What do our children learn?
On this page are overviews of what the children learn in each year group.
Curriculum Intent
All children (regardless of any perceived differences) achieve their personal best, so they are academically, spiritually, physically, morally, socially and culturally prepared for education after St. Christopher’s – and ultimately life in modern Britain, as part of God’s creation – The Earth.
The curriculum at St. Christopher’s has four principal drivers:
- Aspirational and resilient.
- Wonder and awe of the world.
- Community and Culture.
- Healthy bodies, healthy minds.
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How do our children learn? How are they taught?
Curriculum Implementation
All children receive a curriculum which is rooted in the National Curriculum in England and the Catholic Religious Education Curriculum Directory. It is also linked to Catholic Social Teaching and Fundamental British Values.
The ability to read is the key to learning in most subject areas, so the highest priority is given to teaching children to read fluently and independently, using systematic synthetic phonics.
Children learn to read. Then they read to learn.
The school has selected schemes of work which steadily build progression year-on-year, so that children progressively know more and are able to do more – with confidence and fluency.
Materials, schemes and activities are also selected which are representative of the diverse population of the UK, which is not necessarily represented by the school’s current population.
The timetable is organised so that there is balanced and equitable (but not equal) time given to the teaching and learning of each subject. To avoid ‘light touch’ shallow learning, History and Geography alternate on a half-termly basis so that there are two lessons per week – the same is the case for Art and Design Technology. This is designed to give the children more time and opportunity for deeper thinking in these subjects.
In lessons, new learning is linked to existing knowledge to build a mental schema and to assist long term retention. Lessons are constructed and teaching is adapted where necessary to meet the needs of the children in order for them to aquire and remember new knowledge and skills, without being cognitively overloaded. Regular low-stakes assessment enables learning gaps to be identified and addressed in good time.
Adaptive teaching and Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Adaptive teaching strategies are used to ensure that all pupils can access learning and remain in the classroom as much as possible. Lessons are carefully planned and scaffolded to ensure that all pupils will be able to achieve the shared learning objective at their own level. Children with the greatest need, for example those with Special Educational Needs (SEN), will be given more in lesson support. This will include: more quality teaching and learning time with the class teacher; activities being broken down into smaller, more manageable steps; a higher level of personalised scaffolding in activities. It is our goal for all learners to be able to achieve the learning objective successfully in every lesson. Through adaptive teaching we aim to foster independence, resilience and self-confidence for every child.
Click here to see our Curriculum Drivers
