Curriculum

Our Curriculum

Ofsted's message to schools: Be 'bold and courageous' with your curriculum

At St Joseph's, our pupils are encouraged to love the challenge of learning, and to develop resilience. Pupils work hard and take pride in all aspects of their learning, while also being provided with every resource necessary to make good progress in learning. We are proud of our teaching and learning and all members of school staff are determined to help our pupils to succeed. We focus on ensuring all our children have excellent skills and knowledge in our core subjects and stretch our learners in the wider curriculum, with creative experiences, sport and more. Every area of learning has been reviewed and staff continue to develop their teaching skills and subject knowledge. Our pupils are both nurtured and challenged.

Our curriculum is directed at teaching and encouraging skills for independent, life-long learning and reflects the ethos, aims and values of our school. Teachers plan learning through a series of subject-based units which are based on the National Curriculum and aimed to develop knowledge and skills which are progressive and aspirational.

We teach Geography, History, Art and Music, alongside our core subjects of RE, English, Mathematics and Science, in order to provide a broad and well-rounded curriculum for the children. Where appropriate, subjects are linked to ensure children are able to locate their learning within a time and place. However, clear subject-specific knowledge and skills are the focus of each lesson.

We also build in curriculum enrichment weeks, where we focus on one aspect of learning or subject area, for example "World Faiths Week" in which each class carried out an in-depth study of a world religion and shared their learning with the rest of the school. Parents are our partners in education and we regularly welcome parents into school to share experiences or participate in learning.

We place a strong emphasis on developing creativity in all areas of our broad and rich curriculum, and prioritise independence in learning to encourage the children to make their own choices, as well as supporting each other. Our pupils are excited by education and are able to develop a wide range of skills which they will be able to carry with them throughout life.

Our approach to learning and teaching Mathematics and English is structured and well-planned. We teach English and Maths every day in the morning, where we focus on core skills such as mental arithmetic, phonics and spelling in order to enable all children to develop fluency in these areas.

Want to know more about our curriculum? Additional detail is contained on each curriculum subject pages in our 'Curriculum Overview' section. Long term, medium term plans and topic information are available, with information to keep you up-to-date with what your child is learning, to help you support them at home.

Our curriculum is adapted to ensure accessibility for all children, including children with special educational needs and disabilities. See our SEND page for more information about our offer for children with SEND.