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How We Implement Our Curriculum

The National Curriculum lies at the heart of what is taught at St.John’s. It sets out a clear, full and statutory entitlement to learning for all children aged five to eleven and determines the content of what will be taught. It is preceded by the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum which is taught to children aged three to five

Both are designed to:

  • be broad and balanced
  • promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, intellectual and physical development of children
  • prepare children for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
  • Help learners to understand their roles within their school, local and the global community
  • Ensure that all learners have an opportunity to celebrate their own achievements and those of others, this enabling ‘life in all its fullness’

The curriculum at St. John’s is not static and is subject to ongoing development in order to enhance the delivery to our children and remove potential barriers to learning. The current National Curriculum is divided into Core and Foundation subjects and is taught to children in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

The Core Curriculum subjects are:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Religious Education
  • Science
  • Computing

The foundation subjects are:

  • History
  • Geography
  • Modern Foreign Languages
  • Music
  • Art, Design and Technology
  • Physical Education
  • Citizenship and Personal Social and Health Education.

Each subject has a programme of study which specifies the knowledge, skills and concepts that the children will be expected to acquire as they progress through both primary and secondary school. There will be times when these subjects are best taught discretely and systematically, and other times when they will be taught in a cross-curricular way enabling the children to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding in a broader sense. 

In order to ensure that our curriculum offer is of high quality and has strong impacts on all learners, we work to ensure that the elements below shape the leadership of each curriculum area:

Subject Leadership

All leaders at the school work hard to ensure that their specific curriculum leadership, helps to secure a strong offer for pupils across the school. Subject leaders are accountable for ensuring that their curriculum areas offer a strong and engaging experience for our children. They are also responsible for ensuring curriculum progression through the School (breadth and depth). This ensures that specific skills get more challenging as pupils move through the school. We want our curriculum to be delivered in such a way that it is inclusive to all children at the school, regardless of starting point.

Subject Knowledge

We want our practitioners to be strong in their delivery across the curriculum and invest in their professional development. Where appropriate, we work with subject specialists who help to deliver our curriculum offer through team teaching or bespoke delivery.

Assessment Opportunities

We work hard at the school to develop relevant assessment opportunities for our pupils. This enables us to check that learning is pitched appropriately and informs future planning. We want assessment to be meaningful at St. John’s and look to ensure that the children play a key role in this process.