Our Curriculum

Click here to take a look to our class curriculum maps

The school day

St. Mary’s Church of England Primary School operates the following term time hours:

Start of school day: 8.50am

End of school day: 3.20pm

This amounts to 32.5 hours in a typical school week. On the last day of each full term the school day finishes at the earlier time of 2.30pm.

 

Organisation

St. Mary’s provides its pupils with an education which is broad and balanced. We aim to make learning exciting, meaningful and memorable. Our curriculum promotes the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at our school, as well as preparing them for the responsibilities and experiences of later life.

At primary school a child’s education spans three key stages or eight year groups:

  • Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS): ages 3-5 years
    • Nursery
    • Reception
  • Key Stage One (KS1): ages 5-7 years
    • Year 1
    • Year 2
  • Key Stage Two (KS2): ages 7-11 years
    • Year 3
    • Year 4
    • Year 5
    • Year 6

 

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

The EYFS statutory framework explains how and what your child will be learning. In Nursery and Reception children learn skills, acquire new knowledge and demonstrate their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.

Children work within the 3 prime areas that are most essential for their healthy development and future learning. They are important for building a foundation for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving. These are:

  • Communication and language
  • Physical development
  • Personal, social and emotional development

As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the world
  • Expressive arts and design

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and form the educational programmes in place to provide activities and experiences. The staff teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. Children in the EYFS at St. Mary’s will learn by playing and exploring, being active and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outdoors.

 

 EYFS Statutory Framework

 

KS1 and KS2: The National Curriculum

St. Mary’s follows the statutory national curriculum which sets out subject content for those academic subjects that should be taught to all pupils.

The overall aim of the national curriculum is to provide pupils with the essential knowledge they need to be educated citizens. Using the national curriculum as a starting point our teachers develop exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills as part of the wider school curriculum.

Children in Key Stages 1 and 2 will be taught the core subjects of:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Science

The following foundation subjects will also be taught:

  • Art and Design
  • Computing
  • Design and Technology
  • Foreign Language (French) – KS2 only
  • Geography
  • History
  • Music
  • Physical Education

 

 National Curriculum

 

Religious Education (RE)

Religious Education (RE) is also taught and has an important role in reflecting and conveying the distinctively Christian character of our school. At St. Mary’s we follow a scheme of work for RE provided by the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education (SDBE), which as well as exploring Christianity, also provides the opportunity to study other major world religions.

 

Other parts of our curriculum

St. Mary’s also delivers the following:

  • Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education
  • Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE)

More details about these and all the other subjects mentioned can be found in the ‘Curriculum Subjects’ section of our website.

 

Structure

Our school curriculum is generally taught through discrete academic subjects. These subjects are clearly identified on class timetables so that everyone knows what part of the curriculum is being taught and when. Opportunities for cross-curricular themes or topics enable meaningful links between the subjects. The subject content taught is carefully mapped across the year groups and through the three academic terms: autumn, spring and summer. The class curriculum maps below provide an overview of the curriculum for each class.

 

Class curriculum maps

Nursery Class Curriculum Map

Reception Class Curriculum Map

Year One Class Curriculum Map

Year Two Class Curriculum Map

Year Three Class Curriculum Map

Year Four Class Curriculum Map

Year Five Class Curriculum Map

Year Six Class Curriculum Map

 

Further information

GOV.UK provides a list of information from the Department for Education, Ofqual and the Standards and Testing Agency relating to curriculum and qualifications. Please click the link below to explore:

 GOV.UK Curriculum and qualifications

 

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