Intent

At Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Primary School, pupils’ learning and development is at the heart of our school’s curriculum. We recognise that a curriculum has to be broad, balanced and offer pupils opportunities to grow as individuals, as well as learners. We want our pupils to be immersed in a unique and engaging curriculum, where deeper knowledge and connections are nurtured, with links made between concepts built upon prior knowledge and applied in different contexts. School therefore, places importance on developing transferrable skills, meaning our pupils become lifelong learners with the knowledge and skills, which will equip them best for the challenges they will meet in the 21st century. We would hope that children will develop individual work habits which will lead them to exercise the qualities of experimentation, investigation and creativity. It is our task to help each child to learn how to learn and behave.

Implementation

Curriculum delivery at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Primary School:

• Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum
• The 2014 National Curriculum ensuring that there is an equal balance of knowledge and skills that are built upon progressively at each stage of the child’s development.
• Each subject is taught as a single subject to ensure full coverage of the subject matter in terms of knowledge and skills.
• A language rich environment and further enhancements to develop the intellect and knowledge of our children e.g. visits and visitors linked to the curriculum.
• Religious Education following the ‘The Come and See’ scheme of work, including our RSE scheme ‘Journey in Love’.
• Personal, Health and Social Education following the 1 Decision scheme of work, enhanced by a variety of workshops.
• Physical Education is delivered by class teachers and Specialist Sports Coaches.
• A programme of extra-curricular activities, which includes creative and physical opportunities.
• We also strive to develop and uphold British Values, i.e. Democracy; The Rule of Law; Individual Liberty and Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs; Developing Personal and Social Responsibility and Respect for British Institutions.
• There is a clear pathway of transition from EYFS (Early Years Curriculum) to Year one (National Curriculum).

English

We have a novel based English curriculum and have been careful to select a wide range of novels taken from the 100 books to read from each phase (EYFS, KS1, LKS2 and UKS2). Across the curriculum, there is a mix of classic & modern fiction, historical & fantasy as well as non-fiction, instructional/information texts, which we have carefully linked specific writing genres to, in order to ensure coverage of the full English curriculum. The intention being that all children, regardless of attainment level, can be immersed in the same high quality literature and the discussions that these texts promote. The teacher and other children can model intonation, volume and expression with the expected impact that children become more confident readers. The wide range of vocabulary can be heard in context and the teachers can pitch their questioning appropriately insisting on high quality responses with evidenced based explanations. High quality written work should follow as the children have a good, strong knowledge of the vocabulary, the characters, the setting and the plot.

Big write sessions are completed for the children to apply their written skills and knowledge in a difference context- this could be based on a picture, video clip, book extract or songs/poem etc.

In KS1 children follow the Read, Write Inc. scheme of work daily.

Maths

We are passionate about the developments children make in mathematics. We aim for a balance between mathematical fluency (arithmetic), reasoning and problem solving in order to ensure that our children are able to apply the skills that they learn in the classroom to everyday life. We use a range of teaching materials to support the teaching and learning of Mathematics including, White Rose, Classroom Secrets, NTCEM, NRich, and Twinkl deep dive activites. Staff ensure that learning is pitched at the correct level for each individual child by completing prior learning tasks; the children are then able to be grouped accordingly and learning is tailored appropriately, providing support for those children that need it and further challenge/ deeper learning for those that move on quickly. Maths lessons are planned around ensuring a balance of concrete, pictorial and symbolic resources.

Times tables Rockstars is used to support with the excellence and enjoyment of learning and embedding times table facts.

Science

At Our Lady Queen of Peace, we aim to give all our children an understanding of the world around them. When children are studying science at the primary level, they should be acquiring specific skills and knowledge to help them to think scientifically, to gain an understanding of scientific processes and also an understanding of the uses and implications of science, today and for the future. When teaching science, scientific enquiry skills are embedded in each topic. The children study with the aim of helping them to ask and answer questions about the world around them. All children are encouraged to develop and use a range of skills including observations, planning and investigations. Specialist vocabulary for topics is taught and built up, and effective questioning to communicate ideas is encouraged. Through planned science topics, pupils develop the following types of scientific enquiry: observing over time; pattern seeking; identifying, classifying and grouping; comparative and fair testing (controlled investigations); and researching using secondary sources. We aim, through our teaching, for our children to develop an interest and enthusiasm for Science. We also encourage our children to apply their mathematical knowledge to their understanding of Science, including collecting, presenting and analysing data. Furthermore, we aim to embed cross-curricular opportunities within our science curriculum, in particular mathematics, including collecting, presenting and analysing data. We also

aim to provide writing opportunities, e.g. writing explanations, report writing, writing instructions, etc.

Wider curriculum

We feel that it is imperative that children are given the tools to be global citizens and ready to face the challenges of the future. We aim to give them the skills to develop a good attitude to learning, a curriculum that will equip them for the future, skills in self-management, self-regulation, resilience, drive and determination to be the best that they can be and an excitement to make a difference. For further information about individual subject areas, please see the curriculum page on the website.

Assessment (formative and summative)

• Teachers continually assess the children throughout the lesson, this is then used to inform future planning. Teachers have strong relationships with the children that they teach and are very aware of the individual needs of the children. Teachers know the children extremely well and are able to adapt lessons quickly and effectively to address any misconceptions for all groups of learners.
• Children complete summative assessments in Reading, SPAG and Maths at the end of each term. This is used alongside teachers ongoing assessment.
• For all other subject areas, the children are assessed against the knowledge and skills attained during the term.
• Following each assessment period, a Pupil Progress meeting takes place with SLT to address any gaps in learning for identified children.

Impact

• At Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Primary, we strive for all our pupils to achieve to the best of their ability. We have high expectations of children across all aspects of their learning journey. The pastoral care and support is of paramount importance to ensuring that children are ready to learn. Pupils in every year group, including the most able and disadvantaged pupils make substantial and sustained progress in all areas of the curriculum.
• Our work on promoting social skills including good manners, resilience, self-awareness, consideration and co-operation throughout the curriculum enables children to become fantastic role models.
• Our strong links with families, external agencies and the wider community support and promote the development of the whole child.
• Pupils leave Y6 with the necessary knowledge and skills to begin the next stage of their learning journey. We have strong links/relationships with the local high schools that provide a smooth transition for all our pupils. Feedback from local high schools states that our children settle quickly, ready to embrace the challenges ahead.
• The Catholic ethos permeates every aspect of school life.

 All aspects of our curriculum are accessible to all children, irrespective of their ethnic background, gender, disability, religious or linguistic background. We strive hard to meet the needs of those pupils with special educational needs, those with disabilities, those who are more able, those with special gifts and talents and the children who are learning English as an additional language. We provide a rich, challenging curriculum, which stretches all of our children. Staff are aware of children who have exceptional talents and gifts and monitor or track their progress carefully to ensure their academic potential or talent is continually developed. 

 If you have any questions surrounding our school curriculum, please contact the school office.