Our School Curriculum

Intent

What is our intent? What are we trying to achieve with our curriculum?

At St. Peter’s Church of England First School, our curriculum is designed to inspire, engage and challenge our pupils so that they acquire the knowledge and skills they need to be successful, independent and motivated young people, ready for the next stage of education and their future in today’s world.

Through a flexible, child-led and creative approach to curriculum themes, we aim to harness children’s natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge to foster an interest in the local community, and the world beyond. Lessons, visits, wider cultural experiences, outdoor learning and real-context projects are all used to enhance learning across the curriculum and develop communication, collaboration and cooperation.

The National Curriculum core subjects of reading, writing, maths and science and foundation subjects – music, computing, geography, history, design technology, art, PE and RE are taught as well as personal and social, health and relationships education.

As a school with a strong Christian foundation, we ensure that opportunities for spiritual and moral development are taken in every element of the curriculum so that our motto of ‘love, learn, flourish’ is moved from vision to reality.  

Implementation

How do we deliver our curriculum?

Our curriculum is delivered through creative and engaging themes. These are led by children’s interests and changed annually. Wherever possible, lessons are embedded in ‘real’ contexts so that children understand the relevance and importance of their learning.  

All subjects have clear, progression plans, and children are given opportunities to explore, investigate, question and analyse in order to learn the skills of critical thinking, reasoning and problem solving.

Reading and phonics have a high priority as a vital skill for everyone and the gateway to future learning.

Impact

What is the impact of our curriculum and how do we know?

School leaders, including the Local School Council, and teachers regularly measure the impact of our curriculum through the monitoring of teaching and learning, monitoring of behaviour, assessment and on-going self-review. We talk to children and parents, undertake learning walks, look at books and review the curriculum as subject leaders. We use nationally calibrated tests each term to ensure that we are consistently adapting our work to ensure all our children make the best progress possible.

As a result of our high-quality curriculum and teaching, our children are well prepared for the next phase of their education, they are motivated to achieve and are equipped with the personal skills they need for a successful future.

If you would like more information then please navigate the main headings below or speak to the class teachers or the subject coordinators below:

Subject coordinators:

Maths - Rachel Oliver

English - Louise Leworthy

RWI/Phonics - Louise Leworthy 

RE and Collective Worship - Maida White/Rachel Oliver 

Science - Dot Jones

PE - Catherine Gibbons 

Computing - Louise Lamley 

French - Louise Lamley 

Music - Louise Leworthy

History and Geography - Catherine Gibbons 

Curriculum Coverage

At St Peter's First School we believe in a broad and balanced curriculum, incorporating the Curriculum Guidance for Early Years and Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum, in well-resourced and stimulating surroundings.  This promotes a positive, challenging and enjoyable learning experience which meets all our children’s needs and abilities. To enable all our children to enjoy, achieve and develop creative approaches to thinking and learning, the curriculum is delivered through topics and experiential learning opportunities through visits and trips off site. We also ensure that the children experience a variety of visitors to school such as theatre groups, poets and musicians.

We strongly believe that children need to develop social and emotional skills if they are to participate effectively in our society. It is our awareness of this need which has led to the broad, experiential form of curriculum organisation that we have adopted, and to the inclusion of an extensive Personal, Social and Health Education programme in our curriculum.

The class teacher is responsible for teaching the entire curriculum with specialist provision for Music and PE.  We also offer a wide range of extracurricular activities which support and motivate children to achieve their full potential in areas such as sport, the arts and outdoor learning. 

A new National Curriculum was introduced from September 2014.  Staff at St Peter's First School devised a long term curriculum plan based upon the new programmes of study stipulated and with careful consideration of the needs of our children. We maintain our belief that learning is lifelong and that the skills and attitudes we instil in the early stages of our children’s lives should stand them in good stead for the future.

At St Peter's First School all class teachers are responsible for providing a curriculum that is suitable for all children in the class, including those with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) with support from the SENCo. We have high expectations for all pupils and are committed to ensuring our curriculum complies with the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. Our inclusion statement emphasises the importance of providing an inclusive learning environment for all pupils including those with SEND. Additional information on this can be found in our Special Education Needs Information Report and Equalities Policy.

At St Peter's we follow the Read, Write, Inc Scheme developed by Ruth Miskin.