Curriculum Subjects
Our Maths Intent:
The importance of Maths is well recognised in making sense of the world around us. We are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognise the importance of Maths in the wider world and that they are also able to use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in their lives in a range of different contexts. We want all children to enjoy Mathematics and to experience success in the subject, with the ability to reason mathematically.
The 2014 National Curriculum for Maths aims to ensure that all children:
* Become fluent in the fundamentals of Mathematics
* Are able to reason mathematically.
* Can solve problems by applying their Mathematics.
We use White Rose as a scheme for the teaching of Maths at Our Lady’s. This approach focuses on teaching units in depth and for a sustained period of time to deepen learning and embed knowledge before moving on to something new. We then use the fundamentals of retrieval practice and spaced learning to refresh and remember knowledge taught over time. We revisit strategies and apply them in new contexts, encouraging the children to remember their learning and retrieve their knowledge.
Where possible, children are taught Maths through real life contexts and examples in order for them to make sense of the purpose of Maths in their lives. We also strive to make connections to Maths in other subjects taught so that the children can see its place in all aspects of life. We place equal emphasis on ensuring children become fluent with their Mathematical skills as well as their ability to reason and problem solve.
We ensure that children make progress through a carefully developed calculation policy adopted through the school which focuses on the development of skills in the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Children have to secure each aspect before moving on to the next step as, this way, they understand the mechanisms of learning behind the calculations rather than just the way of completing the written method.
This year (2022 – 2023) we are placing a spotlight on mental maths to ensure that our children have mathematical agility and confidence to tackle any mathematical challenge. We ask parents to support this at home by working on the Key Instant Recall Fact (KIRFs) booklets sent home.
Maths Long Term Overviews
Calculation Policies
Addition And Subtraction Calculation Policy WRM July 2022
Multiplication And Division Calculation Policy WRM July 2022
Phonics
The teaching of phonics begins in the Foundation Stage using ‘Letters and Sounds’, supported by the use of Jolly Phonics and a range of fun, stimulating games to help children begin to learn to read and write. The teaching of phonics continues throughout the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, systematically, progressively and regularly so that by the end of Year 2 or early Key Stage 2 almost all children will be ready to move into the KS2 Spelling programme.
Reading
Home reading books are provided first of all using the Phonics Bug reading scheme before moving into the Bug Club scheme. Children are also encouraged to choose from recommended reads in their classrooms. Teachers use their reading assessments completed in class to decide on the appropriate home reading book band. Teachers review these regularly to ensure that children move through the scheme at an appropriate pace, however not so quick that they lose the understanding of the texts that they are reading. Teachers acknowledge that reading is not just recognising the words on the page but developing a clear understanding of what has been read, character’s emotions, authorial intent as well as structural and language features. This is all taken into account when moving children through the home reading scheme.
Whole Class Reading
Children in Y1-Y6 take part in 3 Whole Class Reading sessions a week. These sessions are additional to the daily English lesson and are planned to develop children’s reading skills whilst celebrating the joy of reading a text together and becoming engaged and immersed into a plot. Books are chosen carefully with a clear rationale for each book that is covered. These are high quality texts, rich in vocabulary with sometimes complex plot structures. You can see the current list of books that the children will cover in each year group below.
We use the VIPERS in Reading lessons to develop the key skills of
Vocabulary
Inference
Prediction
Explanation
Retrieval
Summarising / Sequencing.
Children have the opportunity to read aloud independently and in chorus, focusing on their expression, fluency and intonation.
English Lessons
Throughout KS1 and 2, the English curriculum is delivered in units of work lasting on average for three weeks per unit. The first week of the unit is spent focussing on developing children’s reading and comprehension skills and finding out about the text genre and its features.
The second week of the unit focuses on developing the children’s writing skills in that particular focus genre. We call this our modelled writing week. Teachers give clear feedback as to how children can improve their writing and pertinent links are made with improving the children’s grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary skills.
By the third week of the unit, the children are ready to write independently for an extended period of time in the focus genre. Their final piece of writing is assessed and feedback is given to each child as to how well they have done and what they need to do to improve further.
Spelling
Spelling is taught in 3 discrete sessions a week per class and we use Spelling Shed as scheme to support our teaching. We follow the National Curriculum, focusing on specific spelling patterns and rules. The expectation is that the children apply these in their writing so whilst we promote learning the words at home and spelling them individually, we know that a child has truly understood the pattern or rule when it is applied in independent writing in all subjects.
Our RE Intent:
At Our Lady’s, we are committed to the Catholic Faith and recognising the value of every individual as a special and unique person – created in the image and likeness of God. We see RE as the core of the curriculum through which we promote each child’s innate capacity for awe, wonder, reverence and spirituality.
Our Religious Education curriculum begins by sowing seeds of faith and respect from the moment pupils enter our school and this is carefully nurtured and strengthened as they progress through school. We firmly believe that our RE curriculum will lead our children to aspire not to have more, but to be more. Through Religious Education, our children learn about their unique place within the home, school and the wider parish community.
Our Religious Education intent is to equip children with the knowledge and skills to answer challenging questions, explore beliefs, values and traditions in the Catholic and other faiths. Our Religious Education is coherently planned and delivered using the Diocesan ‘Come and See’ programme. Children are taught about God’s love; they learn about their Christian responsibilities and are provided experiences of Church, Catholic traditions, as well as being taught to be respectful and understanding of people and traditions from other faith backgrounds. Our Religious Education intent fulfils and falls in line with our school’s mission: On our road to success; Jesus is beside us.
Come and See – RE Curriculum
Come and See is a Catholic Primary Religious Education programme for Foundation and Key stages 1 and 2. The programme of study, written by a group of experienced diocesan advisors was introduced across the Federation in September 2012 and has been warmly received by staff and pupils. The child friendly material provided within Come and See allows children to explore the teachings of the Catholic church through the use of age appropriate resources and activities.
Each year group from Foundation 1 to year 6 have their own list of focus topics to consider throughout the academic year. The topic will coincide with the church calendar however, the depth in which the topic is explored is dependent upon the respective age of the child. For example, during Lent, whilst all children will learn about the plight of Christ, our Early Years children will consider the importance of growing and new life; Key Stage 1 children explore the effect of change and opportunities, with Key Stage 2 children considering the importance of self-discipline, sacrifice, death and new life.
At the heart of the programme is the mystery of God’s self-revelation of love through Jesus Christ. Come and See gives pupils the opportunity to explore the mystery of faith through Scripture and Tradition.
Our RSE (Relationship and Sex Education) Curriculum
‘I have come that you might have life and have it to the full’ (John 10:10)
Loving for life
Relationship and Sex Education provides a basis for children within which they can grow in confidence as people and become informed, thoughtful, responsible, healthy and safe members of society.
It encompasses PSHE and citizenship as well as relationship and sex education and develops knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and developing thinking skills.
It seeks to educate the whole person: spiritually, intellectually, morally, emotionally, socially, psychologically, and physically towards Christian maturity.
Children learn about relationships in the context of the Catholic faith. Every area of school life contributes to the education in personal relationships and helps young people learn to respect themselves and others, making safe, healthy and informed choices as they grow up and move with confidence from childhood through adolescence into adulthood.
Other Faith Curriculum
At Our Lady’s we enrich our children in their journey of faith – rooted and grounded in Catholic beliefs and traditions. We also explore the beliefs and values of other faiths: Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism. This enables children to grow in a deep understanding and respect of other faiths and traditions. The children spend two weeks over the course of the year learning about other religions – one week each on Judaism and another one on one of the other faiths: Hinduism, Islam or Sikhism.
Our Science intent:
At Our Lady’s it is our aim to produce ‘mini scientists’, who leave our school with a thirst for scientific knowledge and who question the world around them. We want children to walk down one side of the street and see the awe and wonder of God’s world, but also to cross over the street and question everything around them to truly understand our world in all its beauty. We want our children to learn in the glow of our world’s greatest scientists with the aspiration that one day they could change the world for the better. We lead our children with the understanding that there is lots of knowledge to be gained in science but there is still lots that it is unknown and out there to find. ‘Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.’ Carl Sagan.
Science Curriculum
Our History Intent:
History is all around us. It shapes who we are and what we do. If we want to know why our world is the way it is today, we must look to history for the answers. We want to inspire a hunger in our children to know about the past, for them to be curious, imaginative and creative as they learn. We want both the knowledge and skills our children learn to shape them as world citizens, who will make an active contribution to society. This is why at Our Lady of Lincoln, our History curriculum is underpinned by our Curriculum Aims and Drivers.
We believe our children should learn about the history of the wider world, but also about the past in their own community and how this may have influenced Lincoln today. We want them to experience and appreciate the richness of the history all around them. We want them to know the best that has been thought, said and achieved throughout History while acknowledging that mistakes have also been made and how we could learn from these.
Our Geography Intent:
Our world is changing all the time. Through our Geography curriculum, we aim to provide our children with the knowledge and skills to understand it. We want to inspire pupils with a curiosity and fascination for our world and its people which will remain with them for life. We want both the knowledge and skills our children learn to shape them as global citizens, who will make an active contribution to society.
We believe our children should learn about the diverse places and people of our world and gain knowledge of the Earth’s resources and environments. We will encourage our children to develop a greater understanding of our world and their place in it.
Our Music Intent:
Music is a varied and diverse area of the curriculum full of richness and beauty. There are so many styles and genres spanning hundreds of years. As with many things, music has evolved over time, with each period influencing the next.
Through music we are able to express our emotions, release our creativity and reach out to touch the hearts and minds of others. Music is often thought of as a language and, where we sometimes feel unable to put our thoughts and emotions into words, it is music which enables us to express this. Music has the power to lift our spirits and take us to a better place. In an ever changing world, where there are increasing pressures and stresses, an appreciation of music is as important as ever.
Our aim is to foster a love and appreciation for music where our children can discover the joys of expressing their creativity and feelings. Our Music Curriculum encourages our children to experience many musical styles, to develop an appreciation of music they would not normally listen to and provide opportunities to explore and be creative with rhythms and sounds. We aim to give all children the opportunity to grow into confident performers and appreciate the performances of others.
Our Art Intent:
Art is an integral part of our curriculum so that it can become an integral part of our lives. Alongside our mental health award we believe in the restorative properties of creativity and art for the soul and as an escape from the busy modern world. Through the history of art we can develop our understanding of how those who came before us communicated their beliefs and understanding of the world around them, from cave art to contemporary work. We intend to develop an appreciation for art, including iconic pieces, instantly recognised, from the wider globe to the work of local artists.
Art Curriculum
Our PE Intent:
Usain Bolt once said, ‘The sky has no limits and neither should you.’ At Our Lady’s we don’t want our PE curriculum to have any limits. We want our children to experience new sports and gain new skills. We want our children to try as many sports, games and techniques as possible to open doors to them to find areas to thrive in. We want them to see PE as a part of life that makes us fitter and stronger, with clear links to our Science curriculum and how our body works not just physically but mentally. We want our children to know that whilst PE can lead you to compete and win it can equally be something that allows you to escape from the challenges in your life and let you relax and feel at peace.
We want our children to experience working as a team, leading a team, winning and failing as a team to give them much needed life skills ,such as communication, to face the challenges of modern life. Equally, we want the children at Our Lady’s to know what it is to succeed at any level as an individual in sport too to promote independence and resilience. Our PE curriculum has no limits just as we have no limits in the lengths that we will go to, to support our children’s ambitions in sport.
PE Curriculum
Whole School PE Progression Document
Passing And Receiving Curriculum
Our intent for Design & Technology:
We believe Design Technology is a vital part of our curriculum for the development of the whole child. The skills of planning what you need to do, evaluating how well something has gone and adjusting it for next time permeate our lives and help us to become more resilient and confident in our decision-making. If we view everything we do as the opportunity to learn something, then we will become life-long learners which is something we aspire to for all of our young people. Design Technology is a practical subject in which we make links to environmental issues, other cultures, career aspirations plus skills required for everyone to live a happy and healthy life. In modern society where processed food is prevalent, we aim to provide our pupils with the confidence and knowledge to prepare nutritious meals for healthy bodies and healthy minds.
