CURRICULUM INTENT STATEMENT

Aim high, work hard, be kind

We believe that every child should be given the opportunity to flourish and develop to their full potential. Here at St John Fisher, they can acquire skills to become confident and articulate, well equipped to meet the challenges of a fast changing world.

We are committed to the development of the individual enabling every pupil to fulfil their potential, not only in their academic studies but also in sports, drama, music or wherever their talents may lie.

We believe that it takes a whole community to educate a child, so we place a high value on the partnership with parents. As a Catholic school, the formation of our young people will be based on the life and teachings of Christ.

Alongside the breadth of curriculum, we believe in depth such as mastery in Maths and extension activities which offer depth of learning. These encourage the student to work with either more complex tasks or to provide them with a greater degree of complexity or abstraction.

Underpinning our curriculum is our commitment to ensuring that every child acquires the basic skills necessary to become a successful learner while also developing a love of reading. We ensure that our children are exposed to a range of opportunities which support their social, moral, spiritual and cultural development in a Catholic environment.

With a core of high quality teaching, targeted support and additional challenge, we aim to ensure all students aspire to high standards and make at least national rates of progress and the attainment of our children is above national standards.

Equality for all, and a strong desire for upward social mobility will underpin our work to remove all barriers to learning, progress and success.  The safety and well-being of our young people will always be paramount.  Every member of our community will be welcomed and valued. Our curricula will ensure that our young people are inspired and excited by learning, maintaining a thirst for education.

Children leave St John Fisher with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community where they have the confidence and skills to communicate effectively and confidently; express themselves accurately in writing; demonstrate a good standard of numeracy; and a knowledge and belief that Christ unconditionally loves us.

Our Aims:

• Engage children through interesting topics and hands-on activities.
• Make meaningful links between subjects.
• Develop children’s skills, knowledge and understanding of a range of themes and concepts.
• Make effective connections to the real world.
• Help children to think creatively and solve problems.
• Develop children’s capacities to work independently and collaboratively.
• Enable children to make choices about their learning.
• Take account of children’s interests and fascinations.

Our approach:

• develops children to the best of their abilities
• helps children to find their passions and interests
• facilitates children’s acquisition of knowledge, skills and understanding
• helps children to develop intellectually, emotionally, socially, physically and morally
• assists children in becoming independent, responsible, useful, confident and considerate members of the community
• promotes a positive attitude towards learning, so children enjoy coming to school
• helps children to acquire a solid basis for lifelong learning
• creates and maintains an exciting and stimulating learning environment
• ensures that each child’s education has continuity and progression
• enables children to contribute positively within a culturally diverse society

The children have the opportunity to work together throughout the year with a partner year group to develop the skills and knowledge that they need.

Policies and Curriculum maps

Curriculum Policy

Further information about Foundation subjects

How does it work?

Children will progress through four distinct stages of learning in each ILP – Engage, Develop, Innovate and Express:

Engage

At the “Engage” stage, children:

• Gain memorable first-hand experiences, such as going on a visit or inviting a special visitor into school.
• Enjoy ‘WOW’ experiences.
• Get an exciting introduction to a topic or theme.
• Begin researching and setting enquiry questions.
• Get lots of opportunities to make observations.
• Develop spoken language skills.
• Take part in sensory activities.
• Have lots of fun to fully ‘engage’ with their new topic.

Develop

At the “Develop” stage, children:

• Improve their knowledge and understanding of the topic.
• Develop and practice their new skills.
• Compose, make, do, build, investigate, explore, write for different purposes and read across the curriculum.
• Research their own questions and those set by others.
• Follow new pathways of enquiry based on their interests.
• Complete homework activities that support their learning.

Innovate

At the “Innovate” stage, children:

• apply skills, knowledge and understanding in real-life contexts.
• solve real or imagined problems using everything they’ve learnt.
• get inspired by imaginative and creative opportunities.
• revisit anything not fully grasped at the ‘Develop’ stage.

Express

At the “Express” stage, children:

• become the performers, experts and informers.
• share their achievements with parents, classmates and the community.
• evaluate finished products and processes.
• link what they have learnt to where they started.
• celebrate their achievements.