Our Connected Curriculum 

St Saviour’s Church Schools’ Foundation Curriculum Statement 

Intent

St Saviour’s Schools curriculum is exciting and fun. The schools use language to underpin a progressive curriculum. Key skills are developed across groups of foundation subjects (humanities, creative, technical, personal and linguistic) in a systematic and structural way. Key concepts and vocabulary are reinforced because they are encountered repeatedly and in meaningful contexts; revisiting is done in a deliberate and planned way. Component knowledge is well sequenced in each year group, along side key skills within each subject group.

Implementation

Broad and balanced coverage of knowledge is evident in the schools’ Curriculum Maps. Sitting behind these are key task, knowledge and skills organisers for each of the subject groups. Through the key task, knowledge and skills overviews which make clear references to the National Curriculum, knowledge and skills progression across groups of subjects is evident. Over time, moderation across year groups will ensure a bank of exemplar work for children at ARE is available for staff for reference. Clear links are made between subjects through addressing particular component knowledge and key skills within subject groups throughout a child’s journey through the schools. Knowledge and skills are revisited repeatedly throughout a child’s time at the schools in meaningful contexts; revisiting is done in a deliberate and planned way to deepen a child’s knowledge and understanding of a skill. 

Impact 

Children are refining their communication and understanding of the skills which contribute to becoming a successful learner as they move through the schools. This ensures they are prepared for their next steps in learning and life. This is as a result of explicit instruction around vocabulary, which children may not encounter outside of school. For example, in humanities, children are developing a deeper understanding of ‘enquiry’ through development of skills in this area throughout their time at the school. In Years 3 and 4, children collect and discuss information types from different sources, whereas in Years 5 and 6, children collate, question and analyse different sources; their understanding of ‘enquiry’ deepens. 

Our Reading Curriculum from Nursery to Year 6

When children join our schools, they receive a carefully planned reading curriculum. The Infants and Junior School work together to ensure a progressive and inspiring reading offer. This is underpinned by a systematic phonics programme for early reading.

Below is a document that broadly explains the reading curriculum for our children. If you have any further questions, please speak to the class teacher. More info on the Infant and Junior Curriculum can be found below.

St. Saviour’s Infant Church School Curriculum overview
 
St. Saviour’s Infant Church School is a values based church school where everyone really matters. Values help us to build the ethos of the school so that our children become reflective and caring. Our aim is to have a learning environment which is calm, purposeful and happy.
 
We follow our Caring Code:

- We show we care

- We show respect

- We do our best

St. Saviour’s Junior Church School Curriculum overview
 
St. Saviour’s Junior Church School is a values based church school where everyone really matters. Values help us to build the ethos of the school so that our children become reflective and caring. Our aim is to have a learning environment which is calm, purposeful and happy.
 
We have six core values: Aspiration, Empathy, Enthusiasm, Integrity, Resilience and Respect. Each term we focus on one of these, both during assembly and class time. 

To watch videos of events, lessons and life at our school visit these pages:

English

During English lessons, and across the curriculum where appropriate, the children develop reading, writing and speaking and listening skills. We make full use of the National Curriculum to teach the skills of reading and writing in a very focused way.

Reading

This is probably the most important skill that children will learn. It is not only a source of pleasure in itself, but also a primary means of obtaining information. During whole class guided reading, the children will be exposed to a variety of high quality texts and genres. During this time, children will have opportunities to improve their dictionary, thesaurus and vocabulary skills, identify features of published texts and develop their comprehension. Our children are given opportunities during the school day for quiet independent reading and are also encouraged to take books home. Children will also have the opportunity to use the school library once its exciting renovations are complete. Parents are encouraged to help their children by listening to them read and reading to them. This is part of the children’s home learning. 

Guided Reading

The whole class guided reading week is broken down to 4 activities.  To start, children are exposed to new and challenging vocabulary that they will read in the following text. They practice and improve their dictionary skills, looking for and understanding the definitions of these new words. The second activity is the reading and decoding of the text. Teachers choose inspiring and challenging texts that the children may not have chosen themselves.  Poetry, fiction, non-fiction, scripts and song lyrics are all options for the children to experience. On the third session, the class are asked to use their prior knowledge to create work inspired by what they had read.  For example, when reading a fictional story about a survivor of Mount Versuvius’ eruption, they could turn it into a news article for Newsround.  This extends the children’s experiences for reasons to write and further develops their understanding of the original text.  The final activity is comprehension.  The questions focus on retrieval of information, interpretation of the text (use of inference) and the understanding of the choices made by the author to create the piece they have read, for example, they explain why the author used images in a non-chronological report. 

The progression of skills provided by whole class reading ensures that children are challenged in their reading skills whilst promoting a love of reading. The skills practiced also allow children to broaden their vocabulary, discover real reasons to write and improve their comprehension skills. 

Writing 

We value writing and encourage children to produce work of quality and depth. Pupils are given many opportunities to write in a wide variety of ways using the work of professional writers as a model.

Children need to write as a means of communication, as a way of clarifying their thoughts and as a method of recording their opinions and ideas. We introduce various types of writing to the children, enabling them to select the most appropriate for the task in hand. We also stress the importance of good spelling, sound grammatical structure, neat handwriting and quality presentation. Regular opportunities for longer pieces of writing are given during the Big Write. This helps the children to develop stamina for writing.

We use the ‘No Nonsense Spelling’ scheme as the foundation for our spelling work, and practise cursive handwriting regularly in class for speed and accuracy when writing.

Phonics

Although not part of the KS2 curriculum, phonics is available for those who may still need support in this area.

If this is required we follow the same approaches as the Infant School - click here

Speaking and Listening Skills

Through talking, children clarify their understanding. Children learn to express themselves clearly and need to acquire a wide vocabulary to communicate effectively. Listening skills are equally vital and the children are given many opportunities to use both these skills in a wide variety of ways, including through drama, poetry, debate and discussions. Regular opportunities to speak in front of a wider audience are given through whole class assemblies and performances.

Some examples of the experiences children participate in are:

• Consolidation of grammar, spelling and punctuation skills
• Opportunities for reading aloud, both in class and to wider audiences
• Publishing opportunities
• Practical activities such as spelling games
•  Discussion opportunities
• Writing for a variety of meaningful reasons (including cross-curricular writing where appropriate)

Mathematics

During mathematics lessons, the children develop confidence and competency in essential number skills, geometry, measurement and statistics integrating regular opportunities for varied fluency, problem solving and reasoning. Concrete, pictorial and abstract methods are used for teaching the four operations across the school to ensure a deep understanding of number concepts. We make full use of the National Curriculum content with our maths teaching based around the White Rose maths teaching resources. We largely follow the White Rose Maths Overview in each year group, adapting where necessary to meet the needs of the children.

Some examples of the experiences children participate in are:

• Consolidation of basic skills including opportunities to practice times tables using Times Table Rockstars

• Practical activities using concrete materials such as place value counters, dienes equipment, number squares and bead strings
• First-hand experience
• Discussion opportunities
• Investigative work (including opportunities for deeper learning)
• Meaningful content, which is cross-curricular when appropriate.

Science

During science lessons, the children develop practical and investigative skills. We make full use of the National Curriculum to teach science. Teaching is based around the Rising Stars ‘Switched on Science’ teaching materials. These are adapted as necessary to meet the needs of the children.

We teach children about living things and how the world works through enquiry and experimenting at every age. We encourage children to question and discuss science-based issues that may affect their own lives, the direction of society and the future of the world. Above all we aim to make Science fun!

History

During History lessons, each year group studies specific historically based topics.

(see curriculum maps)

Some of the experiences children will have include :

• building Ancient Egyptian moving models and Ancient Greek temples
• learning about life in Ancient Greece, including a trip to the Holburn Museum
• studying the Shang Dynasty
• looking at the life of the Mayans.

In addition to termly topics the children take part in a special annual week called ‘Our Local Story’. This week allows the children to develop their understanding of their own local history. In Year 3 the children study the history of our school, moving onto the history of Larkhall in Year 4. In Year 5 they study how the Romans invaded and settled in Bath moving onto a study of Roman Britain in Year 6.

Geography

During Geography lessons, children will be given opportunities to explore, appreciate and understand the world we live in and how it has evolved.

We recognise that Geography is a key life skill. The programme of study for the new curriculum contains the following:

1. Locational knowledge
2. Place knowledge
3. Human and physical knowledge

4. Geographical skills and fieldwork

Religious Education (RE)

During R.E lessons children are taught in accordance with a locally agreed syllabus, in our case the Awareness Mystery Value Agreed Syllabus. This is alongside the Christianity scheme of work; Understanding Christianity and Walk Through the Bible led by external providers.

We teach Religious Education according to the aims of the Agreed Syllabus and the Bath and Wells MAT and provide knowledge of their own and other's beliefs. 

A daily assembly takes place that includes an act of collective worship in the form of a prayer or reflection, in line with the statutory requirements.
Should you prefer, you are entitled to request that your child is withdrawn from some elements of the curriculum, collective worship, RE and sex education. In such cases, the request must be made in writing to the Head of School or refer to the policies.

Below is an outline of the topics we cover throughout the Juniors.

KS2 - Featured Religions: Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism 

Physical Education (P.E.)

During PE lessons, children will develop physical skills and competencies, so they are able to move efficiently, safely and understand what they are doing. Physical Education provides ways of learning through action, awareness and observation and gives every child, whatever their ability, equal opportunities to develop their self-awareness and physical skills.

Children will experience a variety of activities including gymnastics and dance, team games, athletics and even Go Noodle (short physical activities that the children complete in class) ! The school participates in inter-school competitions, both in curriculum time and after school. Children also to take part in intra-school competitions throughout the year such as sports day, or Crescent team competitions as a year group. In addition, the children are offered a wide variety of lunchtime and afterschool sports clubs. Children are taught to swim in Y4 and Y5, with the national objective of swimming 25 metres being the focus of these lessons.

All lessons are strongly based around the school values.

Art

During art lessons, children use colour, form, texture, pattern and different materials and processes to communicate what they see, feel and think.

Art and design stimulates creativity and imagination. It provides visual, tactile and sensory experiences for the children. Understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts has the power to help enrich the lives of the children at St Saviour's.

The children also enjoy our annual Collaborative Week with St Saviour's Infant Church School, where pupils work together to create a variety of art work based around a theme.

Music

Music should engage and inspire children to develop a love of music across a variety of different genres. We also aim to increase their self-confidence and creativity through performances, evaluation and reviews. We teach music through Charange, a scheme of work, the scheme encourages children to develop their knowledge of many key elements of music theory: pitch, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and structure as well as the history of music. In order to enrich the children's experience of music we arrange events/workshops where the children can first hand experience live music, songwriting along with composition.

Foreign Languages Curriculum (formally MFL)

Foreign Languages covers the teaching of languages across the school each week. At St Saviour’s, French is taught across the Year groups progressively. Primary Languages provides the opportunities for children to develop their skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing and phonological awareness.

Through this subject we also provide insights into other cultures and civilizations other than a pupil's own. Previously we have celebrated Bastille Day and European Day of Languages, where we had visitors sharing their languages such as Spanish, Creole and Greek. 

Design and Technology (D.T.)

Design and technology prepares children to take part in the development of tomorrow’s rapidly changing world. Creative thinking encourages children to make positive changes to their quality of life. The subject encourages children to become autonomous and creative problem-solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. It enables them to identify needs and opportunities and to respond by developing ideas and eventually making products and systems. Through the study of design and technology, they combine practical skills with an understanding of aesthetic, social and environmental issues, as well as functions and industrial practices. This allows them to reflect on and evaluate present and past design and technology, its uses and its impacts. Design and technology helps all children to become discriminating and informed consumers and potential innovators. Examples of activities children may take part in include:

• f1 car challenge
• cooking
• making pop up books
• building Greek temples
• making a moving model

Computing

At St Saviour’s Junior School we recognise that computing is a rapidly evolving subject in which advances demand ever changing skills and knowledge from its users and has become a key life skill. Therefore all children at St Saviour’s Junior School are entitled to have the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in computing as part of our balanced curriculum.

Each year the children will cover:

• Programming
• Computational thinking and creativity
• Computer networks
• Communication and collaboration
• Productivity

At St Saviour’s Junior School we want to ensure that our children are able to use the Internet and related communications technologies appropriately and safely. We feel that effective use of the Internet is an essential life skill.

Filtering

St Saviours Junior School maintains access to the internet through a central connection to the county internet service. At this access point an Internet filtering system is maintained to block material inappropriate to children. It should be noted that, due to the nature of the Internet, no filtering system can be perfect, therefore the service provided has the ability to add additional blocked sites. The children can also block what they see by using the Hector button.

The curriculum is not just about being able to use computers, but also understanding how they work.

PSHE (Personal, Social, Health Education)

During PSHE lessons, pupils develop the knowledge and skills to become responsible, healthy (mentally and physically), safe (online and offline) and independent members of society. We aim to inspire and encourage children through PSHE to play a positive role in their school life and wider community by contributing to school council, E-Team (Equalities team), anti-bullying week activities and fundraising events.

We follow the 'Jigsaw' scheme of work

Jigsaw PSHE perfectly connects the pieces of Personal, Social and Health Education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development into an easy to use lesson-a-week programme.

Designed as a whole-school approach, Jigsaw provides a detailed and comprehensive scheme of learning for ages 3-16. Jigsaw makes teachers’ lives easier by providing extremely well-structured, progressive lesson plans with teaching resources included.

Jigsaw is a unique, spiral, progressive and effective scheme of work, aiming to prepare children for life, helping them really know and value who they truly are and understand how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world.

Outdoor Play and Learning

Children spend 20% of their school day playing (playtimes and lunchtime) so are play approach is a key part of a curriculum offer. 

During playtimes, we follow an OPAL approach and are a Platinum OPAL school (click link below). Children are able to enjoy a variety of experiences such as:

• 'cooking' in the mud kitchen
• building dens
• using scooters, small bikes and other wheeled objects
• using out outside toilet to get water for play
• listening to music

Children play imaginatively and independently, only inviting adults into their play if they would like to. The play team support children in their play through extending play and keeping a risk benefit approach in mind. This means that risk is discussed with the children as and where necessary, and an appropriate solution is decided upon together.