Our Curriculum

Through our Christian Faith, we acknowledge our responsibility to all, to enrich lives and show love and respect within our school family. We believe in lifelong learning aiming to equip our children to live life today and for tomorrow.  

We intend to fulfill this aim by applying our biblical foundation. As a school we have decided to embrace some verses from Matthew's gospel. We have chosen the phrase, "With faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains." This links directly to our curriculum drivers and in the aspirations that we have for our children. It does not matter what their goal is,  be it academic, musical or sporting we will do everything we can to celebrate and support our children's efforts. It is also one that we hope the children can readily understand. Our school logo is the magnificent oak tree that sits so proudly in our school grounds. By seeing that an oak tree can grow from a small acorn we want all of our children to see that by having faith in God and themselves they can achieve anything and become that fabulous oak tree!

Intent:

Our Curriculum has been designed to ensure every child can ' live life in all its fullness' by offering stimulating and awe-inspiring learning experiences with Christian values at its heart.

It is bespoke to the needs of the pupils at Capel St Mary CEVC Primary School, not only by focusing on appropriate subject specific knowledge, skills and understanding as set out in the National Curriculum, but by developing individual and collaborative learning experiences, a positive growth mind set, a sense of responsibility with challenges and experiences that take them beyond the classroom.

We are a medium sized village school with a constantly evolving curriculum which responds to the needs of learners and their interests by enhancing learning experiences and raising awareness from the local area to national and global arenas. Thus, we will develop outward looking pupils who are able to engage in learning about themselves and have an understanding of the wider world.

Our curriculum drivers have led the development of our curriculum:

Care

Achieve

Persevere

Enjoy

Learn

Care

As a Church of England primary school it is important to us that our children develop spiritually with an awareness and respect for all communities and an appreciation of the environment we live in.

Achieve

We are passionate about the education of our children. We want them to be able take on any challenge that is given to them. Our children aspire to the highest possible standards not only in the academic subjects but also in the other areas of the curriculum such as sports and music. We also want our children to succeed in those areas which are less tangible and to have the skills, knowledge and attitudes to be the very best that they can possibly be.

Persevere

Our children will be encouraged to be resilient learners as they encounter new experiences and opportunities offered throughout their time at Capel St Mary CEVC Primary School. We will develop rounded young people who will not be afraid to take risks and accept challenge as they grow up.

Enjoy

We believe that the Primary School is just a steppingstone in a child’s educational journey, a journey which we hope will be a lifelong journey of learning. It is vital that children enjoy what they do so that they have the desire and motivation to succeed in both this stage of their education but also have the means to succeed in the next.

Learn

It is vital that we nurture the natural curiosity of our children, enabling them to become independent in thought and action and encouraging them to imagine, enquire and become increasingly enterprising. We will give children opportunities to think critically, by solving problems and making choices.

Implementation – How is our curriculum put together?

The curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 and other experiences and opportunities which best meet the learning and developmental needs of the children in our school. The CUSP curriculum (Curriculum for the Unity Schools Partnership) is followed to ensure coherence so the curriculum is cumulative and connected.

The curriculum provides children with memorable experiences, in addition to diverse and rich opportunities from which children can learn and develop a range of transferable skills.  We are using our amazing outdoor areas to enhance learning outside.

The children’s own community, its heritage and traditions are used in studies of the local area and incorporate our village church of St Mary’s as the children regularly visit for Services throughout the year.

What do we offer?

Music and performance have a high profile in the school. We employ a specialist music teacher for the guitar and drums. Each child receives a weekly music lesson which uses the Music Express scheme to support their learning.

Each term there is a dramatic performance, so that we encourage a love of performance and the stage. Each Unit is responsible for this termly show and the children’s confidence is enhanced through this. There is outstanding use of Sport Premium which enables us to make full use of the skills of a wide range of professionals; throughout their time at the school, children will work with specialist coaches as they learn many sports. Children in Year Five swim weekly for two terms at Hadleigh Pool.

A varied timetable for extra-curricular activities is offered by the school, with clubs that support the core curriculum offer, as well as those which develop specialist skills, such as dance, whilst also extending the range of children’s experiences..

Meeting the needs of all our pupils as an inclusive school

The school takes pride in providing a highly inclusive environment, where learners demonstrate high levels of enjoyment in their education and most make very good progress in most subjects and areas of learning. Children at all levels are helped to achieve their potential. Those who are most able are challenged and supported through being offered tasks which provide opportunities for greater depth and those who struggle are encouraged and given targeted support to embed skills, to develop at their own pace or simply to learn in a style that best suits their individual needs.

How do we teach the basic skills?

The school uses the Little Wandle phonics scheme to teach initial phonics and reading. We then use CUSP Reading and Writing throughout Key Stages One and Two. Maths is taught as a stand-alone subject using a variety of resources including White Rose. Art, Geography, History

The school will measure the impact of our curriculum offer throughout the year and update this section accordingly.

Have a look at the curriculum plans for each year group below.

Curriculum from September 2022

The school has a bespoke curriculum that is based on CUSP (Curriculum for the Unity Schools Partnership)

This is a curriculum which is:

• Connected
• Cumulative
• Coherent

It is a curriculum which is underpinned by evidence, research and cognitive science. Modules are deliberately sequenced for robust progression and allow teachers to focus on the lesson.

There is an emphasis on oracy and vocabulary acquisition, retention and use to break down barriers and accelerate progress. A rich diet of language is deliberately planned for.

Specific skills are discretely taught and practised so that they become transferrable. The sequenced modules activate prior learning, build on skills and deepen knowledge AND understanding. Learning vocabulary and content is cumulative; content is learned, retrieved and built on.

CUSP uses what is called cumulative quizzing as a means of retrieval practice, rather than testing what children know before a module is taught and then after.