Curriculum Vision
For us it is critical that ALL children flourish both academically and personally so that they have the skills to have success in life and with a commitment to the common good.
Our curriculum provides the inspiration and opportunities for all children to achieve, grow and give.
Achieve: confidently developing empowering knowledge, skills and understanding. Becoming critical thinkers who are deeply engaged by questioning, being curious, reflecting upon and applying learning
Grow: develop as individuals, find their voice, and develop a positive sense of self and character (the human spirit)
Give: understanding their impact and become responsible citizens
Our values of community, resilience, aspiration, creativity, kindness are the foundations of all we do.
Curriculum Implementation
The SJSC curriculum is diverse, inclusive and representative and aimed to provide the cultural capital, knowledge, skills and understanding to enable all children to flourish both academically and personally.
Our curriculum explores 6 ‘Big Ideas’ - important concepts that children return to throughout school life building a deeper understanding of the world and their place in it. The Big Ideas allow for important knowledge and our school’s values to be taught in a meaningful way.
The Big Ideas are:
Identity and diversity
Democracy
Sustainability
Social Justice
Innovation
Legacy
Aspirational knowledge is chosen, enabling children to learn about ‘the best that has been said and done’. It is sequenced in a progressive way to reinforce learning over time. Subjects are planned to contribute to the understanding and individual thinking in each Big Idea.
Each unit begins with an enquiry question – an open-ended question that motivates the children to learn the knowledge needed to then think critically about a possible answer. This makes learning meaningful and personal and facilitates a deeper more long-term impact.
Quality texts are at the centre of every unit. Texts are carefully chosen in order to inspire, challenge and support a deeper understanding of the knowledge being taught and the concept being explored. Our texts are representative, diverse and inclusive of all.
Inspiring experiences engage the children and take learning beyond the classroom. Trips, visitors and hands-on learning experiences bring the curriculum to life.
Some units have real life projects that drive the learning. These allow children to put their learning into action, solve problems, and contribute to the school community, or beyond, for the better.
The school’s Teaching Framework outlines how the curriculum is delivered in everyday practice. This is based on the Teaching Standards, research and theory into effective teaching practices, and the school’s aspirational approach to ensuring all children receive the highest quality of education. Strategies and expectations laid out in the SJSC Teaching Framework ensure that ALL children are enabled to succeed, regardless of their starting points.
Assessment opportunities are built into the everyday curriculum in order to adapt teaching. End of unit assessments are used to understand long term learning and inform future planning.
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We teach the National Curriculum through themes based on the high-quality texts used for English. From these themes, projects are planned which allow teachers to create lessons leading up to an end product.
Projects are cross-curricular and are designed and planned in conjunction with the children to encourage them to take responsibility for their own learning, whilst at the same time providing a rich, real-life learning experience. -
If you would like to find out more about our curriculum, please speak to your child’s class teacher or speak to the school office to arrange an appointment with our Co-headteacher and curriculum lead Alli Crank.
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