St Charles RC Curriculum Intent

Whatever you do, do it with all your heart. Colossians 3:23

The curriculum at St Charles has been designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all children and gives them the skills, knowledge and understanding to prepare them for their future lives. Our Mission Statement, “As a family of God, we love to learn and learn to love’ is central to all aspects of school life and is the source of inspiration for our curriculum.

At St Charles, our curriculum goes beyond the National Curriculum by including learning that is relevant to our own locality and the children’s own experiences.  Curriculum drivers(Geography and History) and enhancers (Art, Design and Technology) provide children with a broad, balanced, sequential and ambitious curriculum. All other areas of the curriculum such as: Mathematics, Computing, Music, Religious Education and Physical Education are taught discreetly and are interwoven where appropriate. Core texts linked to the Topic Curriculum provide purposeful opportunities for Reading and Writing. Subject concepts are threaded through all year groups and ensure that children revisit these concepts over and over, building conceptual understanding and knowledge each year. This provides a clear progression model and supports the planning, delivery and assessment of children in the wider curriculum. 

Our children work collaboratively, sharing the best of their ideas and inspiring each other to realise their potential. The curriculum is enriched through our involvement with the local community; artists, authors, theatres, sports groups, businesses, charities and places of worship. Our children are also inspired by visits to media and cultural spaces that our city offers. These experiences are purposeful and link to our topics; exposing our children to the best ideas, achievements and creations in our community helps us to set high standards and encourages the children to aspire. Parental involvement is an essential part of our curriculum development as we celebrate achievements, learning new skills which enable the parents to take an active role in events supporting their children throughout the year. During their learning journey at St Charles, children develop their understanding of their local and national heritage and understand how they can make a positive contribution to their community and wider society.

We offer all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential in a learning environment that is joyful, supportive and stimulating - an environment in which children can learn through a rich tapestry of learning experiences that are thoughtfully crafted to cater for different learning styles, abilities and needs. By celebrating our God-given gifts, children are able to develop their skills and knowledge in a wide range of subjects and topics hence developing all aspects of their being.

Curriculum Implementation

“Research shows that the act of recalling information from memory actually helps to strengthen the memory itself.” Christodoulou,2016

Our curriculum design ensures the curriculum has planned units of work that revisit the key concepts for each of the curriculum drivers allowing children to make connections and deepen their understanding. Our teachers ensure Mathematics,  Writing and Reading are taught daily. The curriculum is designed so subject specific knowledge and skills are scaffolded within a thematic approach.

Pre and post learning tasks in the curriculum assist teachers in ascertaining what children already know and need to know. Subject specific learning focuses ensure concepts are embedded and when cross-curricular links are made, they are done so in a way that strengthens children’s understanding through meaningful links. Teachers involve their pupils, allowing pupil-led questions to be interwoven into the units of study. Enrichment opportunities enhance experiences children have and are used to develop their understanding of the learning that is or has taken place.

Retrieval practice is a key element of lessons to ensure knowledge is repeatedly retrieved from long-term memory.  Teachers plan and tailor units of work to address specific cohort and individual needs of children. All staff have high expectations of themselves and their children, imparting knowledge and teaching skills accurately with enthusiasm.

Curriculum Impact

“…think in terms of the important concepts that we want pupils to acquire and the things we want them to be able to achieve at the end of their time in education.” Christodoulou, 2016

Our curriculum driver concepts mean that learning takes place over a long period of time; ensuring that knowledge is stored in children’s long- term memory. We compare pupil progress over time using the key concepts which provide a clear progression across KS1, LKS2 and UKS2. 

Children are able to make connections between subjects and can articulate their knowledge of their locality, the world and its history.  Lesson observations, book scrutinies, coaching and mentoring ensure that expectations are high, and teaching and learning is in line with the principles of our teaching and learning policy.  Our children experience a broad and balanced curriculum and have the knowledge, experiences and skills needed to go on and succeed in their education and life in modern Britain.

At St Charles, by developing children spiritually, morally, socially and culturally, we believe children are better equipped to face the diverse and ever-changing world that we live in; ready to thrive and contribute positively to society locally, nationally and indeed globally.  It is important for our curriculum to adapt to the needs and abilities of our children but it is, and will always be, anchored in our mission, ‘As a family of God, we love to learn and learn to love’.  

If you would like further information about the programme of study taught at St Charles, please get in touch and we would be happy to share more information. See contact information for more details.