Intent

At Leyland St James’ CE Primary School, we aim to provide a literacy-rich and diverse curriculum that is broad and balanced. Our Christian vision and values are at the core of our curriculum and underpins all aspects of school life at Leyland St James’. We aim for our curriculum to be highly engaging; for it to inspire all learners and to motivate our pupils, thereby building resilience inside and outside of the classroom.

Our curriculum is designed to deepen knowledge and understanding whilst developing skills to ensure effective progression within all year groups. The curriculum is built on memorable experiences as it builds sequentially on previous knowledge. We aim for our curriculum to enable children to learn more and remember more.

We have instilled four curriculum drivers which we believe will develop our children as they move through the key stages. Our curriculum drivers are:

Emotional Health and Wellbeing – Prioritising the mental and physical health of pupils.

Diversity - Providing opportunities for children to be inspired by people from a range of cultures, backgrounds, religions and communities.

Environment – Understanding the importance of local, national and global environment issues.

Possibilities – Allow children to dream big –to build aspirations and gain an understanding of how they may succeed in what they aspire to achieve by making explicit links in learning to possible future careers

Implementation

At St Leyland St James’, we implement an inclusive curriculum that meets the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and National Curriculum. It focuses on providing high quality learning experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. Our curriculum has been developed to provide reading based and cross- curricular opportunities whilst continually building on prior learning. Mathematics teaching is underpinned by fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Learning outcomes and a progression of skills drive the curriculum and are revisited from Reception through to Year 6.

In EYFS we implement an inclusive curriculum which incorporates the development matters framework and the children’s own interests. Through stories, role play and continuous provision both inside and out, the children access all seven areas of the curriculum with the enhancements being linked to children’s individual needs. Half termly topics are planned for with times of the year, seasons, celebrations and special days all taken into consideration. The three prime areas of the EYFS curriculum are at the heart of what we deliver due to the vital role they have on child development.

Children are taught from the earliest of ages to become fluent and confident readers who are passionate about reading. We use Little Wandle, Letters and Sounds which is a synthetic and systematic approach to teach early reading. This is a daily routine of bespoke phonics which ensures all children are able to access the whole curriculum in order to reach their full potential and become independent life-long learners.

When delivering the foundation subjects, teachers ensure that there are regular opportunities planned for children to further develop their reading and writing skills, ensuring that expectations of pupils are consistent across the curriculum.  Vocabulary is fundamental to all teaching and learning and it has been carefully developed and distributed to be progressive and purposeful whilst linking directly to our learning objectives. 

Our curriculum develops the long term memory of our children by providing engaging experiences, building sequentially on age-appropriate knowledge and by revisiting previous learning.The curriculum is delivered through effective high quality teaching; knowledge and skills are assessed using both summative and quantitive approaches.

The curriculum provides opportunities for inspirational visitors ‘wow days’ and engaging educational visits to deepen children’s knowledge through first-hand experiences. We provide opportunities for children to engage in Extra-Curricular clubs and competitions in a range of different sports.

Our curriculum promotes children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, ensuring that they are responsible citizens who promote the fundamental British Values through their daily actions.

Impact

Our curriculum is designed to that children leave Leyland St James’ CE Primary School knowledgeable, skilled and independent learners who achieve well.

Through the breadth and depth that our curriculum offers, every child learns to their full potential regardless of gender, ethnic origin, disability or additional need and religion. Our curriculum enables children to become well-rounded, confident and resilient learners who are well-equipped for the future.