Curriculum Intent

As a Catholic School, our primary mission is to promote the Gospel virtues and encourage each unique individual to grow in their Christian faith so as to become a disciple of Jesus. Religious Education provision follows in the footsteps of Our Lady, nurturing the children and teaching them to be responsible, caring and loving members of our faith community.

Through regular collective worship and prayer, children engage with the scriptures to explore the wonder of God and learn how to encounter in the life of Christ. These valuable opportunities encourage children to deepen their own spiritual beliefs, reflect on their moral values and celebrate their own personal God given qualities.

We aim to produce an active Christian community that shows compassion, dignity and respect to others. We achieve this by promoting tolerance towards other faiths and religious beliefs to ensure that everyone feels safe, valued and loved.

Click Below to download Our Lady’s

RE Curriculum Overview

 

‘Mathematics knows no races or boundaries, for mathematics the world is one country and a language we all can speak.

At Our Lady’s we…

• Promote children’s curiosity, enable them to take risks and learn from real experiences

• Promote number fluency to support our children to quickly recall number facts and apply this knowledge

• Promote children’s ability to reason through opportunities to discuss their thinking and understanding with peers

• Encourage problem solving and solution finding

• Revisit knowledge frequently to cement long-term recall

How can you support at home?

Take a look at our progression document here which will show you the objectives your child will cover in maths each term.

At home, supporting with these key areas will greatly support your child:

• Times tables

• Telling the time

• Quick recall of number bonds to 10, 20 and 100

To download our progression in English, please click here

The teaching of English at Our Lady’s is done through the following aspects:

Speaking and Listening –  We encourage children to express an opinion, listen to opinions of others and use debating skills.

Reading –  focussing on word recognition, understanding text and discussing authorship.

Writing – Putting together pieces of writing based on high quality texts and interesting experiences which show case our learning and skills.

Spelling – use of phonics and knowledge of spelling patterns to write words with precision.

Punctuation and Grammar – learning about words and sentences and the way they are formed and put together.

Vocabulary – developing the range of words which the children use and understand in their speech and writing.

We aim to:

-Aid the children in developing fluent skills in oracy in order for them to express an opinion and debate respectfully with others

–Nurture a love of reading for pleasure in our children so that they will keep this skill and enjoyment throughout their lives

-Support the children to become fluent in grammar and punctuation so that they can write with accuracy and precision.

 -Enable our children to use strategies to spell words through the use of phonics and spelling patterns.

–Promote children’s creativity through their writing by exposing them to a range of high quality texts which they can discuss and enjoy.

–Broaden the vocabulary used by our children so they can express themselves clearly.

What is Phonics?

Phonics teaches your child how to read and write. Phonics helps your child recognise letters, link letters to the sound they make and write letters to match their spoken form. Phonics is all about sounds! There are 44 sounds in the English Language, which we put together to form words. Some are represented by one letter, like ‘t’, and some by two or more letters, like ‘ck’ in ‘duck’ and ‘air’ in ‘chair’. Children are taught the sound first, then how to match them to letters, and finally how to use the letter sounds for reading and spelling. Synthetic phonics refers to ‘synthesising’, or blending, the sounds to read words.

At Our Lady’s we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds phonics scheme.

Please visit the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Parent Portal for resources to support you and your child.

What are High Frequency Words?

High frequency words are commonly used words that children are encouraged to learn by sight. Some of these words will not be able to be phonetically read e.g. ‘said’ and therefore children must learn.

What is the Phonics Screening Check?

The phonics screening check is taken by children in Year 1 in June. It is designed to give teachers and parents information on how your child is progressing in phonics. It will help school to identify whether your child needs additional support at this stage, so that they do not fall behind in this vital early reading skill.

The screen includes ‘alien words’ (made up words) to ensure your child is blending and not reading words from memory.  The children will be familiar with reading alien words as they will practice them in Year 1 phonics sessions.

“Science knows no country because knowledge belongs to humanity and is the torch which illuminates the world ”

Science Intent:

We offer a Science curriculum that evokes a healthy curiosity in our children about our universe and promotes respect for the living and non-living. Through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics, the curriculum ensures cumulative learning, building on and supporting the children’s metacognitive strategies through an effective progression of skills. We believe science encompasses the acquisition of challenging ideas and fostering positive attitudes. The curriculum is designed to ensure that children are able to acquire key scientific knowledge and subject specific vocabulary through practical experiences; conducting experiments, building arguments and explaining concepts confidently. The approach to science takes account of the school’s own context, ensuring access to people with specialist expertise and places of scientific interest as part of the school’s commitment to learning outside the classroom. Children are encouraged to become critical thinkers and be inquisitive about their surroundings and a love of science is nurtured through our whole school ethos “learn to love, love to learn” incorporated via our varied science curriculum.

Science Impact:

We aim for our children to achieve their full potential in science and marvel at the awe and wonder of how science emulates throughout every aspect of our daily lives. We want the children to recall the rich learning experiences they have been provided with and know that each new taught concept provides a new, or builds on an existing, learning block. We want our children to think critically, ask questions and use their metacognitive learning skills. Our children know to persevere and embrace challenge and as a result, enjoy their Eureka moment of success!

Through various workshops, trips and interactions with experts and local charities, children have the understanding that science has changed our lives and that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity. Children learn the possibilities for careers in science, as a result of our community links and connection with national agencies including the Ogden Trust. They learn from and work with professionals, ensuring access to positive role models within the field of science from the immediate and wider local community.

Standards in science, to ensure the maximum impact, are monitored in a variety of ways: Book scrutiny, professional dialogue, pupil voice questionnaires, Staff voice questionnaires, lesson observations and learning walks. The School Governors are informed of standards and progression of the subject annually.

‘People without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture are like a tree without roots.’  

Marcus Garvey 

The National Curriculum states that ‘A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.’

The intent behind history at our Lady’s is to ensure that children have a vast knowledge of significant events and people from Britain’s past and civilisations in the wider world. As studying the past is the most empowering way of supporting our children to change the future.

Our curriculum has a strong emphasis on children acquiring knowledge through a rich vocabulary and developing skills so they can use historical sources, find answers, describe, reason, compare, evaluate and develop a sense of chronology.

Pupils will be able to recognise similarities, compare and contrast across periods of history using their developing knowledge showing a secure chronological understanding.

 We aim to foster this fascination from a young age in order to create children, and later adults, that understand and value the difference and diversity in our world. We believe that by learning about the world and its people, children can become active citizens in that world and are able to make difference.

 ‘You can travel the seas, poles and deserts and see nothing. To really understand the world, you need to get under the skin of the people and places. In other words, learn about geography. I can’t imagine a subject more relevant in schools. We’d all be lost without it.’ 

Michael Palin

The National Curriculum states that ‘A high-quality geography education should inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.’

The intent behind geography at our Lady’s is to develop pupil’s knowledge of the world and their place in it. We believe that by learning about the world and its people, children can become active citizens in that world, able to make difference.

Our curriculum has a strong emphasis on children acquiring knowledge through a rich vocabulary and developing skills so they can use maps, globes and photographs to identify human and physical features of places.

Pupils will be able to locate cities, countries and continents and use geographical vocabulary to make comparisons, discuss, debate and form their own opinions and develop an understanding of changes to and influences on their locality and that of the wider world.

We aim to foster a desire for lifelong learning that may inspire a future generation of geographers to further investigate our planet.

“Whether you want to uncover the secrets of the universe, or you want to pursue a career in the 21st century, basic computer programming is an essential still to learn”

Stephen Hawking

We aim to:

• Promote children’s safety online, teaching the SMART rules to keep themselves safe both in and out of school.

• Support the children to understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science.

• Encourage our children to become computational thinkers, solving problems in computational terms and have practical experiences solving problems by writing and debugging code.

• Promote children’s ability to reason through opportunities to discuss their thinking and understanding in relation to computing.

• Enable our children to evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies.

• Promote our children to be responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

‘PE makes every child stronger and every life longer’

At Our Lady’s we understand the importance of health, well-being and fitness. We teach meaningful PE lessons where the core fundamental movement skills are taught within a fun, inclusive and challenging curriculum.

We believe that PE is Powerful Education to provide Positive Experiences for all!

5 reasons we teach PE and promote sport and physical activity

1. By providing a fun, challenging curriculum we ensure pupils are physically competent. This helps children to build a positive attitude that will encourage them to be confident and active for their whole lives.

2. We know that physical activity increases the ability to think, concentrate and maintain focus in all areas of learning and life.

3. By nurturing our children, we provide a safe, respectful and purposeful environment which supports all our children to be creative, to grow and to flourish. Our children grow in self-confidence and are given the chance to shine.

4. PE challenges our children to be aspirational. We aim to create citizens who strive to develop excellence, self-belief and build character. They set personal bests and goals for their physical activity. They take pride in their own and other’s achievements.

5. Using teamwork gives our children opportunities to grow their own and other’s unique qualities. Cooperation in sport and play provides a platform for friendships and relationships.

“Our vision is to provide a world class music education for all young people and support them to become their very best.” – Our Lady of Lourdes Music Service

At Our Lady’s we believe that music is a vital part of children’s education and development and has a significant and valuable role in our curriculum and throughout the wider life of our school. The music curriculum will develop children’s knowledge of music, performance skills and understanding of their own and others’ cultural heritages through studying a diverse range of male and female composers and musicians. Children are provided with many opportunities to develop their talents and musical interests beyond the curriculum through well planned enrichment and musical experiences.

School Development Plan for Music September 2024

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” 

Pablo Picasso

At Our Lady’s we believe that art is a vital part of children’s education and has a significant and valuable role in the taught curriculum, as well as the enrichment opportunities on offer to our pupils. The art curriculum will develop children’s critical abilities and understanding of their own and others’ cultural heritages through studying a diverse range of male and female artists. Children will develop their appreciation of the visual language of art with effective teaching through an understanding of the visual elements of art and design that will be developed by providing a curriculum which will enable children to reach their full potential.