• Curriculum Statement

Intent

At Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School, our bespoke, broad and balanced curriculum has been coherently planned and sequenced, to teach our children to know more, remember more and to understand more. We continually reflect upon and develop our curriculum offer, ensuring it delivers the best possible outcomes for all learners, within our context.

The intent of our school curriculum is about what leaders, including governors, intend pupils to learn. It is planned from the National Curriculum 2013, so that pupils remember crucial knowledge that has been taught previously. Early reading and the development of vocabulary are at the heart of OLOR’s curriculum. Teachers embed what pupils already know. Teachers know how new knowledge fits into a ‘bigger picture’ of learning, knowing more and remembering more.

Our curriculum is accessible to all learners and maximises the development of every child to ‘be the best they can be’. Our curriculum is successfully adapted, designed and developed for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Our curriculum clearly details what pupils will learn and is ambitious for all. Careful consideration has been given to the sequencing of knowledge and skills within each subject and from one year group to the next. Our Early Years Curriculum prepares pupils for Year 1. Prior curriculum content shapes ‘readiness’ for subsequent learning.

Subject leaders within OLOR recognise that the purpose of our school curriculum is for all children to engage in learning, so that they retain knowledge and maintain connections between what is taught. Children should know more, remember more and understand more.

Our Lady of the Rosary’s curriculum design grows the key skills of collaboration, independence, resilience, communication, leadership and enthusiasm so that children know how they learn. Our curriculum develops leadership skills and empowers pupils to use their knowledge and skills to make a positive difference within school, in the local community as well as nationally and globally. It prepares children for the world of work.

Implementation 

We plan using the National Curriculum 2013 and clearly identify the progression of skills and knowledge, both within subjects and from one year group to the next. Learning is built upon, so children know more and remember more.

Subject skills and knowledge progression grids are used to develop long-term planning, both within subjects and across year groups. Teachers use long-term planning to plan units of work and deliver individual lessons.

Our curriculum nurtures children’s learning behaviours and develops a curiosity towards the exploration of knowledge and skills. In all subjects, we recognise the importance of the methods and the practice of teaching (the pedagogy) we choose to use, in enabling pupils to know more, understand more and remember more.

Our curriculum is planned so children know how they learn best and use this knowledge in their day to day work. They demonstrate resilience in their learning and don’t give up when they find something difficult. Teachers and children have high aspirations for themselves and as a result of this, set themselves challenging next steps.

Teachers facilitate learning within lessons, quickly identifying any misconceptions and scaffolding learning appropriately so that all learners make at least good progress. Children develop fluency through practising skills across the curriculum, so that learning is embedded and built upon.

Impact

At Our Lady of the Rosary, the impact is measured using OLOR’s monitoring strategies. These include both formative and summative assessments.

Senior Leadership Team and Subject Leader learning walks and short drop-in sessions to classes are used to gather evidence and observe quality first teaching in lessons. Impact is also measured by talking to pupils about their learning as they share their books, detailing their progress within lessons and over time. Through such discussions, teachers explore how pupils know more and remember more.

Formal tracking records detailing attainment and progress are completed each term. Highlighted pupils will access additional sessions to enable them to make accelerated progress and address any gaps in learning. Discussions with classes at the end of a topic and a later periods take place, to check whether pupils know more and remember more, and evidence pupils have retained knowledge over time. Monitoring strategies look for evidence of how mathematics and English skills are applied across the curriculum.

Teachers use assessment to identify specific gaps in pupils’ prior knowledge and to check for fluency. Children have positive attitudes towards their learning which continue as they move to secondary school and adulthood, preparing them for the world of work.

Subject leaders monitor curriculum planning for their subject, ensuring that all classes are taught the full requirements of the National Curriculum, have opportunities to enhance their curiosity and are challenged in order to apply and deepen their learning.