Curriculum

2022 - 2023

Curriculum vision:   

At St Mary's Junior Academy, lesson design links to prior learning to ensure all can access the new learning and identifies carefully sequenced steps in progression to build secure understanding.

Examples, representations and models are carefully selected to expose the structure of concepts and emphasise connections, enabling pupils to develop deep knowledge.

Pupils are taught through whole-class interactive teaching, enabling all to master the concepts necessary for the next part of the curriculum             sequence.

In a typical lesson, the teacher leads back and forth interaction, including questioning, short tasks, explanation, demonstration, and discussion, enabling pupils to think, reason and apply their knowledge to solve problems. Use of precise vocabulary enables all pupils to communicate their reasoning and thinking effectively.If a pupil fails to grasp a concept or procedure, this is identified quickly, and gaps in understanding are addressed systematically to prevent them falling behind.Significant time is spent developing deep understanding of the key ideas that are needed to underpin future learning.

Key facts are learnt to automaticity (e.g. number facts / spellings / handwriting), and other key facts are learned deeply and practised regularly, to avoid cognitive overload in working memory and enable pupils to focus on new learning.

Curriculum intent:    

Whilst staff at St Mary’s Church of England Junior School have designed our curriculum in line with National Curriculum guidelines. We further ensure that the knowledge that children gain in our school is individual to their needs, as well as that of our community, and reflects our mission and values.  In order for our pupils to gain the knowledge and skills to become modern citizens of the UK and the World, we instill in our pupils a sense of belonging and purpose - through charity work, entrepreneurial tasks and cross-curricular learning opportunities.  Our vocabulary-rich curriculum is designed to encourage a depth of learning which enables pupils to become experts in the topics they study.  These blocks are allocated and planned cross-curricularly, in a way that allows full coverage of the knowledge and skills outlined in the National Curriculum. 

Curriculum implementation:  

Our curriculum enables our pupils to experience their learning in a variety of ways. Students in St Mary’s Church of England Junior School benefit from enquiry-based and cooperative learning, whilst all professionals adopt a holistic approach to teaching and developing their pupils.  Each topic block is planned and organised aspirationaly, in a way which engages, inspires and develops a love for learning amongst our pupils. This includes creating purposeful links between topics which both enrich the curriculum topic of study, as well as allowing the children to gather and build on prior learning, embedding new knowledge within their long-term memory. 

During the course of the year, teachers assess pupils’ knowledge through assessment for learning strategies, deliberate and reflective questioning, formal assessments, phonics assessments and standardised tests.  The outcomes of pupils’ assessments, both individually and as a whole class or cohort, are used to further analyse learning in order to allow teachers to focus on narrowing and diminishing gaps to enable all of our students to meet age related expectations and beyond, ensure both appropriate challenge and support. 

Curriculum impact:     

Through our bespoke curriculum design, we aim for every child to achieve at least national expected outcomes by the end of Key Stage 2. We draw on resources from PowerMaths, Talk for Writing, Power of Reading, and Ark Curriculum plus to ensure lessons are engaging, challenging and create inspired learners.  Our pupils recognise that mistakes are useful as they help us learn, thereby instilling the courage for children to take risks within a safe learning environment. Children learn to reflect on their personal progress, both within a lesson and over time. We know that the knowledge and skills our pupils gain at St Mary’s will both prepare and support our children and families in making informed choices for their future educational and career paths. 

Please explore the links below to see how we have mapped out your child's learning journey. 

*Please note - due to a Covid backlog and the current cost of living crisis, some 'learning outside the classroom' elements of the curriculum have been postponed and/or cancelled for 2022 - 2023. We are looking forward to be able to lead a full enrichment offer for children next year.*

Please see here for curriculum overviews for Year 3/4 2022 - 2023 (Cycle A): 

Please see here for curriculum overviews for Year 3/4 2023 - 2024 (Cycle B): 

Please see here for curriculum overviews for Year 5 2022 - 2023 (Cycle B): 

Please see here for curriculum overviews for Year 6 2022 - 2023: