A Curriculum designed for Tickhill St Mary’s C.E. Primary and Nursery School

Following consultation with parents and carers, children, staff and governors, our mission statement was re-written in the summer of 2017.

Here at Tickhill St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, through our Christian values, we aspire to nurture and educate the whole child: caring for their well-being, celebrating their individual talents and abilities whilst encouraging them to become lifelong learners. It is our aim that children, parents/carers and school staff should work together towards this end.

We have five school values which underpin all that we do:

Here at St Mary’s we take pride in who we are and what we do by being kind, accepting, fair, honest, respectful and active members of our community.

Intent

Our curriculum intent aligns with our mission statement, our school values and our theological rationale: we aim to broaden our children’s experiences; deepen knowledge and understanding and develop the whole child through a creative and enriching curriculum.

Our curriculum has been designed to 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 St Mary’s, not only by focussing on appropriate subject specific knowledge, skills and understanding as set out in the National Curriculum, but by modelling the virtues given to us by Christ and by developing individual and collaborative learning experiences, a positive growth mind set, a sense of responsibility and challenges that take them beyond the classroom and out of their comfort zone. We want to prepare all our children for the next stages in their educational careers as well as allow them to develop their aspirations for adult life.

Ours is a happy school that affirms the importance of happiness in education.

Implementation

Our curriculum is carefully crafted to ensure all children have equal access to all areas of the curriculum, enrichment activities and extra-curricular learning too. We have devised our curriculum to ensure breadth and balance for all.

The quality of our curriculum is reflected in our outcomes. Our English learning is delivered through a text-led Talk for Writing approach throughout school, in Maths we follow Maths Mastery and our Reading lessons are based on a whole class age-related text.

We are proud to be a Church school and encourage our children’s personal enquiry into faith whilst their journey remains their own. Godly Play allows the children to explore stories from the Bible and independently respond. History, Geography and Science are brought alive in topic lessons through a mixture of practical experiences, investigative learning and knowledge-based learning activities. Our children enjoy a variety of Art and Musical experiences throughout the academic year; their talents are celebrated through events such as St Mary’s Has Talent and an Art Exhibition. All children in school participate in various performing arts throughout the school year. These range from Nativities within school to leading Church services within our community to massed choir ensembles in Doncaster and Sheffield.

We utilise our local area well to help us build on experiences enabling our children to flourish. We have excellent relationships with our local church and community and take part in many events, all of which contribute to our unique curriculum throughout the year.

Implementing a holistic approach to teaching and learning is an integral part of our provision. As much as possible, we start our curriculum learning each term by either taking our children out of the local area or inviting visitors into school, to provide them with rich learning experiences which they are able to talk about with their friends and families and make links with their learning in school. All KS2 children are encouraged to participate in a residential each year which builds in duration as they move through school in order to further enhance their independence, broaden their experiences and create long lasting memories.

Sport and outdoor learning are recognised as an excellent tool in enabling physical and mental well-being and as a result we have a varied PE programme, together with extra competitive and non-competitive sporting opportunities at the local secondary school as part of our Sports Partnership. We have developed our own Forest School in the school grounds and all children have the opportunity to learn through this curriculum area which in turn then serves to improve their communication skills, self-esteem and teamwork. Children are encouraged to take risks in a controlled environment and as a result their respect for their own safety and for the environment naturally improves.

Alongside teaching of curriculum subjects and assessment of attainment and progress, we ensure our children’s talents and successes are celebrated throughout school by holding weekly achievement assemblies which celebrate both academic and personal gains.  Children are encouraged to bring in their ‘out of school’ certificates and trophies; this helps to inspire children to work hard in all areas of their learning as we embed a culture of celebrating all achievements for every child. 

The St Mary’s Way is reflected in all areas of school life and our values can be seen in action.  High expectations of all our children leads to high aspirations and the knowledge that they are all St Mary’s Superstars.

Impact

The impact of our curriculum is reflected in our excellent outcomes. Our children not only acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge linked to the curriculum but also skills which equip them to make excellent progress through school and beyond.

Teachers and staff work hard to plan a broad and balanced curriculum which is expertly delivered to ensure a child’s entire school experience enables them to develop a deep body of knowledge which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life in whatever they choose.  We pride ourselves on providing a curriculum which includes a wide range of creative experiences.

When our children leave us, as well as being ready for a KS3 curriculum, they have a wealth of transferrable skills which have been developed throughout their time at primary school in an inclusive and nurturing environment.  We are proud that once the children from Tickhill St Mary’s Primary School have left, they have been supported through their transition; have been exposed to rich vocabulary and have high aspirations and self-belief all through the teaching of this broad and balanced curriculum.