Curriculum Intent

Our ambitious Curriculum has been designed to ensure each and every child can succeed by offering knowledge rich and exciting learning experiences with Christian values at the heart.

The curriculum ensures that academic success, creativity and problem solving, responsibility and resilience, as well as physical development, well-being and mental health are key elements that support the development of the whole child to promote a positive attitude to learning. High expectations are channelled for all children with equitable challenge supported by high quality resources. The curriculum celebrates the diversity and utilises the skills, knowledge and cultural wealth of both local Worcestershire community, and global community, while supporting the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, ensuring that children are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Our curriculum is underpinned by our school vision and will enable our young people to become:

• Successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve.
• Confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives.
• Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.

Implementation

The curriculum has been designed to deliver teaching and learning experiences that ensure coverage and progression of key skills and knowledge. High quality visits and visitors are also chosen to enhance the curriculum and provide children with memorable experiences from which they can learn and develop a range of transferable skills. Subject leaders lead a regular programme of monitoring, evaluation, review. This celebration of good practice contributes to the ongoing commitment to improve children’s outcomes.

The St Barnabas curriculum is delivered through single subject teaching. Where key learning is interconnected, teachers sequence complementary subjects carefully, making links between objectives and key areas. This enables rich dialogue across subjects, together with making deeper links and opportunities for retrieval practice. We do not teach 'Topics’ at St Barnabas from Y1 -Y7, as these are often forged on tenuous links with activities  made to ‘fit’ into a topic. Key learning objectives with activities which children can show progress are planned and delivered.

There are Policies for all curriculum areas which are written in a similar format.  They each recognise the importance of maintaining a safe environment for our children.  Staff and pupils are aware of the Health and Safety issues associated with the different curriculum areas.  All children have equal access to the different curriculum areas and all policies are assessed for Equality Impact. 

Each policy is formally reviewed on a biannual basis (except for Computing which is done annually).  However, Subject leaders annually review the progress and the needs of their subject to ensure the further development of their subject.

Equality Statement

St Barnabas is committed to ensuring equality of education, and opportunity for all students, staff, parents, guardians or carers, irrespective of race, gender, disability, belief, religion or socio-economic background.

We are proud of the diversity within our school community and have due regard to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• advance equality of opportunity
• foster good relations and positive attitudes between all characteristics and different groups in all of its activities

This perspective is embedded and expected in all our policies and practices to ensure discrimination and inequality are tackled appropriately.

Special Educational Needs

Each curriculum area has an 'Adaptive Teaching' set of strategies to ensure all children have access to the full curriculum ensuring we are fully compliant with our duties as set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 

Organisation

Subjects are taught in themes in the Early Years and the curriculum covers the seven areas of the EY curriculum.

At St Barnabas C E First & Middle School we teach the requirements as set out in the National Curriculum for all curriculum areas (Local Agreed Syllabus RE / Model Music Curriculum)

Each subject is taught as a distinct area in its own right. Learning is sequential and progressive in knowledge, skills and understanding. Cross-curricular links are only formed when it is deemed beneficial to the learning.
English	Maths	Science	RE	Other curricular subjects
Published assessed pieces	CanDo Maths; Kangaroo Maths. Pre-learning and post-learning low-stakes quizzes	St. Barnabas curriculum maps (NC coverage; Pzaz Science; Activate)	Agreed RE Syllabus & Understanding Christianity	St. Barnabas curriculum maps (NC coverage)
The English teaching sequence	The Maths teaching sequence	Science Lab - specialist teaching facility	Christian Values incorporated.	Skills progression
Progression maps	Progression maps	Working Scientifically, Skills and Knowledge Progression maps	Daily Collective Worship	Vocabulary development across the school
NC objectives	NC objectives	Vocabulary development across the school	Church and community links	Learning Organisers
Accelerated Reader (KS2/ KS3)	Fluency, reasoning, problem solving Maths Masctos: Timmy the TryTryTriceratops, Colin and Coco.	Knowledge Organisers	St. Barnabas’ approach to Spirituality	Enrichment opportunities for all
Rising Stars: Reading Planet (EYFS - KS1)	Mini Maths	Post-learning assessments	Impact	Equality of provision
Reading Gems			3 x PPM per year	SEND identified and planned for in QFT
Rising Stars: Rocket Phonics			3 x data collections per year	‘Rapid graspers’ identified and planned for in QFT
Whole-school text map			Leadership interviews	Misconceptions addressed via pre-post learning assessments
St. Barnabas’ approach to handwriting			Monitoring: formal observations, learning walks, work scrutiny, planning monitoring, pupil voice	All observations, referrals and PM targets to be shared as appropriate
St. Barnabas’ approach to spelling			Internal and external moderation

 

For further information, please contact us at school by email to office@st-barnabasfirstmiddle.worcs.sch.uk or by telephone on 01905 840366.