St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery  

Curriculum Intent:

The aim at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery is to provide opportunities for children to develop as independent, confident, successful learners with high aspirations who know how to make a positive contribution to their community and the wider society.

At St Patrick’s we have designed our curriculum with pupils’ learning at the centre with the aim of ensuring that all pupils make progress. We recognise that a curriculum has to be broad, balanced and offer pupils opportunities to grow as individuals as well as learners.  Our curriculum is engaging, relevant and ensures coverage of the National Curriculum as well as real life and current issues as they arise in the world.  We put the children at the centre of everything we do, valuing and cherishing every pupil.

 As a Catholic School, the teachings of the gospels are at the centre of everything we do. Pupils are taught to treat each other with respect and to support each other in their learning which is underpinned by our core values.  Pupils and staff constantly adhere to these school values.

We intend to offer our pupils new and exciting experiences that are designed to build resilience, confidence and self-esteem both in the classroom and through extra-curricular activities. We recognise that pupils should be challenged in their school; learning from failures and celebrating successes.

We intend for our curriculum to enable pupils to develop their interpersonal skills, creativity and independence. We aim to ensure that pupils enjoy learning and feel prepared for life after school. It is our intention that pupils leave St Patrick’s with a sense of belonging to a community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.

Implementation:

In the planning and delivery of our curriculum, we aim to teach children the skills to be historians, geographers, artists and musicians through a sequence of carefully planned and structured topics. We have recently developed new skills and knowledge documents which ensure that we teach the correct depth of coverage across the school in each curriculum area and that progression is clear.

We have a highly skilled staff who work incredibly hard to deliver and assess an exciting curriculum. Teachers and leaders reflect on our curriculum regularly, adapting it to meet the needs and interests of all our children. Teachers constantly evaluate and develop their practice in light of current educational thinking.  We plan for a progressive acquisition of skills in each subject across the curriculum. The areas of study are mapped out carefully to ensure curriculum coverage in terms of both knowledge and skills.

We provide the children with real-life experiences, and every topic has an enrichment day such as a trip, a visitor or an experience day.

Impact:

The impact of our curriculum in the short term, is that both the children and staff at St Patrick’s enjoy the learning journey and look forward to coming to school every day.

In the medium term, we hope that our pupils become creative thinkers, independent and enthusiastic learners who are constantly knowing more, remembering more and becoming more skilled. This translates into pupils making strong progress from their individual starting points and achieving outcomes that are typically above national averages. Assessment at St Patrick’s is an integral part of teaching and learning to measure the impact of the skills and knowledge children acquire. Teachers draw on a range of evidence to assess what pupils know, understand and can do across the curriculum. This assessment is used thoughtfully to shape future learning.

Our long term aims are to develop the whole child and to equip them with the skills to become lifelong learners, the cultural capital to be good citizens and to give them experiences that they will remember forever. By the time children leave our school they are well prepared, both academically and socially, not only for the next stage of their education but for their future lives.