Our 'Vow to Wow' Curriculum
Spiritual, Moral,Social and Cultural
Our carefully planned progression of experiences compliments and reinforces the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our children to enable them to become respectful and responsible citizens, well equipped for the 21st century.
At Christ the King Roman Catholic Primary School, we nurture pupils’ SMSC development through our unique and special catholic character, collective worship and Christian values. It is within this framework that we teach the importance of British Values as we draw upon the example of Jesus and His welcome and inclusion of all. We provide an education that focuses on the development of the whole person, celebrating individuality and differences and working together with other communities.
Intent
The following outlines our curriculum at Christ the King Primary School. Our schemes of work set out the knowledge and understanding that we have organised for each class year group and key stages. We aim to deliver an inclusive, broad, robust and creative curriculum, which provides our children with experiences that inspire and challenge learning.
Our cross-curricular topics are planned using a ‘Mantle of the Expert’ and Tinkology for learning approach to promote a pleasure in learning. We also encourage our pupils to participate in a range of extra-curricular activities, in particular sport and dance, and are proud of our many achievements in these areas. Our carefully planned progression of experiences complements and reinforces the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of children to enable them to become respectful and responsible citizens. It not only broadens out all children’s horizons but also enriches all communities.
We believe each child is entitled to receive a relevant educational experience and the opportunity to maximise potential regardless of ability, background, gender, age or ethnicity. Learning experiences are planned, both within and outside the classroom, in a way that encourages full and active participation by all children, matched to their knowledge, understanding and previous experiences. In some cases, this may require an adapted curriculum in order to meet the additional needs of individual children. Our children have the opportunity to learn the skills, which will equip them best for the challenges they will meet in the 21st century.
Implementation
In 2014, the Government introduced a new national curriculum. This curriculum detailed the learning objectives to be taught throughout Key Stages 1 and 2 with a strong emphasis on English and Mathematics. Our curriculum not only fully encompasses the 2014 national curriculum and provides for an expression of our own priorities.
When designing our curriculum, we took the decision to teach English, History, Geography, Art and Design through topic-based projects to enable the children to apply their knowledge and skills across all subject areas. The content is taught, practised and revisited to ensure the learning is durable and is transferred to different contexts. We also wanted a curriculum that fulfils our unique requirements and principles.
At Christ the King School, we believe that learning should be a rewarding and an enjoyable experience for everyone and that pupils learn best in different ways. At our school, we aim to provide a rich and varied learning experience that allows pupils to develop their skills and abilities to their full potential through a 'Mantle of the Expert' approach and a 'Tinkology for Learning' approach.
Impact
Assessing and Reviewing the Curriculum
In September 2014, the Department of Education required maintained schools to adopt a new national curriculum. At Christ the King, we have carefully designed a system for review that supports longer-term learning that involves all learners. Frequent low stake quizzes, regular writing judgement sessions, termly tests, and the use of our own assessment system give us a means of assessing pupils by recording against key knowledge. We adopt teach and test approach to ensure that key knowledge is embedded. The evidence is strong that using our assessment system to assess against age related expectations is successful as there is a very close fit between users' views and outcomes at the ends of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.