Curriculum Statement

At St Francis, our curriculum takes into account the needs of different groups, including the most able and pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. We provide an inclusive curriculum that offers challenge and success in fair measure to all children.

Curriculum Intent: (Sequence and Sense Making)

We are creating an ambitious curriculum where children ‘know more and remember more.’ They are able to use and apply the knowledge, skills and learning acquired over time to make connections, ask questions and build understanding, making sense of the world around them.

When planning our curriculum, we recognise the very wide social and economic backgrounds of our families, therefore there is a sharp focus on the principles of scope and adaptation, coherence, rigour and clear sequencing.

Scope and adaptation:

The St Francis de Sales curriculum has been devised to provide a meaningful and well-adapted curriculum which enables our children to see themselves reflected in it and to also learn about cultures, beliefs and places that they may not have come across before. Our curriculum caters for the needs of all of our pupils taking into consideration their developmental needs both academically and socially. Such an approach will allow us to ensure progress for all pupils – especially those who may have one (or many) barriers to learning.

Our design of the curriculum takes into account the 20% of pupils who may have barriers to learning due to;

• Identified special educational needs
• Speech and language & social communication difficulties
• Social, emotional and mental health issues
• Broken family structures
• Low parental engagement/parenting skills
• Social housing (e.g. overcrowding)
• Social services involvement
• Low attendance

As a result, our curriculum is designed to reinforce and revisit the basic skills our children require, while offering rich and engaging experiences.

Coherence:

The curriculum is logically organised and contains explicit vertical, horizontal and diagonal connections across subjects, year groups and key stages. Learning experiences build on from each other, focusing on activating prior knowledge to build pupils schema and embedding new information.

Rigour:

Long and medium-term planning ensures that the curriculum is rigorous in its content and outcomes. Substantive (established facts) and disciplinary (methods of working) knowledge are planned for in equal measure, alongside the use of semantic knowledge (facts that pupils need to understand) and procedural knowledge (things they need proficiency in).

Clear sequencing:

The curriculum is the progression model for knowledge and skills. At St Francis, our curriculum has been carefully mapped and sequenced to ensure that learning is reinforced and happens over time through repetition and revisiting, enabling pupils to build their understanding of larger concepts.

Cultural Capital:

Ofsted define cultural capital as ‘the essential knowledge that pupils need to be educated citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said and helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement’ (DfE, 2014 p.5)

We provide a range of experiences and opportunities for our children throughout the curriculum, however it is important to note that cultural capital cannot be developed through merely experiencing something. Chris Quigley defines it as valuable subject specific knowledge (Quigley 2022), therefore the intent of our curriculum clearly displays the teaching of this knowledge through a variety of different mediums, which is further enhanced by additional opportunities. 

Curriculum Implementation: (Learning Reification)

In lessons you will see a variety of evidence-based strategies being used to ensure that over a period of time children ‘know more and remember more.’

These strategies include:

• The St Francis ‘lesson structure’ based on Rosenshine’s Principles: 

•  WalkThrus with a particular focus on:
  • Cold calling
  • Probing Questions
  • Process Questions
  • Say it again better
  • Feedback that moves forward
  • Checking for Understanding

• Thinking Maps to enable children to build their critical thinking, problem solving, comprehensions and communication skills
• Emphasis on vocabulary
• Adaptive teaching:
  • Dual Coding
  • Scaffolds & models
  • Word banks
  • Practical resources
  • Quizzes
• Opportunities for revisiting, re-learning and retrieval practice
• Metacognition and Self Regulation
• Feedback that develops Growth Mindset

Throughout the curriculum we provide a variety of enrichment opportunities that exceed the expectations of the National Curriculum. During the school year, children will take part in Book Week, STEAM Week, Safer Internet Day, Anti-Bullying Week, Autism Awareness Week and Deaf Awareness Week as well as partaking in a number of off-site visits including galleries, museums, theatres and farms. Termly curriculum newsletters are sent to parents to inform them of their child’s learning and suggest ways in which they can further support their child at home.

Curriculum Impact:

At St Francis de Sales, we measure the impact of our highly ambitious curriculum through the following methods:

Academic Success:

• The success of children in end of term assessments and in standardised tests in year 6
• From their different starting points, make good academic progress and have strong attainment in the core subjects when compared to local and national results.
• Have knowledge, understanding and skills that is secure and embedded so they are fully prepared for secondary school, further education and the world of work.
• Have strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and will listen respectfully and with tolerance to the views of others.
• Children are able to verbalise and justify their reasons, views and opinions utilising the knowledge they have acquired.

Personal Development:

• Demonstrate emotional resilience and the ability to persevere when they encounter challenge.
• Develop a sense of self-awareness and become confident in their own abilities creatively, socially and physically.
• Be kind, respectful and honest, demonstrate inclusive attitudes and have a sense of their role in our Catholic community and the wider society.
• Taking pride in all that they do, always striving to do their best.

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