Teaching and Learning- Quality of Education aims and vision:

‘A Curriculum that Matters- what we learn becomes a part of who we are’

Intention: 

At St Edward’s Catholic Primary School, we are passionate about ensuring that our pupils are given education of the highest standard. Through high quality teaching and learning experiences and targeted intervention and support, we aim to ensure that all pupils are able to enjoy, aspire, achieve and become independent and lifelong learners.

We are guided by our mission Live, Love and Serve and instil in our pupils the fundamental values that are needed for being successful, confident, thoughtful and kind individuals and to take these attributes into the community and the wider world. 

We want to provide a primary school education with a difference. Each subject is valued in its own right- we want to nurture future historians, artists, sports representatives and actors but at the heart of the curriculum and school life, the teachings of the Gospels to inspire us to treat each other with equal respect and courtesy at all times. 

Implementation: 

When devising our curriculum, we wanted it to drive academic excellence, encourage pupils to develop a desire to succeed no matter their background, support their transition whether going from EYFS to KS1 or Year 6 to KS3 and develop a life-long love of learning.

St Edward’s curriculum is knowledge rich, challenging and well sequenced allowing for the progression of knowledge and the application of skills across the school and into other subjects. The content has been chosen carefully in a coherent way ensuring it builds from year to year allowing pupils to remember more.

Curriculum coherence ensures the teaching and learning does not jump from topic to topic, the curriculum is divided into subjects, recognising the disciplines we study and allows the pupils to develop a love of each subject. 

The curriculum ensures there is a shared language across the school; each subject is valued and specified; there is a rich and broad vocabulary content and explicit teaching of this.

Our EYFS curriculum encourages pupils to explore, investigate and learn through first hand experiences. The stimulating learning environment encourages play and allows for the building of resilience and independence. Staff promote and encourage children’s use of new vocabulary in order for them to communicate effectively. We consider their spiritual and moral development to ensure they are happy, curious and life-long learners. The Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation Stage gives the pupils a broad range of knowledge and skills which provides the pupils with a strong base for future progress. 

The national curriculum is taught from Year 1 through to Year 6.

Comprehensive subject planning ensures the provision is broad and balanced. Knowledge and skills are layered for each year group, with each year building on the last without unnecessary duplication. Subject overviews, rationales for subject content, long term planning, half-termly plans allow for sequence of lessons and the application of skills to be embedded across the curriculum.

Throughout the year, we celebrate themes for learning which extends children’s knowledge and understanding and excites and engages them. These themes are organised into the long-term planning, including: ‘Voices that refused to be silenced’, ‘Changing faces of the Monarchy’ and ‘Where do our CAFOD pennies go?’. They allow a whole school approach to learning, evidences progress of understanding and knowledge from each year group and extends children’s knowledge in a wider context.

Every teacher is a leader. Coverage is monitored through plans, scrutiny of books and curriculum days to moderate and observe and there is a progression of skills which evidences explicit skills aligned to each year group. The leaders review, develop further, evaluate and discuss with all staff the impact of their subject responsibility.  Formative assessment is ongoing through probing questioning in lessons, pupil and staff discussions and books.  

Impact:

Academic progress and personal development are treated equally and pupils make progress from their starting points. Children retain and are able to articulate knowledge and understanding. Statutory outcomes and progress over time in St Edward’s is well above national average.  A clear coherent and sequential curriculum is established with focused learning intentions and lessons personalised for each pupil and their starting point.  The curriculum is extended to include educational trips to local and national events in order to motivate and retain knowledge. A large range of extended after school activities gives the children an extra hour of learning in the day to nurture talents, be active in sports/keeping fit or simply revise the day’s learning.