At St Therese of Lisieux we aim to provide the highest quality primary education that will equip our pupils with a life-long love of learning. Our pupils will be filed with an irresistible desire to question, explore, investigate and discover more about themselves and the world in which they live. They will develop an appreciation for and generosity towards the people, the world and the universe around them.
Our Curriculum Aims:
To instil in all pupils a life- long love of learning
Help pupils to embrace diversity, value their own cultural heritage and recognise their contribution to the society in which they live
Embrace challenge and new opportunities so that pupils can learn without limits
Respect for the environment and a genuine sense of awe and wonder for our planet motivates our pupils to become responsible global citizens
Encourage every child to have a strong sense of self and discover what is extraordinary and unique about them
Support, guide and inspire pupils through excellent teaching practices
Enable all pupils to fully experience the joy of childhood through an experience-rich, memorable and exciting learning journey
Our Curriculum Drivers
Our curriculum drivers underpin all aspects of our curriculum planning and intent.
RESPECT
To value diversity
To understand ourselves
To appreciate each other
INSPIRE
To question
To discover
To create
To communicate
POSSIBILITIES
To challenge ourselves
To challenge each other
To learn without limits
The following quote informs our philosophy of teaching and learning at St Therese of Lisieux:
“The more children know you value them, that you consider them extraordinary people, the more willing they will be to listen to you, and afford you the same esteem. And the more appropriate the teaching is, based upon your knowledge of them, the more eager the children will be to learn from you. And the more they learn, the more extraordinary they become. “
M Scott Peck.
At St Therese of Lisieux we implement teaching and learning through a pedagogy of “Assess, Plan, Teach.” This helps to structure all learning sequences; short, medium and long term.
Curriculum Implementation
At St Therese of Lisiuex Catholic Primary School we are dedicated to offering a broad and balanced curriculum , rich in experience and designed to meet the interests, needs and intellectual ability of all our pupils regardless of race or gender.
As a Catholic school community, prayer and worship is threaded through our daily life and RE teaching and learning is at the core of our curriculum. 10% of curriculum time is dedicated to the teaching of RE. We believe Religious Education is not one subject among many, but the foundation for the entire educational process; the beliefs and values it communicates inspires and unifies every aspect of our school life.
Our vibrant Foundation Stage offers our children a wide range of activities and experiences through practical tasks and play which are part of our planned school curriculum, following Early Learning Goals. Exciting half termly themes engage children in engaging contexts to develop all areas of learning which are: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, Literacy, Mathematical Development, Creative Development, Physical Development and Understanding the World. There is also a strong emphasis on ‘in the moment planning’ and activities and provision are designed and implemented to cater for individual interests and learning opportunities.
All pupils from Year One to Six follow the National Curriculum for England.
Key Stage One programmes of study are followed in Year One and Year Two and children in Years Three to Six follow the programmes of study prescribed for Key Stage Two.
These subjects are: RE, English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Design and Technology, Geography, Art and Design, Computing , PE and Music , Modern Foreign Language (Spanish) is taught from Year Two upwards.
Children at St Therese of Lisieux learn through an Imaginative Learning Project (ILP). Each ILP has a topic theme and a subject-specific approach. Each child from Year 1 to Year 6 will take part in a maximum of six Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs) per year. Each Project incorporates several curriculum subjects but often has one subject as a main focus. Each ILP is cross-referenced with the National Curriculum Programmes of Study in order to ensure a broad curriculum.
Some subjects, or elements of subjects, need to be taught separately if they do not naturally fit into an ILP. These include: RE, Mathematics, P.E. Music, Computing, and S.M.S.C.
Each Imaginative Learning Project has a set of ‘Knowledge Organisers’. These organisers contain the basic knowledge and vocabulary that we ensure the children will acquire over the course of the topic or learning sequence. The children are taught in line with these organisers and are also assessed against them.
To ensure that the children retain this knowledge, review is an important aspect of all teaching and learning. It is through regular review of the knowledge and understanding gained that teachers maximise the potential to transfer this to long term memory. Review is an essential ingredient to every lesson in terms of connecting the learning and consolidating We regularly quiz the children about what they learned the day before, the week before, what they learned during the last topic and what they learned in the previous year group.
We review and monitor our curriculum regularly to ensure it meets all statutory demands of the National Curriculum as well ensuring progression so that all pupils can learn new facts, skills and concepts and consolidate their previous learning. At St Therese of Lisieux we have subject leaders who oversee, develop, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their subject within school across all year groups and phases. Staff are committed to delivering high quality learning experiences throughout the curriculum.
Enrichment : Themed Weeks , Visits and Visitors
Themed weeks are also an exciting dimension to our curriculum provision. Such opportunities really enthuse and ignite our children and allow them time to fully immerse themselves in creative learning opportunities and explore an aspect of the curriculum in more detail.
In the curriculum we recognise that children’s learning is enhanced by different experiences. We offer children a wide range of educational visits which are used to motivate and engage learning which improves retention. Regular visitors in school give the children another perspective on values, attitudes, learning and understanding. These include charities, people from different professions and the community.
The Learning Journey
We believe that it is vital for pupils to drive their own learning and develop responsibility, independence and resilience when learning across the curriculum. The ‘Learning Journey’ is the way in which we articulate clearly and effectively our own progress as a learner. All children understand that they are on their own personal ‘Learning journey’ and there is a shared vocabulary linked to the theme of a journey which supports pupils’ progress.
Every lesson begins by sharing the learning destination; children know what the purpose of the lesson is and the context for their learning. The objective of every lesson is to move forward along the route and make progress towards the destination from various starting points.
Children are encouraged to drive their own learning and follow the signposts along the way which are relevant tips and expectations in order to be successful.
Children are encouraged to ask questions to ensure understanding. There may be times when children may need to go around the ‘roundabout’ to recap, they may have hit ‘roadworks’ which can block learning and we need to work together to remove them.
Traffic lights are used to assess our understanding and when we have reached our destination we plan our next ‘route’
Secrets of Success
Attitudes to learning are the fuel for the journey, children know they will move faster and accelerate along the route if they have plenty of fuel in their tank. Fuel can come in the form of self- belief, perseverance and teamwork. The ‘Secrets of Success’ are used with pupils to remind them that in order to be successful in their learning they will need to:
- Try new things
- Work hard
- Concentrate
- Push yourself
- Imagine
- Improve
- Understand others
- Don’t give up.
Please see the attachments below:
