Curriculum

Curriculum

At St. Martin’s School and Nursery, we have a curriculum that prepares pupils for the educational expectations of life beyond school, as well as providing experiences that help pupils engage with the wider world. 

Our core subjects of Maths and English are taught through an accelerated learning programme that ensures pupils have covered the full national curriculum and necessary 11+ skills by the end of Form 5 in order to be fully prepared for entry examinations in the September of Form 6. Our foundation subjects ensure a broad and balanced curriculum, developing a deep understanding of the world whilst reflecting the desire to instil the value of community and positive human relationships in our children.

In Nursery and Reception, we use the Statutory Framework for the EYFS. In KS1-2, we teach all subjects from the programmes of study outlined in the statutory 2014 National Curriculum. These include English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, Computing, PE, Modern Foreign Languages (French), RE, Art, Design Technology, Music and RSHE (incorporating PSHE) plus Latin in Upper Key Stage 2.

The curriculum is based on a theme and high quality core texts each half term, through which children will have the opportunity to develop a love of literature, core subject skills, knowledge and skills in foundation subjects and understanding of their local community and the wider world. Teachers use their year group Curriculum Overview to plan learning relevant to their current class. This provides a context for learning in the form of a core text, a selection of which, you can see below:

Each Core Text has been carefully selected in order to reflect our children and the knowledge and learning that they enjoy, as well as giving them a range of key vocabulary linked to core and foundation subjects. Within the foundation subjects, learning areas are planned to ensure full coverage, support development of knowledge and skills through understanding learning processes and offer open ended projects that could be taken in a variety of directions by the our learners.

We believe in an ‘all inclusive’ curriculum: everything that happens in school reflects our school values, British values and awareness that we are part of a wider global community and as such, opportunities to teach these aspects are carefully mapped on the overviews. We also place emphasis on creating memorable experiences within every topic taught, with a visitor, school trip or event supporting each half term’s learning. Furthermore, we recognise the value of residential experiences which we build from Reception and Form 1 who have an evening of bedtime stories, Form 2 who enjoy a school sleepover, Form 3 who have a night away, Form 4 who spend 2 nights away, Form 5 who have a camping experience and this culminates in Form 6 having a full week away which they are able to fully benefit from as a result of this preparation.

We place great importance on the curriculum overviews in ensuring children are taught the appropriate knowledge, skills and processes required to be adept at learning. However, perhaps even more importantly than what we teach, is how we teach.