Intent

Learning in all areas of the curriculum reflects our school mission statement of Praying Together, Learning for Life, Caring for All.  At the very beginning of the children’s learning journey in EYFS, we offer a welcoming and inclusive environment, based on understanding and awareness of the needs of all the children and the diversity they bring to our school community. As a Catholic school, every aspect of our curriculum is planned in the knowledge that every child is made in God’s image and likeness.  We develop the gifts and talents of each child and aim to make our children thirsty to learn about the wonders of the world and the society they live in.

Remembering more is the key to enabling our children to be curious, creative individuals within school and the community.  The National Curriculum programmes of study are delivered through the teaching of individual subjects for Year 1-6 and through the EYFS framework in Nursery and Reception. Throughout the school, we have high expectations and believe that all children can achieve their goals in the caring and supportive learning environment of St Joseph’s.

We aim to deliver quality first teaching in the classroom by checking the knowledge that children have already acquired. Teachers ensure that children are challenged through high order questioning, pace and content of lessons and ambitious planning.  We want our children to be confident and positive learners who will analyse and question information in order to be independent and resilient.  Our curriculum goes beyond the classroom where children are engaged in enriching activities such as trips, after school clubs, workshops and sporting opportunities.

Implementation

At St Joseph’s, we provide a rich, knowledge-based curriculum based on the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum programmes of study and the RE curriculum ‘The Way, The Truth and The Life’.

We provide a broad and balanced education to prepare the children for their future learning in school and in the wider world, ensuring that each subject area is taught discretely for the appropriate amount of time. Learning is sequenced and shows progression from EYFS to the end of Key Stage 2, with the children’s knowledge of cultural capital being enhanced in each year group through the use of knowledge organisers, working walls, pupil’s work, pupil’s voice and high quality resources.

We recognise the importance of developing all our teaching staff and teaching assistants, so that they continue to deliver high quality lessons in a variety of ways. We strive to develop a coaching culture, where all staff feel supported to be happy & successful. We prioritise interactions and relationships with pupils that are based upon mutual respect, care, empathy, and we are sensitive to the individual needs, emotions culture and beliefs of our pupils. We have a positive classroom approach characterised by respect trust, cooperation and care.We want every learner to feel competent and autonomous.within a culture of high expectations with high challenge and high trust, so learners feel it is okay to have a go.

Impact

We have expectations of high achievement at St Joseph’s ensuring that we deliver the highest quality in lessons and learning opportunities. Regular assessment of the children’s needs is paramount in forward planning and these take many forms such as; marking work, regular formative assessment, summative assessments at the end of each term in maths and English, pupil voice and observations, which form the basis of our pupil progress meetings. These meetings take place at least once every term, giving the staff opportunities to monitor the rate of progress and for any interventions to be put in place for  children who have not reached the expected standards.

All teaching staff have responsibility to lead and monitor a subject area with responsibilities including: learning walks, lesson observations, book scrutinies, pupil interviews or questionnaires and analysis of data.  Additionally, the senior leadership team carry out learning walks and lesson observations to ensure continuity in approach, routines and expectations.

The children of St Joseph’s leave our school as well-rounded citizens who make good contributions to their community.  Throughout their time at primary school, our children develop an acute sense of moral justice.  Our curriculum ensures British values, whereby they respect and celebrate the diversity of the world they are growing up in.

To find out more about our curriculum, please look through our subject and year group pages. If you require any further information, please email the school office on office@stjosephstrafford.co.uk to be put in touch with one of our subject leaders.