St Thomas More Catholic Primary School
Inspiration, Celebration and Education
We are first and foremost a Catholic school and as such are led by the values and beliefs of the Church.
Our curriculum is broad and balanced as you can see from our Curriculum Booklet above. Our aim is for all children to become confident, creative and engaged learners who achieve their full God-given potential.
Our curriculum has been carefully designed to:
Engage and excite the children.
Develop active learning.
Encourage independent learning.
Provide a context for learning through first hand experiences.
Allow children to make links.
Involve parents and carers.
Enable children to develop skills for the future.
Extend children’s understanding and relationships with their community and beyond.
Intent
Here at St Thomas More our curriculum is based on the key principles and beliefs of our Bishop. We ensure that through the lens of faith we develop individual, unique people and form the foundations of them being able to contribute to society. We have a broad curriculum, where knowledge and skills are of equal importance, which allows the development of the whole person and our spiral curriculum design ensures that we build on prior knowledge and skills and fill in any gaps that there may be. The development of reading is crucial in our school and it is central and forefront to our curriculum.
Our school vision is that as a Catholic school, God is at the heart of all we do. We believe that each person is made in His image, deserving to be treated with respect and dignity. Showing respect, love and care for everyone and everything, we aim to develop harmony between pupils, parents the school and Parish and grow as a Christian community. We aim to enable each individual to realise their full potential, spiritually, academically, physically, socially and emotionally. We serve a diverse community and are an inclusive school.
At St Thomas More Catholic Primary School we believe that every child is entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum. We provide a caring learning environment, rich in stimulation that will meet the needs of all pupils and foster their academic, emotional and physical development, in order that each child reaches their full potential. We are committed to valuing and nurturing each child as an individual who will achieve their best and develop an enthusiasm for lifelong learning.
We have high aspirations and expectations for all our pupils from Reception class up to our Year 6’s. We aspire to meet expectations set by the Government for our pupils at the end of their Reception Year, the phonics screening, KS1 SATs, Year 4 multiplication screening and the Year 6 SATs.
As a school we have adopted Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction through the way we deliver our lessons, ensuring that recapping of prior learning is the foundation for our assessments and focussing on questioning types. We have undertaken research into questioning and metacognition to ensure that we are supporting our pupils in the best possible way. We adjust our teaching and scaffolds to ensure that we meet the needs of all pupils, from gifted and talented, EAL pupils and those with SEND. We focus on what our pupils need.
Implementation
At St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, we have used the National Curriculum as the fundamental base to design an exciting and inspiring spiralled curriculum that ensures our children develop sound knowledge. We recognise that the curriculum encompasses all areas of learning and we provide learning which makes links across all subjects, where possible to further develop their long term memory.
In order to allow children to develop their knowledge and skills, children revisit areas of learning over the course of a key stage. Reading is used continuously to discover and explore across many areas of learning. The same quality of work is expected across all subjects which leads to higher standards and outcomes.
Lesson may take various formats, however they will all include key principles. These principles include:
Please see specific subject pages for more information about when and how subjects are taught.
Educational Visits booked for the children will be of high quality. The intention of such trips is to provide the children with cultural capital, develop their knowledge and to give them experiences that enhance their learning.
Impact
The impact of the school’s curriculum can be seen in the work they produce in their books and the outcomes for all groups of pupils within the school. Everything we do is with the child at mind, and strong relationships are built between pupils and staff which create an atmosphere for learning which is conducive to success.
Pupil progress through ongoing assessment and through three key assessment points during the year. Work is planned to address misconceptions and gaps in learning identified through assessments to ensure that the curriculum effectively meets the needs of all pupils.
At St Thomas More Catholic Primary School we strive to deliver a learning experience that has interest, amazement, breadth, challenge and relevance to meet the needs and interests of all pupils. We are a friendly school where children are encouraged and nurtured to achieve their best. We provide a happy, caring and calm atmosphere where children are able to contribute and achieve in all areas of school life. The curriculum is successfully planned and managed to ensure all pupils get a good start and are well prepared for the next stage in the education. We believe and promote a love of ‘Learning for Life’. Learning is an integral part of our day and takes place throughout the day in all areas.
At St Thomas More, the children are at the heart of all we do and we believe that every child deserves the opportunity to be happy, feel valued and experience success.
As a Catholic school our curriculum is designed to present children with exciting learning opportunities, which motivate and inspire them, supported by our Catholic values. We aim to provide our children with the skills, knowledge and values they will need as they continue on their learning journey at St Thomas More and beyond.
When targeting the outcomes for our pupils, we focus on two vital factors:
This allows all our children to make progress taking into account the extent of any Special Educational Needs and/or Disability.
The academic curriculum is supported by a wealth of extra-curricular opportunities that will further add to the development of the whole child. The Health and well-being of all pupils is paramount and interventions from the CAFAW (Children and Family Aid Worker) support this. The Boxall Profile is an invaluable resource for the assessment of some of our children’s social, emotional and behavioural development.
The children enjoy linking with local community as much as they can – from Pates Grammar School students volunteering to come in and hear readers to UCAS workers providing mentoring support for our Year 6 children.
Partnership with Parents
From the start of your child’s education, we want to promote a good ‘Partnership with Parents’. We understand that you are your child’s first educator and we are here to support you. Your child’s overall development and progress relies on regular communication between our staff and you as parents. By exchanging information, we will gain a clearer picture of each individual child.
Our regular Parental Conversations give parents and carers the opportunity to talk through your child’s progress and we can answer any questions you may have. However, we are always here for you to talk to. And don't forget to look through the Curriculum Booklet to find out more.
If you would like to ask any more questions about our Curriculum, please talk to your child's class teacher.