Curriculum Intent

St Hedda’s curriculum is built around shared Catholic values, high expectations and ambition for all our children.

After love, a good education is the greatest gift we can give our children.

  • At St Hedda’s, we will motivate and inspire the children to develop their own unique gifts. Like St Hedda, we will ensure our children know that goodness is something to be nurtured and in following the path of St Hedda, they will ley their light shine each day. The quality of education we provide, ensures all children reach their full potential.

It is our intention that pupils leave school with a sense of belonging to a community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections, and become life-long learners, regardless of background or any barrier to learning.

Aims of our Curriculum

For all pupils to:

  • Become fluent and confident readers, and to develop an appreciation and love of reading, whilst gaining knowledge across the curriculum
  • Use excellent basic skills across the curriculum including reading, writing, and mathematics
  • Develop a sense of morality, respect, and community
  • Be excited by the curriculum, and want to learn
  • Retain key knowledge in all curriculum areas
  • Become independent, resilient and divergent learners, so they are ready for secondary school (and beyond)
  • Be challenged and make progress across all areas of the curriculum (including disadvantaged pupils and those with a special need and/or disability)
  • Have a broad and lasting knowledge of subject specific vocabulary
  • Have a wide range of life experiences that enhance their learning (including trips and extra-curricular activities)

Our Curriculum Overview
We have created a curriculum that is knowledge and vocabulary-rich for all subject areas so that it captivates our children’s interests and utilises our beautiful locality. It is:

  • coherent
  • cumulative
  • connected. 

A key focus of our curriculum is to prepare children for the next stages of their education and their future lives, by developing the whole child to become a confident, respectful individual who has a positive and aspirational attitude to life. Children develop personally to know who they are; why they are here; what they might want to become; and how they can make a difference in this world. 

Our long term plans are rolling programmes which ensure that all of the National Curriculum 2014 is taught through explicit subjects and the educational programmes in EYFS.  Schemes of learning are underpinned by evidence, research and cognitive science within the context of a small school. There is robust progression through blocks of learning with an emphasis on oracy and vocabulary acquisition. 

Lessons build on prior learning and skills to deepen knowledge and understanding. Substantive knowledge and concepts are mapped out in each subject area; key knowledge is revisited and revised through the curriculum long term plans.

Curriculum Implementation

St Hedda’s school implements a responsive teaching model:

Retrieve

Model

Check for Understanding

Applied Learning

All staff demonstrate a high level of ambition for their pupils through the ongoing use of questioning, vocabulary and applying the teaching and learning model.

Curriculum plans are aligned with a ‘stages not ages’ approach and take into account the cross phase and mixed age context of the school. Plans are well structured and build on prior learning, ensuring high expectations, whilst supporting teacher workload.

Children are encouraged to shine in all they do. From beginning St Hedda’s school, clear expectations of work is evidenced in pupils’ books across every phase.

Assessment from early years is finely tuned to ensure each child makes progress from their starting point. Shine awards are used as incentives to drive progress.

Impact

Every pupil lets their light shine and shares the light of Christ with others.

Every pupil acquires knowledge and skills in readiness for their next phase in education.

 

Children with SEND

The curriculum in our school is designed to provide access and opportunity for all children, as stated in our SEND policy. We always provide additional resources and support for children with special needs.

If a child has SEND, our school does all it can to meet these individual needs. We comply with the requirements set out in the SEN Code of Practice. If staff, parents or carers raise a concern about a child, his/her teacher will make an assessment under advice from the SENDCo. In most instances the teacher is able to provide resources and educational opportunities which meet the child’s needs within the normal class organisation. Support staff or specialist teachers may be used to assist the child.

“Embracing the Lord in order to embrace hope, that is the strength of faith, which frees us from fear and gives us hope.” Pope Francis 2020