Intent
Our Intent is for all of our children to become happy, caring, responsible independent learners who achieve personal success and feel secure and valued in our Christian environment.
As a school serving a community with a high deprivation, we believe that our pupils deserve a curriculum that does not narrow their life chances. It is our aim that no child is left behind and that each individual is given the support and teaching to enable them to develop the skills and acquire the knowledge that will prepare them for the next stage of their education and life.
We want our children to be successful, to love learning and to move onto secondary school with the skills, knowledge and understanding that will enable them to thrive.
Our curriculum has at its core the national curriculum which we see as the basis on which we have built the Ashton St. Peter’s curriculum. The school community of staff, pupils and governors, have worked to agree a core curriculum structure based on skills, knowledge and understanding. This process began by identifying clear progression and sequencing within subject areas.
As well as developing children’s knowledge progressively throughout the school, we place an emphasis on developing the skills our pupils need for future learning, including resilience, growth mind set and perseverance which are all underpinned by our values education approach.
The strengths of our curriculum are that it has been designed in response to the needs of the children in our school. We place an emphasis on language acquisition and development to ensure the children’s speaking, listening and understanding skills are at age-appropriate levels. In addition, we provide a wide-range of opportunities for first hand learning experiences.
At Ashton St. Peter’s we are proud to have a curriculum which meets the needs of all children including those with disabilities and SEN and stimulates our children allowing them to develop into independent thinkers and resilient learners.
Our curriculum is engaging, broad, balanced and progressive helping to ensure that our children become numerate, literate and are empowered to meet life’s challenges. Our curriculum had been designed to encompass knowledge and understanding of the world in which we live and the events that shaped it in the past to make it what it is today.
The topics have been designed to complement and build on one another with clear progression and links so that in subsequent year groups they will be able to explore concepts deeper, applying the knowledge and skills in different contexts.
Implementation
We implement this by providing a strong, Christian ethos, which encourages the children to love and respect one another and to love God. “Values Education” is embedded through Christian collective worship and throughout the whole curriculum. We provide opportunities and positive role models to allow children to develop independence and responsibility. We plan and implement our curriculum, which is challenging and inclusive to all, and are continually looking for ways to innovate and improve what we do.
The National Curriculum 2014 underpins the objectives of our curriculum. This is supported by assessment where objectives are tracked, and coverage ensured. The curriculum has been planned and mapped progressively throughout the Key Stage. Learning opportunities are planned to embed knowledge, skills and understanding across the curriculum.
We see learning as an ascending spiral with sufficient repetition to ensure that learning becomes embedded and secure. We know that children learn best when they are supported to make connections between the different areas of their learning building on prior knowledge. This approach makes the subjects more relevant and interesting for our pupils, some of whom have little experience of the world outside their immediate location.
We include valuable first-hand experiences to enrich the curriculum, with a wide range of activities taking place during lunchtime and after school to enhance pupil provision. We work hard to include the ‘wow’ factor to motivate and inspire our learners to prepare children for the world they live in today and for the future.
Our English curriculum is delivered through the use of quality texts to ensure high expectations are in place, it drives the objectives that need to be taught alongside the promotion of reading for pleasure and enjoyment.
Maths lessons promote the skills of discovery and mastery of learning. We place great emphasis on teaching using apparatus to move the learning from concrete to abstract and thus embedding the knowledge acquired.
All subjects are explicitly timetabled throughout the week. Topic themes are used to deliver cross-curricular knowledge and skills. Religious Education and PSHE are highly valued at Ashton St. Peter’s as we recognise the importance of developing the moral and social skills of our children with particular regard to their emotional health and wellbeing.
For the foundation subjects, our progression statements are used to help assess progress in lessons. The Leadership team and subject leads regularly monitor our classroom environments, books and pupil voice to ensure progress is evidenced.
Impact
Through the curriculum at Ashton St. Peter’s we strive to ensure that our children’s attainment in core and foundation subjects is in line with or exceeding their potential when we consider the starting points of our children. We measure this carefully using a range of materials, but always considering age related expectations. We intend that the impact is that children will be academically and physically prepared for life in their next school stage, in Modern Britain and the wider world.
We want our learners to become rounded characters with a clear understanding of complex values like integrity, positivity, trust and many others. From this they will develop a character that prepares them for living in the community demonstrating tolerance and equality. We measure this not just by the work our children produce, but in the behaviours we see each and every day in all learners on the playground, in corridors, and in the many roles we give them.
Our learners are guided by all staff on how to approach challenges every day. This could be on the playground, in a game or disagreement, or in class in a complex learning challenge. The impact should be that children don’t give up, are highly empowered to succeed, achieve at a high standard and are independent and nurturing.
Our learners will be motivated by a strong personal sense of morality. They will make decisions for the right reasons and in the best interests of their community. They will be able to decide what is right and what is wrong, and will be resilient to the influence of others.