Welcome to the Primary Department at St. Anthony’s School
The primary picture puzzles contain an overview of your child’s specific termly topic plan; these will be updated on this page shortly for the Academic Year 2024 – 25. If you have any queries about your child’s topic plan for this term please contact our school office.
Primary Department – Our Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact Strategy
“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow” Geoffrey Chaucer
Our School Aims
To provide an environment where every member of the school community is given the support and encouragement necessary to meet the demands of education and personal change.
To provide a broad and balanced curriculum which includes the full range of National Curriculum subjects.
To allow all pupils access to as much of the National Curriculum as is right and possible for them as individuals.
To foster in our pupils the value of education as life-long process and to assist them in acquiring the necessary skills to develop and adapt as individuals in a changing society.
What does this look like at St. Anthony’s School within The Primary Department Infants and Juniors?
- Individual – We know every child is unique. We build trust and ownership for the pupils to believe in themselves, to become as independent as possible.
- Communicative – We build positive relationships through active listening, speaking, turn-taking and negotiation skills.
- Respectful – We build skills in tolerance, patience, trust and compassion, so every pupil is valued and they are taught to value tand respect others and the world around them.
- Happy – We build in confidence to have a go and enable the pupil to be successful.
- Responsible – We enable the pupils to understand themselves to be able to respond to themselves, others and the world they live in with the opportunity to become a life long learner.
- Resilient – We develop an I can do attitude, a positive approach to learning, knowing how to ask for help when it is needed. I can have a go, I can fail and it’s okay, I can improve if I keep trying. We want the pupils to be strong, capable, and responsible to be able to live a fulfilled life.
Primary Department Intent
Within St Anthony’s school the Primary Department understand that every child is unique. Our intent is to enable each pupil’s individual abilities to be maximised at school, in the home and in the community. This intent begins from the initial placement at the school, reading paperwork and meeting with parent/carers and previous settings to gather as much information as possible to begin the journey. Each pupil then receives holistic outcomes taken from the EHCP and these are considered termly under the following headings set out in the jigsaw below:
Our intent through these areas would be:
*To create a safe, fun and inclusive learning environment.
*To set individual outcomes based on pupil individual need.
*To work in collaboration with other professionals and parents/carers to embed appropriate skills into the holistic curriculum.
*To ensure each individual pupil journey is planned, and that the whole team aspire to, assess, accomplish and achieve through “learning together”.
*To learn together and learn for the future.
Primary Department – Implementation
The EYFS education programmes and our own holistic curriculum provide the framework for us to decide what we intend the pupils to learn and develop in.
The curriculum starts from where the child is and builds on skills to enable them to perform better and draw on their experiences and knowledge to develop and improve. We want them to experience the awe and wonder of the world they live in on a daily basis and provide carefully planned activities that provide this. The planning is carefully structured and also enables the support staff to be creative, responsive and cater for the individual pupils learning needs on a daily basis.
We believe that teaching and learning is meaningful, systematic and progressive, enabling all children to have a clear understanding of the knowledge they are discovering. Each child is supported to explore their developing skills across all areas of learning, taking into account their individual needs and abilities. The topics and themes that we teach are designed to enhance the diverse community pupils belong to and reflect their personal interests. Our continuous provision in the classrooms and outdoor learning environments is engaging and challenging, enabling all pupils to have the highest quality of education.
Pathway 1 is Chestnut, Birch & Yew
Pathway 2 is Apple, Oak, Rowan, Sycamore, Beech & Hawthorn
“Picture Puzzles” are sent home each term to give Parents/Carers an overview of the specific termly topic plan. Pupils bring home examples of work with a piece of the puzzle attached to show which area they have been thinking and learning about in school, so parents/carers have the opportunity to support over learning. Parents have opportunities to send in Wow moments to share home learning.
Implementation – Holistic Interventions
Pupils in the Primary Department are supported by a number of bespoke supporting and holistic interventions. For further details view the ‘Bespoke Supportive and Holistic Interventions’ page. Pupils are also supported by a whole range of Inclusive Curriculum support measures in place at the school; this page can be viewed via the ‘Inclusive Curriculum’ page.
Implementation – Learning Together
The Curriculum Implementation is delivered through a visual approach and is as hands on as possible, linking learning about themselves, the home and the community. Our focus is on the pupils and understanding their personal journey of where they are now and what they need next to be successful. This has a huge Impact on each individual to be successful in the future.
We focus on:-
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
*Learning Together
*Eating Together
*Playing Together
*Being Friendly Together
Communication and Language
*Speaking and Listening Together
*Reading Together
*Writing Together
*Interacting Together
Physical Development
*Being Active Together
*Keeping Healthy Together
Mathematical Development
Numerical Together
Problem Solving and Investigating Together
Understanding of the World
Thinking Together
Questioning and Understanding Together
Expressive Arts and Design
Imagining Together
Dancing and Singing Together
Creating Together
Primary Department Impact
The EHCP is reviewed with the pupil and parents/carers through the Annual Review process on a yearly basis. New outcomes are set and incorporated in to the individual pupil’s termly target sheets.
Teacher Assessment and our professional judgement of what the pupils are doing, achieving and retaining on a daily basis are essential to our focus on the individual pupils. The 4 areas are continually assessed alongside the EYFS and holistic outcomes. Evidence is collected through Ipad– 2 Evidence Me; daily work books and observations.
Formal assessments are completed termly alongside Annual Reviews and end of year reports.
Our expectation is that we develop the pupils to be able to move forward with their transition journey every year, into school, in to a new class, in to a new Department or in to a new setting, as appropriate for each individual.
Primary Department Intent, Implementation & Impact Strategies for English, Maths, Science, Music & French
Approaches to Reading