St Bartholomew's Primary Academy

“Learning is a change in the long-term memory. If nothing has been changed in the long-
term memory then nothing has been learned.” - Kirschner, Sweller and Clarke (2006)

What is a 'curriculum'?

The term curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school.

Our curriculum intent, hand in hand...

We have specifically designed our curriculum to ensure that it is enriched with engaging, purposeful and quality learning experiences that meet the needs and demands of our learning community. Carefully planned opportunities drive a life-long love of learning which promotes positive learning behaviours and helps our children to grow as confident, well-balanced and successful individuals.

We want our children to

• Learn and understand a rich body of critical knowledge, skills and concepts that equip them to succeed in both today’s and tomorrow’s world, enabling them to have an impact on themselves and others.

• Grow as unique and curious individuals with the resilience and determination to continually better themselves. Through the curriculum they will refine their ability to create, perform, author high quality work, develop positive self-esteem and well being and instil and demonstrate a set of core values and attitudes.

• Soar - creating leaders, instigators, investigators, researchers and change makers.

Our curriculum intent is underpinned by our vision statement of ‘hand in hand we learn, we grow, we soar’ and further articulated by our five 'Curriculum Drivers' shown below.

How we plan each unit

Below are the principles that teachers adhere to when designing a unit of work, to ensure it builds upon prior learning and leads to secure schema.

How we structure our lessons

This is the structure we follow during lessons to reduce cognitive load and ensure all children are able to succeed.

Our curriculum is underpinned by the 'National Curriculum 2014' and we use a variety of teaching approaches to create the best possible learning opportunities for all our children.  Many subjects are also supported by experiences beyond the classroom - from theatre or museum outings, to residential field trips.

At St Bartholomew’s, all class teachers are responsible for providing a curriculum that is suitable for all pupils in the class, including those with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) with support from the SENCo. We have high expectations for all pupils and are committed to ensuring our curriculum complies with the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. Our inclusion statement emphasises the importance of providing an inclusive learning environment for all pupils including those with SEND. 

Relationships and Sex Education

The objective of relationships and sex education is to help and support young people through their physical, emotional and moral development. RSE will promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils in our school and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. Pupils will be encouraged to talk openly and their questions answered appropriately and honestly in a way that respects diversity of cultures and family forms.

We aim to ensure that pupils:

• develop confidence in talking, listening and thinking about feelings and relationships.
• develop their self esteem and sense of responsibility.
• are able to name parts of the body and describe how their bodies work.
• can protect themselves and ask for help and support.
• are prepared for puberty.

Parents of year 6 children are invited to an Information Evening where they are able to view resources that are used, including a DVD.  They are also given the opportunity for their child to opt out of this part of the sex education programme (as the law states).

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Please follow the link below to access our SEND information.