St. Andrew's C of E Aided Primary School

The St Andrew's Curriculum

At St. Andrew’s we aim for every child to reach their full potential personally, socially, academically and spiritually through our Christian vision of ‘Learning together what is good and right’ Job 34:4. Our vision is supported by our Christian values – Love, Friendship, Respect, Resilience, Joy and Hope.  

The St. Andrew’s curriculum is unique to our school. Our aim is to create an exciting and engaging curriculum that sparks children’s curiosity. We have thought carefully about our curriculum content to ensure it takes advantage of our local environment creating relatable learning experiences for the children. We have made informed choices about what experiences we want to include and how they build over time across the curriculum.  We include both off and on-site experiences in our curriculum and make the most of what we have locally including local nature reserves, historic settlements, moorland and National Trust sites.  

Based on our knowledge of the National Curriculum 2014, we have broken down the programmes of study into a series of skills and knowledge and our long-term curriculum plans show how at St. Andrew’s we intend to cover the fundamental concepts of each national curriculum subject.  Each subject has a ‘Subject Leader’ who has an overview of planning for that area of learning across the school.  Each Subject Leader has considered how each skill and knowledge statement connects and builds over time in their subject. They have also considered how larger concepts are developed over time and in a variety of contexts to create a bespoke curriculum offer matched to our children’s needs.  

We have identified the importance of educational research into effective teaching practices and cognitive science and adopt an evidence-informed approach to teaching and learning. We recognise that great teachers never stop learning and great schools never stop improving.  

Every aspect of the curriculum is underpinned by a range of texts, vital in our promotion of a language rich environment to support the increasing communication needs of the children in our school. Books are selected to reflect equality, alongside spiritual, moral, social and cultural needs. Subject displays across the Key Stages, are designed to promote a wider variety of vocabulary and subject specific language.

We have built our curriculum on four key curriculum drivers: 

1. Environment 
2. Communication 
3. Diversity 
4. Resilience  

Environment

At St. Andrew’s we are passionate about the environment both locally, nationally and globally. We want our children to appreciate the environment and everything in it, understanding that caring for the environment results in keeping Earth healthy and that the choices they make can help the planet.  

Communication

We aim for children to leave St. Andrew’s as confident communicators, understanding that communication is more than just spoken words. Our curriculum ensures that children learn new vocabulary in all subjects as well as providing opportunities to develop speaking and listening skills. 

Diversity

We believe if children develop an understanding that we are all, children will learn to respect and celebrate differences as well as value other peoples’ opinions, cultures and beliefs. Our curriculum teaches children about acceptance, inclusion and equality which they can take with them into society.  

Resilience

Our curriculum teaches children to challenge themselves, set themselves goals and to never give up. We want children to leave St. Andrew’s with confidence and the ability to overcome challenges they may face, allowing them to flourish and succeed as they move through secondary education and beyond.   

For further information on specific subjects, please visit the subject leader pages for more information.