School Mission, Vision and Intent

Mission Statement

Our Lady & St John's Catholic Primary:

• Prides itself on teaching and delivering a curriculum through the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ;
• Provides a safe, friendly and nurturing learning environment;
• Is a school where every individual is welcome and respected; 
• Encourages, celebrates and values individual talents and abilities; 
• Is proud of its sensitive and active partnership between school, home and Parish, and the wider community.

Intent Statement

‘Our expectations for our school and our pupils is limitless’

Our school curriculum is bespoke and primarily designed to nurture the spiritual, intellectual and physical growth of each pupil through an holistic approach which takes into account the needs of every child. The School recognises the dignity of every human person because every child is unique and made in the image of God and fosters an awareness of the world's poor. Equality of opportunity for every person is paramount and prevents all forms of discrimination on grounds of colour, gender, race, social class or ability. Therefore, we value each pupil’s individuality and it is our mission to enable each one of them to reach their full potential through the pursuit of excellence in everything we do for them and everything we teach them. At the same time, we continually strive for outstanding education for all of our pupils. We want every pupil to achieve well academically so that they have the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to become literate, numerate and problem solvers. Our school curriculum is designed to meet the national curriculum through content that is pertinent to their lives and our local context. We take every available opportunity to improve our children’s cultural capital and instill British values and the Catholic virtues, with a particular focus on justice, respect, compassion and empathy. We strive to improve our children’s understanding of the importance of spirituality in themselves, building on their personal morality, engaging in the culture they live in and understanding as well as respecting the culture of others. Developing the holistic values that will prepare them for life in the modern world in a diverse and ever changing community are at the forefront of the curriculum design.

Our Curriculum Rationale

When designing our curriculum we took a number of key factors into consideration, these include:

● The needs of our local area

● Teaching a broad and balanced curriculum

● Our attainment results 

● What was needed to support out learners to become effective contributors, responsible citizens, successful learners and confident individuals

Implementation

We have designed a highly ambitious curriculum with a clear purpose that encourages a love of learning where children have opportunities to lead their own learning and learn new knowledge from expert teachers. The quality of teaching and learning is never less than good and often outstanding. All classroom environments show evidence of outstanding learning over time.

Our curriculum is creative and imaginative whilst encouraging children to become confident, successful learners. We ensure that learning is bespoke to the needs of our learners and demonstrates a strong understanding about specific skills and knowledge needed to succeed in life.

Opportunities to develop language and communication are key and are embedded throughout the curriculum, promoting the use of accurate and rich cross-curricular vocabulary which is carefully planned for in all subjects. Pre-teaching interventions further allow children to develop the vocabulary and validate their knowledge. Within our wider curriculum, activities are planned which promote resilience and a growth mindset, so that you will see pupils persevering with challenges.

Subject leaders work diligently to ensure that there is clear progression and that the topics taught allow for opportunities for children to develop a depth and wealth of knowledge. Progression maps for each subject identify the knowledge, skills, understanding and vocabulary that children need to master each subject. Opportunities to further enhance children’s cultural capital are added to curriculum plans to hook, extend and enable a richer, first-hand experience of the curriculum content. Our teaching provides a variety of techniques and styles, reflecting school policy and the pace of learning reflects the needs of the child.

We recognise the importance of assessment in informing planning, next steps for learning and ensuring continuity, progression and differentiation of work throughout each Key Stage. In working in partnership with colleagues, parents, our parish and the wider community, we believe that this will enhance the children’s learning for life. Our bespoke curriculum is enriched by the resources available to teachers to enhance learning. School visits, themed days, visitors and workshops are used to enhance our curriculum. Our teaching assistants are highly trained and deliver a number of specific interventions to ensure SEND, disadvantaged and the bottom 20% of pupils access the curriculum and make sustained progress.