Curriculum Overview

Curriculum

Curriculum Overview

Below is a link to the long-term overview of the curriculum at St Clare's.   This shows subjects and topics being covered in each half term in each year group.

 

What are the School’s Main Curriculum Drivers?

Five main drivers, or key ideas, have informed the design of the curriculum and its implementation at St Clare’s.   These are: Faith, Community, Language, Opportunity and Curiosity.   The Catholic faith is central to pupils’ development and understanding of the world, including the expectations they must have of themselves and the responsibilities they have to others, particularly those in need.   We also want pupils to realise that they are part of a community and to appreciate that this brings challenges, rights and responsibilities.   Pupils should grow to serve for a greater good.    Many of them enter the school with low levels of spoken language and, without suitable exposure to the wider language of subject domains, this may impede their development and opportunities.   We also recognise that in the challenging urban context in which the school is set, opportunities such as access to cultural experiences can be diminished, reducing exposure to inspirational art, music, theatre and much more.   So such opportunities are systematically mapped to address this risk of cultural deficit.   Finally, we want pupils to be life-long learners and to be intrinsically motivated to utilise their reading skills to take control of their education and personal development.   Curiosity about the world and their place within it is central to this.

 

 Where does the Curriculum at St Clare’s Come From?

The subjects below are taught through external resources.   In this way, the progression for each year group is ensured.   Science, Geography and History provide the half-term focus and the six topics in each year group are designed around one of these subjects.   Art and design technology are planned to link to year group topics.

YEAR 2 EXAMPLE

Aut 1                     Aut 2                     Aut 3                     Aut 4                     Aut 5                     Aut 6

HISTORY               SCIENCE               GEOG                    SCIENCE               HISTORY               SCIENCE

 

Subject		Scheme/Core Resource
Maths		White Rose Maths Planning
Literacy		Liverpool Literacy Planning
		Reading Comprehension - Brilliant Publications
		Guided Reading - Reading Explorers
		Handwriting - Letter Join
		SPAG - SPAG.COM and Headstart SPAG
		Spelling - No Nonsense spelling and
		statutory word lists
RE		Come and See
Spanish		Language Angels
PE		Val Saibin
Music		Charanga
Computing		Purple Mash
PHSE		1decision and, for RSE, Growing and Changing Together

 

How is Progression in Each Subject Assured?

Although links are made between subjects in topics, all subjects are taught discretely.  A history lesson does not, for example, become a literacy lesson.   Although connections are made, the skills and knowledge of each subject are developed systematically through careful sequencing of the curriculum.   Pupils may make Mayan masks, for example, drawing on an historical stimulus but the series of lessons would focus on the art process, techniques and relevant media, not on the problems of evidence and reconstruction.   In short, the integrity of each subject domain is preserved and the understanding of the subject progressively developed through careful sequencing and the oversight of subject leaders.

How is Reading taught?

Reading is taught from nursery onwards through the Read, Write Inc phonics scheme.   The school’s phonics results are consistently in line with or above national.   The vast majority of pupils are off the phonics programme by the end of Y2 and are reading fluently.   Many pupils leave Y2 reading at the higher level.   From Y3 onwards, pupils’ read freely from banded texts in the KS2 library and this is monitored, in part, by reviews of their reading time and progress on Accelerated Reader.   In addition to these approaches, pupils read a class text that links closely to the science, history or geography topic they are doing each half term.   Good quality non-fiction is matched to the subject focus and age-range in each year so pupils can read independently to supplement their learning.   In each class, in all key-stages, additional teaching of reading is done through guided reading – with planned focused questions supporting comprehension, language development and pupils’ growing understanding of the relationship between formal choices, audience and purpose.   Taken together, these experiences provide pupils with a strong basis for secondary school.