmental
- Differentiated
- Cross-curricular
- Integrated
- Co-ordinated
- Balanced
- Structured to allow revisiting of material and concepts to promote deeper learning
This means that it:
- Excites, promotes and sustains children’s interest, allowing teachers to linger longer and dive deeper.
- Enables and fosters children’s natural curiosity.
- Enables children to reflect on and evaluate their learning.
- Promotes problem solving, creativity and communication.
The curriculum is taught on an individual subject basis, so rather than simply having a ‘topic’ lesson, children will know exactly which subject they are working on (e.g. History, Geography, Science, etc.) Furthermore, in Science lessons, children will be made aware of which of the 3 main strands of Science they are working on – Biology, Chemistry or Physics, although lessons will still be simply labelled as Science.
We try, where possible, to make links between subjects, so the study of a particular book in English may link to, for example, the History unit for that term, etc. This is an important feature of our curriculum, as it allows for recall and revisiting of material, both of which strengthen learning.
RE is taught essentially as a stand-alone subject but provides many links to life in general and can often be related to the other work in the classroom.
Other subjects mainly taught as stand-alone are: Computing, French, Music and PE. Once again, however, links with other areas of learning are always made where possible, as the school values cross-curricular learning as a way of assisting the children to contextualise their learning.
If you need any further details on the curriculum, please contact the school office on info@st-marys-grantham.lincs.sch.uk
