Our Curriculum
To be the best we can be!
At St. Andrew’s we believe that the personal development of pupils; spiritually, morally, socially and culturally plays a significant part in their ability to learn and achieve.
Our curriculum intends to develop the ‘whole’ child. We aim to ensure our children feel equal, unique, and valued through mutual respect and acts of kindness towards each other and the community around us. Children are taught a creative and challenging curriculum that engages and enlightens them, developing a clear sense of hope and determination.
Our school values of Hope, Kindness, Respect and Determination support our children in becoming courageous and determined learners – able to take risks, make mistakes and develop resilience. Our children are encouraged to reach their potential whilst enjoying their childhood at primary school. They leave us ready to face the challenges of the wider world.
Our school offers a broad, balanced and curriculum, hoping to meet the needs, interests and abilities of all children through topic-based learning. We do our upmost to maximise success by giving them the best teaching and learning experiences. Our breadth of study are the topics; the threshold concepts are the ‘big ideas’ or areas of study and the milestones are goals that we want our children to reach.
We build on our children’s prior learning by focusing on knowledge categories which are seen within every topic. Through implementing engaging and exciting topics, such as: Outrageous Outback, Sensational Safari, Rainforests, Invasion, Urban Pioneers, A Child’s War, Riotous Royals and Take One Picture; children can explore the wider world. At St. Andrew’s, we aim to increase children’s cultural capital through educational experiences including extra-curricular activities, high-quality visitors and theme days.
Our intention is that our children understand how they fit into their local community and the diversity within the wider world. We are blessed to have a local environment rich in history and nature that enables our children to explore and understand where they live. We implement this through historical and geographical studies, alongside regular visits to Forest Schools.
Staff play an important part in the success of the curriculum by monitoring, evaluating and considering its impact. Subjects are planned to ensure progression of knowledge and skills throughout our pupils’ primary education. Key vocabulary is taught progressively and re-visited at regular intervals. The curriculum design ensures that the needs of individual and small groups of children can be met within the environment of high-quality teaching.
Our Christian ethos underpins everything that we do – ensuring that our children become respectful, kind, hopeful and determined young adults. We implement our Christian ethos from the beginnings of school life through our engaging RE curriculum and regular visits to our local church, ensuring children have spiritual awareness and leave as well-rounded individuals ready to take on the world.
