Core Subjects
Core Subjects at St Christopher’s
At St Christopher’s we strive to have a curriculum that fulfils the academic requirements and needs of our children but one that also engages and encourages further learning.
Our curriculum is underpinned by our ICE Superheroes which develop learning skills in our children encouraging them to be independent, communicators and enquirers.
We meet all the requirements of the National Curriculum (please see the link below) teaching:
- Religious Education
- English
- Maths
- Science
- History
- Geography
- Design Technology
- Physical Education
- Computing
- Art
- French
- Music
- Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE)
Core Subjects at St Christopher’s
Religious Education We follow the Religious Education Curriculum “The Way, The Truth, The Life” which teaches children about the Catholic faith – the beliefs, celebrations, rituals and the way of life for Catholics; children also learn from the Catholic faith about their own beliefs and values, and how to question what happens in their own lives and the lives of others, in light of what they have learned. Each half term we produce a newsletter to let parents know what we will be learning in religious Education. This can be found on the website at Our Curriculum – RE Newsletters. Parents are informed of their child’s progress in RE on a termly basis.
English and Maths – A high focus is put on the teaching of reading, speaking and listening, writing and mathematics. These are taught creatively and in steps that both support children’s learning and promote challenge. Homework is given regularly in these subjects.
Reading We aspire for each child to become an INDEPENDENT READER. They are engaged and challenged, building upon prior learning so they can read with understanding, fluency and flair. They have a love of reading that they will take on through their lives.
We aspire for each child to be able to CONFIDENTLY COMMUNICATE about how they learn to read. Thinking, explaining and questioning what they read.
We aspire for each child to be READING ENQUIRERS. Children that can ENQUIRE about texts that engage them in the love of reading.
Early Reading – To develop their phonics skills children are taught to listen to the sounds in words, recognise individual letters and begin to blend these letters together in Reception. We have recently introduced Rocket Phonics, which is a validated scheme. Our reading books match the work that is being done in class so that parents can support at home. We use a variety of reading schemes – such as Oxford Reading Tree, Big Cat Collins and Phonics Bug. We have Information Evenings for Parents to help them support their child with Early Reading.
Developing Reading – Throughout the school, the children read creative and exciting stories linked to our wider curriculum. These are used to teach grammar and reading skills creatively. All classes use our Reading Vipers – further information can be found here.
Developing Writing We aspire for each child to become an INDEPENDENT WRITER. They are engaged and challenged, building upon prior learning so they can write with understanding, consistency and flair. They have a love of writing that they will take on through their lives.
We aspire for each child to be able to CONFIDENTLY COMMUNICATE through their writing. Thinking, explaining and questioning what they write. They will be able to apply these skills to all areas in the future.
We aspire for each child to be WRITING ENQUIRERS. Developing their curiosity and making connections in their understanding through what they read and write. We immerse our children in good quality texts/examples to shape our learning. Our writing Learning Journey involves links to the wider curriculum and focused teaching of grammar. This is taught through high quality texts.
Maths
We aspire for each child to become an INDEPENDENT MATHEMATICIAN. They are engaged and challenged, building upon prior learning so they can understand key concepts and vocabulary and work mathematically with confidence. They have a love of maths that they will take on through their lives.
We aspire for each child to be able to CONFIDENTLY COMMUNICATE through their mathematics work. Developing fluency, problem solving and reasoning skills which they will be able to apply to all areas in the future.
We aspire for each child to be confident MATHEMATICAL ENQUIRERS. Developing their curiosity and making connections in their mathematical understanding by what they learn,
In Reception and Key Stage 1 there is a strong emphasis on developing mental Maths skills, problem solving skills and calculation. In class children are encouraged to work in a practical way with numbers, number operations, shape, space, measures and data The children are expected to learn a progression of facts and parents are able to support us with this by playing fun games that we send home as part of our homework policy. We also use Numbots to develop recall and fluency of these skills.
In Key Stage 2 the focus begins to turn to the written form of Maths. We focus not only on the mathematical methods but also focus on mathematical vocabulary and to use Maths Mastery to broaden and deepen mathematical understanding. We have a clear calculation policy, developed by the school, to ensure children build up the steps needed to progress in each area – addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. We also develop the children’s times’ tables knowledge using Rock Stars.
To help parents support their children with Maths we have developed calculation videos. These are on our website under Our Curriculum/ Help with Maths Calculation
Science
We aspire for each child to become an INDEPENDENT SCIENTIST. They are engaged and challenged, building upon prior learning so they can understand key concepts and vocabulary and work scientifically with confidence. They have a love of science that they will take on through their lives.
We aspire for each child to be able to CONFIDENTLY COMMUNICATE through their science work. Thinking, explaining and questioning about what they observe, research or find out through investigations. They will be able to apply these skills to all areas in the future.
We aspire for each child to be confident SCIENCE ENQUIRERS. Developing their curiosity and making connections in their understanding by what they learn, understand, observe, test and research. We want children to enquire into current and past scientific learning and its implications for the wider world.
Science is taught in a hands on practical way, it is contextual and relevant with real links to the children’s everyday lives. We develop children’s scientific enquiry skills through ‘FRIOP’ – Fair testing, Research, Identifying and Classifying, Observation and Observation over Time and Pattern Seeking. These enquiry skills are woven through each lesson and made explicit to the children so they understand how to be effective ‘scientists’. Vocabulary plays a very important part in the children’s learning in science, making sure we teach explicitly the new vocabulary and ensure the children can use the words in appropriate contexts.
Wherever possible, we link the science teaching to literacy and match texts to support the learning in science. We also like to encourage the science to be open ended, encouraging the children to ask questions about natural phenomena.
Further information about all subjects can be found on the year group page, under Our Curriculum.
More information about the National primary Curriculum and the Foundation Stage Curriculum can be found here.