Our School’s Curriculum

What do the Key Stages mean?

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)               Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6)

What does the curriculum look like for pupils?

MISSION STATEMENT

We will prepare the children at St. Michael’s school for life, by giving them the opportunity to fulfil their potential within a happy caring Christian environment, where every individual is valued.

Teaching especially learning is at the heart of this happy caring Christian Community.

Each member of our school community:

• Is committed to high standards for all
• Is committed to meeting the needs of pupils as unique individuals
• Is committed to teamwork, each stakeholder using their gifts and talents to build up the community as a whole.
• Is committed to ongoing staff development and learning
• Is committed to improve

We believe in offering as many enriching educational and life experiences for our pupils in order to develop their social, moral, cultural and spiritual development.

“I have come that everyone may have life and have to the full” John 10.10

Our Mission Statement sums up this school’s endeavour to treat every family and child as an individual. We use tests to pinpoint the starting points for learning and offer interventions and focused teaching sessions for any child who struggles to meet age related expectations. All children follow a broad and balanced curriculum, and staff are continually looking for new and exciting opportunities to widen their learning experiences, capturing their interests and making each day challenging and engaging.

 

We have three outdoor learning days in autumn, spring and summer, which cover applied science, art, and engagement with our school environment as an inspiration for learning. All pupils are given equal access to our curriculum. 

Teaching the basic skills of literacy and numeracy is our first priority. Once these are secure, we encourage pupils to use these skills independently in all aspects of school life. For example, pupils lead meetings, take on leadership roles and liaise with the wider community on a daily basis.

The children are encouraged to work individually, in a group or as a whole class. Co-operative teaching and learning styles are used. We believe that a good attitude to work, careful presentation and consistent effort are important for children to achieve their targets. We value the importance of parents’ involvement and the impact it has on their child’s learning and endeavour to form close working relationships.

Assessment

We have a robust assessment programme. The children sit statutory SATs in KS1 and KS2. The children take a phonics screening check at the end of Year One and a Timetable screening check at the end of Year Four.

In KS1 and KS2 we complete standardised NFER tests each term to assess a child’s progress against age related standards. 100 is at National average, any child below 80 is identified and a discussion around learning barriers will be discussed with parents. Certain interventions on a short-term basis are used to close the gap for children who score 80 – 95. Results are shared at parents evenings and on the end of year written reports.

How are the subjects taught?

As a church school, RE is taught discretely once a week. 60% is based around the Christian Faiths and 40% on other faiths.

The core subjects Maths and English are taught in the morning. We use Power maths and Grammasurus as the basis for teaching. Geography , History and Science are taught discretely . The Arts are used to enhance the curriculum and may link with topics in geography or history. Science may be taught weekly or in blocks..

School Educational Visits

Staff are advised to plan around two trips a year. One more expensive trip up to £25.00 and a less expensive trip to support topic work. This is to keep costs manageable for the majority of families. The trips are funded from your voluntary donations, pupil premium children’s costs are covered by the pupil premium funding from the government.

SCHOOL FUND

Following a parent survey, parents expressed that they preferred to donate a termly contribution of £10 per child into school fund, rather than have fundraisers in fairs, raffles and sponsored events.  School fund is used for visiting theatres, enhancements on the Seasonal days, Lego and maths puzzle days. The costs of these are usually £1000 per day attended by the organisation running the event so parental contributions are appreciated to create lifetime experiences for the children beyond statutory provision.