Curriculum Intent

The St. Mary’s curriculum is rooted in our core Christian values of justice, love, endurance, forgiveness, dignity and thankfulness so that children understand and experience the difference which such values can make to everyday life and living. Designed to be sequential, this curriculum enables pupils to build knowledge and skills by making links with previous learning; our knowledge ladders ensure clear progression. By fostering an enjoyment of learning, our children are given the opportunity to develop as confident, resilient pupils who are equipped with the ability to use their knowledge and skills to make wise choices as they take their place in the world.

There is a focus on the whole child with each seen as an individual precious child of God. All National Curriculum subjects are delivered within a spirit of enquiry, where first-hand learning experiences and the opportunity to develop interpersonal skills enrich learning beyond the academic.

We believe that this knowledge of each person’s inherent worth enables all to embrace new experiences, the spirit of enquiry fosters enthusiasm for learning which is not inhibited by challenge; children have the inner resilience to ‘bounce forwards’. Children know their worth not just as individuals but with the responsibility of living in community and, on the doorstep of Sherwood Forest, as stewards of God’s creation. The staff team model striving towards our vision which is at the heart of all we do. In this way, children and adults are enabled to flourish to become the people that God intends them to be and that, in the words of the Church of England Vision for Education, they are empowered to live the life that He intended; life in all its fullness.

We are all God’s children: learning together; looking after His world and each other.

Show love; act justly; give thanks.

WHAT WE TEACH

Our aim is to provide a broad and rich curriculum that allows pupils to apply and consolidate their literacy, numeracy, ICT and thinking skills.

We believe that learning should lead to high standards of achievement and that pupils should feel motivated and inspired by their lessons.

At Foundation Stage the children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and children in Years 1 - 6 follow the National Curriculum.

See links below for further information.

Sherwood Forest - our living heritage

From maths and science to art, English and drama.  We use the living classroom of Sherwood Forest.  Our location next to the forest is unique and we regard this as an 'outdoor classroom'.  All classes take as many opportunities as possible to use the forest as a stimulus and setting for work throughout the entire curriculum.

Collective Worship

The school meets together every day for an act of worship.  This is an important time together when we reinforce our commitment to each other as a school family.  This time of worship has been acknowledged as an established "strength".  We believe that it impacts significantly on the Christian distinctiveness of our school and on the spiritual development of the pupils.

"As we are a church school we know how important RE is.  We are helped to learn about other religions as well as our own". (Year 6 pupil)

RE

We follow the Nottinghamshire agreed syllabus for Religious Education and place importance on our distinctiveness and effectiveness as a church school.  The good quality RE and collective worship at St. Mary's has an impact on the personal spiritual and moral development of each child, and we encourage empathy, care and sensitivity through this area of the work of our school.

ICT

We use a bank of laptops that are linked to the school network.  ICT is taught only in part as a standalone subject, and is increasingly used as a tool for research and presentation in all other subjects.

MUSIC

Music is an important part of our school.  All pupils are taught by teachers with expertise and all children in Year 3 - 6 have the opportunity to learn to play the guitar.  We also have a flourishing KS2 choir!

SPORT

We have a full time sports coach who leads the PE and sport curriculum.  We take part in a wide variety of sports and PE activities that include: football, netball, hockey, rugby, rounders, table tennis, cricket, orienteering, athletics, cross country, boccia, gymnastics, dance and swimming.  For some of these we take part in festivals and compete with other schools.

After school sports clubs include football, cricket, rugby and boccia throughout the year.

MFL

St. Mary's is committed to ensuring its pupils have an understanding of their place in a global community.  All pupils from FS2 - Y6 are taught French and there is an option for after school clubs in French

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TRIPS, VISITS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

These are another important feature of our curriculum and teachers make sure that they can be linked to enrich learning in many different subjects.  Pupils have a variety of opportunity such as visits to castles, grand houses, the theatre, places of worship, museums, farms and the zoo.  Year 5 and 6 can also take part in residential visits to places such as Hathersage, Robin Hoods Bay and camping in Walesby Forest.  We love to have visitors and have enjoyed workshops in djembe drumming, Zimbabwean rhythm & dancing, Bollywood dancing,  cooking around the world, living as a Victorian, Footprints Theatre and workshops focussed on personal, social and health education.  Throughout the year there are also special events for parents to attend.  These include Nativity and Carol Services, musical presentations, Year Six Leavers Service and end of year performance.  Other important partnerships are those with the St. Mary's Church community and family of schools linked through Dukeries College.

PARENTS

Parents working in partnership are extremely important.  We have two parents' evenings during the year and send home an annual report.  We encourage parents to talk to us about any concerns and maintain an open door policy on this.  We don't want worried parents - a worried parent often means worried children and teachers!

We send out a monthly newsletter, welcome parent volunteers and have an active PFA Group, Friends of St. Mary's, who support us with fund raising.

Targets for achievement are set in reading, writing and maths and progress tracked regularly.  These targets are shared with parents and pupils and we aim for a shared understanding of expected progress and what we will do to get this.

If you have any questions regarding the curriculum we teach please contact the school directly.