Curriculum

St Mary’s C of E Primary School Curriculum Statement

At St Mary’s C of E Primary School, we seek to provide a broad, balanced, differentiated curriculum and offer a wide range of exciting, challenging activities and experiences to all pupils irrespective of ability, background, ethnic origin or gender.

Our curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum and other experiences and opportunities which best meet the learning and developmental needs of the pupils in our school. The aim of our curriculum is for pupils to have the requisite skills to be successful, independent and motivated learners in readiness for their next stage of education and beyond. In fact, our shared vision is to provide an empowering curriculum and prepare pupils for success in a changing world and so, in this endeavour, we create stimulating learning environments for the children in partnership with parents, the church, the wider community and providers.

We believe St Mary’s is a caring, listening school where the children feel safe, are valued and can achieve their very best.  Our children develop their understanding of how they learn best (metacognition), together we celebrate success and also demonstrate that ‘making mistakes’ are opportunities for growth and learning. At St Mary’s, we learn that there are different pathways to success and develop perseverance (one of our Christian Values) by overcoming barriers. Through the curriculum, we aim to prepare pupils for the opportunities, experiences and responsibilities of adult life and to lay a firm foundation for future learning.

We believe the best learning follows four modes of learning –  foundational, conceptual, collaborative and personal. This promotes long term memory retrieval and greater impact on outcomes. We promote behaviours for learning to develop independence and resilience in the classroom. Our aim is that learning is always effective and taught in a meaningful context for children. The rehearsal and application of skills learned in the core subject areas is a key feature of the curriculum. The children are taught a planned programme of work throughout their years at St Mary’s Primary School.  At certain times of the school day individuals or small groups may be withdrawn from the main lesson. These intervention groups receive additional English and Maths support.  They may also be withdrawn to stretch and challenge more able learners. Staff may lead booster groups to ensure academically able children are constantly challenged. We acknowledge that people learn in many different ways and we recognise the need to develop strategies that allow all children to learn in ways that suits them. Opportunities are planned to cater for a range of different learning styles to ensure that all children can access the curriculum and learn in a way that is best for them. We enhance this with planned opportunities that make up the wider school.