Curriculum Statement
Curriculum intent
At St. Bartholomew’s School we offer a broad, balanced and creative curriculum for our children. Through the core Christian values (courage, compassion, perseverance, respect, friendship and truthfulness), it is our intent to support the development of independent learners, who can work collaboratively with others, sustain and develop their ideas, who are resilient and able to reflect and adapt when required.
Our curriculum puts the child at the centre of our caring, nurturing, achieving school, where positive relationships, based on mutual trust and respect are at the heart of everything we do. Our ambitious curriculum has been designed to take account of the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and the Primary National Curriculum. It exposes our children to enriching experiences, immersing them in progressive, sequenced knowledge and skills; equipping them with personal characteristics required to succeed in life. Art, PE, music and the physical development are pivotal to our curriculum delivery and ensure that our children are immersed in vibrant experiences, allowing each of them to express themselves as an individual.
The key principles behind the design of our curriculum are for our children to:
· provide an exciting range of opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge in all areas.
· support children to develop resilience, independence and confidence so they can be the best they can – experiencing success along the way.
· encourage children to feel part of an inclusive community, where they make friends and learn how to have a healthy body and mind.
· ensure children leave us feeling ready for the wider world and the future with a lifelong love of learning.
Curriculum Implementation
Children are expected to work hard and demonstrate positive learning behaviours to both maximise their own individual learning potential as well as contribute to the school and wider community. Our House System allows us to reward the behaviours we strive to develop. We have high expectations of attendance, academic achievement and pupil behaviour. We are committed to working in partnership with parents as we believe that when home and school work closely together we get the best outcomes for our pupils.
PSHE lies at the heart of the curriculum we deliver to closely meet the needs of our pupils. We carefully chose our PSHE scheme to meet the needs of our children. SCARF's whole-school approach supports primary schools in promoting positive behaviour, mental health, wellbeing, resilience and achievement. Our pupils have access to a wide range of opportunities which promote personal safety and pupil voice with all children being actively involved in whole school decision making through the School Council and many positions of responsibility. Our curriculum recognises the importance of pupils’ physical and mental well-being in shaping their long term life-style choices.
We believe that our fundamental task is to teach our children to speak clearly and articulately and to read and write effectively. Reading across all curriculum areas is a priority to extend and deepen pupils understanding and use of vocabulary. We want pupils to develop a love of reading during their time at St Bart’s and be exposed to a range of classic and contemporary literature. The use of the school library and class shared texts are pivotal to this. In order to raise aspirations and equip children with a real belief that they can achieve anything if they are prepared to work hard, it is imperative that we prioritise experiential learning within our curriculum. Visitors are regularly invited into school, educational and residential visits are carefully chosen to deepen understanding and we make the most of our beautiful outdoor learning environment to enhance hands-on learning experiences.
What does your child learn at school each day? Find information about our curriculum subjects here.
If you would like to find out more about the curriculum please look under the subject title heading. Alternatively please make an appointment with your child's class teacher who will talk you through the curriculum. For more information on our SEN provision please link through to our SEND page: https://www.stbarts.herts.sch.uk/send/
You can also find the National Curriculum on the DfE website if you click on the following link:
• https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum