When we reviewed our curriculum (February 2022) we knew that there were three key questions that we needed to address:
At St Augustine’s we aim, through our curriculum, to maximise every child’s academic and universal potential, so that they develop deep understanding and extensive knowledge so they are prepared for life in 21st Century. We will ensure that they have the skills to apply the knowledge they have acquired, to be curious, succeed and be valued. We want our children to have a secure understanding of a wide vocabulary and be able to communicate this confidently.
Furthermore, we want to ensure that our children at St Augustine’s, from the youngest in Nursery to the oldest in Year 6 are recognised for 2 vital things:
(Ron Berger-Ethic of Excellence 2003)
At St Augustine’s, excellence is the minimum expectation for all.
The quality of our children’s character is underpinned by an explicit focus on our seven gospel values:
Our curriculum aims to develop these key values, provide opportunities for our children to readily display them, ensure they underpin all we do as a school community and are key elements of our identity. Furthermore, our curriculum aims to:
Through high quality teaching, adopting Rosenshine’s Principles in all lessons, we aim to ensure that all our children, regardless of background or original starting points, feel that St Augustine’s is a place where equality thrives, barriers to learning are removed and where every child has equal opportunities.
We aim to ensure that all of our children develop curiosity, creativity and confidence in their learning nurtured by a strong sense of the gospel values. As they leave St Augustine’s we want to ensure that they are fully prepared for the next stage in their learning, with the fundamental key skills, knowledge and core values embedded in order to make a valuable contribution to society.
At St Augustine’s our curriculum is carefully sequenced to build upon prior knowledge, enabling children to acquire new knowledge in a progressive manner and apply this through developing key skills. We provide opportunities in every lesson to demonstrate our gospel values through the teaching and learning styles used. To ensure this is effectively implemented, it ultimately comes down to consistently good teaching. In order for this to be achieved, we introduced Rosenshine’s Principles (September 2021).
All staff have high expectations for every child. There is an expectation of full participation and engagement from all pupils in order for them to know more and remember more in every lesson. We are an inclusive school and our high expectations of attainment and achievement are applied equally to all children including those children who have been identified as having special educational needs. We provide challenge and support for all pupils in all lessons enabling them to access learning through careful differentiation, skilled intervention between adults and children and the use of a variety of questioning types.
We know that effective teaching and curriculum implementation depends on the Rosenshine’s Principles and practices, these include:
Our curriculum is delivered in such a way that all children are provided with exciting ways to engage.
We implement the following approaches:
At St Augustine’s we know the importance of effective assessment in supporting quality first teaching and learning.
We effectively use:
At St Augustine’s, we know that the impact of our curriculum can be measured by assessment outcomes and how these compare with schools nationally, these assessments include:
The % of children achieving a Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
The % of children achieving at least the pass mark in the phonics screening check in Year 1
The % of children at the end of KS1 (Y2) who are working at the expected standard and at greater depth in reading, writing and maths.
The % of children achieving at least the pass mark in the multiplication check in Year 4
The % of children at the end of Key Stage 2 (Y6) who are working at the expected standard and at greater depth in reading, writing, maths and grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Our Catholic ethos underpins every child’s academic, personal, social, emotional, physical, mental and spiritual growth. Our beliefs, attitudes and values are present in every lesson, liturgies, assemblies, in and out of classrooms and the interaction between all in the school community. It is modelled by all adults in the way we communicate, behave and show care, compassion and forgiveness for each other and our neighbours around the world. We inspire our children to be followers of Christ, live out his teachings, show care for God’s world, each other and the most vulnerable in society. We aim for our children to develop a lifelong relationship with God and in doing so become global citizens respecting and celebrating differences, showing tolerance in knowing everyone is created in the image of God, as a child of God.
