St. John’s C of E School Curriculum Statement
Our vision and values at St John’s drive our curriculum
St. John’s Church of England Primary School provides a Christian Education for all of its pupils. The Christian values of Faith, Compassion, Hope, Wisdom and Strength permeate school Life, they help each child to grow in love and service of God and each other and to develop a deeper commitment to the Christian faith and Christian living. As a school we are committed to establishing a life-long love of learning, enabling our children to take their place confidently within a rapidly changing world. We value and celebrate the uniqueness of each individual and in partnership with parents, we work collaboratively to strive for educational excellence and nurture our children so that they can thrive and flourish.
Through this, our Bible reference is fulfilled: ‘I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength’ – Philippians 4:13
Curriculum Intent
We have considered our Curriculum Intent carefully. We aim for children to leave St. John’s not only ready for the next step in their education academically but also ready personally, socially and emotionally with high aspirations.
We have identified four Curriculum Drivers which shape our curriculum. They are derived from an exploration of the backgrounds of our children, our beliefs about high-quality education, our values and the skills that we believe our children need for the future.
Curriculum Drivers
Curriculum Implementation
We provide a broad and balanced curriculum with a clear focus on subjects as discrete units to deliver the curriculum. Our curriculum map, and units of work in every subject, contain the knowledge that we have identified as essential in our school, taking cultural capital into account.
These have been carefully crafted for each subject, identifying composite knowledge and skills and breaking them down into component parts to ensure sequential, layered knowledge acquisition. The curriculum is sequenced and progressive from EYFS to the end of Key Stage Two so that children can systematically accumulate and reinforce knowledge and skills which become embedded in their long-term memory.
One approach taken to support this is the strategic planning of discrete units around interconnected topics with authentic and logical links. This empowers and motivates pupils to make meaningful connections in their learning, whilst also providing a creative way to develop and reinforce their knowledge, skills and understanding.
Continued professional development
To implement our curriculum we ensure high-quality teaching, targeted academic and personal support and wider strategies to ensure access for all children. At St John’s we develop passionate and well-informed teachers and subject leaders who seek out opportunities to learn and develop their expertise. Working collaboratively with colleagues within our school, as well as with colleagues at local and national levels, teachers and leaders constantly grow and define our practice at St. John’s.
Teaching and learning
Through high-quality professional development, evidence and research-informed practice, and further education opportunities, all teachers strive to reflect on and develop their shared pedagogy and approach to teaching and learning.
Our whole school pedagogical approach is based on Rosenshine’s Principles of Direct Instruction. The brilliant clarity and simplicity of this approach supports teachers to engage with cognitive science and the wider world of educational research.
Planning and Interventions
Teachers have high expectations of all children’s learning and provide appropriate support to help all children learn and become confident. Quality first teaching is central to achieving educational excellence. Lessons and curricular enrichment activities are shaped and adapted according to the diverse abilities, needs and life experiences of all children and levels of support and challenge are adjusted following constant teacher assessment. This approach is consistent across the school, as is the supportive but ambitious, positive (carefully curated) learning environment, which promotes and reinforces learning as its core purpose.
We foster pupils’ independence to become self-directed and resilient learners. Focused interventions further support the progress and attainment of all children. To ensure the most disadvantaged pupils in our school have the best opportunity to thrive academically and achieve their full potential, we have a clear and comprehensive Pupil Premium Strategy and inclusive and supportive SEND offer. Leaders at all levels regularly monitor and review the curriculum and provisions to ensure these pupils are equipped with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.
Curriculum Impact
The curriculum is a process. It is constantly changing, evolving and responding to the needs of the community we serve, the wider society and to the recommendations of professional bodies and developments in education and technology. Our curriculum is successfully implemented to ensure pupil’s progression in knowledge and skills with opportunities to extend their long-term memory so that they know more and remember more.
We regularly review our curriculum with a range of stakeholders to ensure sequential, layered knowledge acquisition and check that children’s outcomes are of a very high quality.
We measure the impact of the curriculum against various outcomes through:
- Pupil Progress meetings: triangulating teacher assessments, outcomes in books and summative assessment scores.
- Internal monitoring and learning walks carried out by senior and middle leaders and governors: sampling the quality of teaching and learning across subjects, collating pupil voice, book conferencing and surveys.
- Reporting to Governors regularly.
- Parent surveys, working groups and meetings.
- Professional development meetings with all staff and personal performance management cycles
- External reviews, including the Local Authority.
- Comparative reviews and moderation within our cluster Local Authority schools.
As a result of working collaboratively and in partnership with the community we serve to live out our shared curriculum vision, our children leave St John’s spiritually enlightened having grown in their Faith journey. They are academically successful, happy and culturally literate individuals with good emotional intelligence and leadership skills. Our children are given many opportunities to be proactive members of pupil groups in school and make their contribution. We are committed to ensuring that our pupils take their place with confidence within a changing world and our curriculum ensures they are ready for the stages within primary and next stage post-primary education.