Curriculum
Information about our curriculum can also be found on each individual class page, which you can jump to below. There you will find our curriculum maps and learning objectives:
Reception
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Mission Statement
Jesus light our way on our faith journey. Be our guide, our joy and our hope, as we learn, live, love and pray together.
Statement of Intent
St Joseph’s aims to deliver an ambitious curriculum that is rooted in Catholic values and the implementation of the school’s mission statement. We provide pupils with the knowledge and skills needed to prepare them for the next phase in their lives and to understand their responsibility in contributing positively to our world.
Through our engaging curriculum, we ensure that pupils are equipped for this, by providing them with the knowledge, skills and resilience that they will need to meet the challenges faced in today’s world. In support of this, we work alongside a cluster of Catholic Schools to deliver the Pope’s vision of ‘Caritas in Action’ and at the heart of our curriculum, the ‘Building the Kingdom’ work establishes pupils in the fundamental British values.
Learning is contextualised and therefore meaningful to our pupils. Our teaching, across the range of subjects, allows pupils to experience well-sequenced lessons that inspire them to ask questions and want to know more. This enables pupils to reflect on previous learning, acquire new knowledge and skills; and embed these.
We aspire that our pupils will leave St Joseph’s with a love of learning and a resilience to the challenges that their continuing education might bring.
How we will implement our curriculum intent
Building the Kingdom
- A termly theme.
- A ‘stunning start’ to introduce the theme and engage learners.
- A focus on developing vocabulary across the range of subjects.
- ‘Terrific texts’ that stimulate learning.
- Themes that end with a ‘Fantastic Finish’ that give meaning and purpose to the pupils’ learning.
- Cross-curricular learning that supports pupils in making links between knowledge and skills.
- Themes that are based on Catholic Social Teaching, a programme which runs over a two-year cycle, across all key stages:
Cycle 1 | Theme |
Autumn Term (2023) | Life and Dignity of the Human Person |
Spring Term (2024) | Options for the Poor and Vulnerable |
Summer Term (2024) | Care for God’s Creation (Stewardship) |
Cycle 2 | Theme |
Autumn Term (2024) | Call to Family, Community and Participation |
Spring Term (2025) | Dignity of Work |
Summer Term (2025) | Solidarity |
- Art Curriculum
- Computing Curriculum Intent
- Design Technology Curriculum Intent
- EYFS Framework 2024
- Geography Curriculum Intent
- History Curriculum Intent
- Interventions Statement of Intent
- Maths Curriculum Intent
- Music Curriculum Intent
- Physical Education (PE) Curriculum Intent
- Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) Curriculum Intent
- Reading Curriculum Intent
- Science Curriculum Intent
- Spanish Curriculum Intent
- Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Curriculum Intent
We use a wide range of books for Guided Reading throughout the school including Oxford Reading Tree, Project X, Treetops and many others. Child in EYFS and KS1 have a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ session at the end of every day, where their teacher reads a book to them over a number of days.
We provide daily speaking and listening activities that are well matched to children’s developing abilities and interests, drawing upon observations and assessments to plan for progression.
In EYFS and Key Stage 1 we follow the Essential Letters and Sounds Phonics Scheme. This includes daily phonic teaching sessions so that children become familiar with the sounds that letters make and can use these to blend and segment to improve their reading skills.
When a child starts at St Joseph’s they usually join our Reception Class. In the Foundation Stage, we offer a wide variety of experiences and opportunities for pupils. Our pupils’ personal, social and emotional development is key and our dedicated EYFS team ensure that all pupils’ needs are catered for. Child-initiated learning is a fundamental part of our EYFS practice.
Your child will be learning skills, gaining new knowledge and demonstrating understanding through seven areas of learning and development.
The three prime areas are:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
Your child will also develop skills in four specific areas. These are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design.
You can find out more about the Foundation Stage by visiting the link below:
- At Key Stage 1, a high emphasis is placed on the development of reading and phonics, which are both essential to future success in school. We follow the Essential Letters and Sounds programme to deliver our phonics, and pupils achieve well by the end of Key Stage 1.
In Key Stage 2, we focus on developing our pupils’ skills across the curriculum and in English, Maths and RE in particular. Our fundamental aim is to ensure that all of our pupils are given the skills to learn effectively throughout their lives. When they leave our school, our pupils are always well prepared for the future.
You can find out more about our curriculum by visiting the individual class pages, where you will find curriculum maps.
You can find out more by visiting the National Curriculum page on the gov.uk website (external link).
