Curriculum Statement

St Augustine’s Curriculum Statement 2023-24

We offer all our children the opportunity to experience a rich, full, broad and balanced curriculum throughout their time in school, from Early Years to Year Six, ensuring all children are taught the requirements of the national curriculum from Year One onwards whilst developing their academic, creative, sporting, moral, spiritual and social skills. It is our aim that the curriculum is taught in a way that considers the needs of all individuals and is delivered in an exciting manner, inspiring a love of learning which develops enquiring minds and confident children.

Intent – What are we aiming for?

Our mission statement is ‘The purpose of our school is to educate each child to develop and achieve their potential within a caring, Catholic community, governed by Gospel values’

Our Mission at St. Augustine's School is to provide an education which has at its centre the values and ideals of the teachings of Jesus Christ according to the traditions and doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.

Effective teaching and learning are the core purposes of our school.  We believe that the quality of teaching is fundamental to the quality of education provided by the school and the main way in which pupils will learn and make progress.  It is also the means through which we offer a curriculum that will meet all pupils’ needs. 

Our curriculum fulfils all the requirements of the National Curriculum. It will endeavour to prepare pupils for the experience, opportunities and responsibilities of adult life by giving the highest priority to numeracy, literacy and computing, together with the social, emotional and physical skills which will give them the confidence to value their contribution to society. It will promote a positive attitude towards learning, so that children enjoy coming to school, and acquire a solid basis for lifelong learning.

It is our intent that all pupils:-

• are given the opportunity to engage in a wide variety of experiences which they may not otherwise have access to and which will enrich their learning, general knowledge and skills development 

• are challenged to meet or exceed their potential in all areas of learning and attain age related expectations in core and foundation subjects

• are given the opportunities to develop their talents in oracy, creative arts, investigative and sporting skills 

• have high aspirations for their future lives

• leave our school as happy, caring, respectful, well-grounded children who recognise their strengths and abilities, as well as responsibilities, so that they can achieve their full potential to thrive in our constantly changing society.

We aim to prepare children for the future by:-

• ensuring that through a variety of learning experiences they acquire knowledge and skills relevant to life
• promoting respect and tolerance of all individuals and their beliefs
• developing lively and enquiring minds
• developing the ability to question and debate rationally
• developing the ability to apply themselves to tasks in hand with sustained resilience
• helping them to be independent so that they take responsibility for and understand the consequences of their actions, use their initiative and make informed choices and generalisations.

Implementation

Everything we do within our curriculum is grounded in our Catholic beliefs. Each child is unique and has a fundamental right to equal opportunities and the same aspirational levels from all staff, who will work with each child’s strengths and personality to bring out the best in each pupil.

A key focus for our school is oracy. Our children need to improve speaking and listening skills as a precursor to reading and writing in all academic subjects and being both confident and resilient in all that they do. Being articulate is a key skill in succeeding as an adult. Developing good oracy skills and rich language development will be threaded through everything we do. We have adopted ‘Talk Matters’ principles and signs throughout school to enhance oracy.

Statutory expectations across Early Years Foundation Stage – Prime and specific areas

In Reception, children's learning is based around project themes and their own interests. The four themes of the EYFS identified in Development Matters (A Unique Child, Enabling Environments, Positive Relationships and Learning and Development) are addressed in provision areas and focus activities throughout the year depending on the theme. Learning and developing in the Early Years is also underpinned by the Characteristics of Effective Learning. We currently follow Little Wandle for our phonics teaching.

Statutory expectations across Key Stages 1 and 2 – Children are taught all subjects within the National Curriculum.

Religious Education 

As a Catholic School, RE is a core subject and our faith and respect for other faiths is central to all that we do. We follow the Diocesan schemes - The Way, The Truth and The Life and Virtues To Live By across school. The children are given opportunities for worship within class, key stages and whole school as well as attending Masses at Church and in school. 

English 

 Handwriting, spelling, grammar and punctuation are all taught weekly, both discretely and integrated into general literacy teaching. Content and skill levels are differentiated according to individual needs

Phonics is taught throughout Key Stage 1 and revisited and taught in Key Stage 2 if required to match individual needs

Reading is developed through sharing whole class texts, weekly guided reading sessions, individual reading, storytime and class sessions in our school library. Vocabulary acquisition is taught and developed through oral discussion and the use of word studies in all curriculum areas.

Writing skills are taught through learning activities linked to core texts within year groups, cross-curricular themes and whole school tasks. We are currently embedding Talk for Writing principles and strategies into our lessons across school, having worked through a two-year cycle gradually introducing different aspects of the process. This incorporates oracy, reading and writing skills.

Mathematics

 We teach a Mastery Curriculum following the White Rose Maths Hub schemes of learning across both Key Stages. This fulfils the three aims of the National Curriculum – fluency, reasoning and problem solving with a strong emphasis on arithmetic and understanding of mathematical language. 

Science

 Science is taught as both a discrete subject and as part of cross-curricular termly themes within year groups where applicable. The ‘working scientifically strand’ is embedded throughout the subject all year.

Foundation Subjects

History, Geography, Art, DT

 These subjects are taught through cross-curricular themes, developing key knowledge and skills in different subject areas.

Computing

 Computing skills are taught discretely and applied through cross-curricular activities. Children have access to a range of hardware and software to support their learning.

Music

Children have singing lessons on rotation throughout the year. The music curriculum is delivered across all phases through theme based learning or discretely taught by peripatetic Local Authority teachers.

PE

Physical activity, both engagement and enjoyment, has a high profile in our school. Pupils ideally have two sessions each week, one indoor and one outdoor (weather permitting). This is supported and enhanced this year by The Commando Joe program, which devlops both physical activity and key character development. This year swimming lessons are available for Year 4. We also encourage daily physical activity, such as the ‘Daily Mile’ walk/run across school and active break and lunchtimes.  There is a wide range of extra-curricular sport on offer each term. Pupils are taught by our own staff and external coaches

PSHE/RSE

PSHE is taught regularly in each class from Year 1 through to Year 6 through the scheme, You Me, PSHE. It is taught more often through SEAL and circle time as and when class teachers feel the need to cover any issues that arise during the academic year. The Foundation Stage use SEAL as their primary PSHE scheme. Any children that need extra support in any areas of PSHE are catered for in ways that suit their needs, i.e outside agencies, extra sessions, 1:1 support/ Learning Mentor support and Nurture group activities. 

RSE is an important part of PSHE education. We as a Catholic school take advice from the Diocese and follow the scheme of work Ten:Ten which is delivered in the summer term.

MFL 

French and Spanish are taught discretely across Key Stage 2 with children having a weekly half an hour lesson. Years 3 – 5 do French, following aspects of La Jolie Ronde scheme and Year 6 learn conversational Spanish and key words, as Spanish is the language taught in Year 7 in one of the high schools.

Delivery

Children are in mixed ability cohorts and the lessons are delivered within these cohorts. Years 3, 5 and 6 have a third group for English  as part of the ‘Catch up’ programme following the lockdowns.

Celebration

Curriculum success is celebrated each week in the whole school celebration assembly. Children receive certificates, awards and recognition of achievements, both within the curriculum and for extra-curricular success.

Writing is a focus within school and we have ‘Starwriter’ awards on a fortnightly basis, with writing displayed at the front entrance in recognition of their achievement. We also use the Pobble website to publish children’s writing.

Enhancement Opportunities 

As well as the teaching of the National Curriculum subjects, our curriculum offers a diverse range of other activities and experiences for the children as they progress through school. See the attached Enhancement Curriculum Offer.

Impact – How do we know our Curriculum works?

We evaluate the impact of the curriculum on our pupils through various means:-

• ongoing Assessment For Learning on a day-to-day basis
• summative and formative assessments at the end of each term, year and Key Stage
• a vigorous monitoring and evaluation calendar
• celebration through awards
• pupil voice and parental questionnaires

Ongoing evaluation shows that for our pupils:-

• the attainment and progress of the majority of children is at least good or better academically from entry to exit
• good behaviour and attitudes to learning are clearly visible and recognised as such by Ofsted
• attendance is good
• the children are well-grounded in their moral, social and spiritual learning and are ready to play an active, positive role in society
• an increasing number of children are making healthy lifestyle choices, recognising the benefits of healthy eating and regular physical activity 
• the uptake of extra-curricular sports is high
• children leave primary school well-prepared for high school