The curriculum consists of all those activities designed to promote the intellectual, personal, spiritual, moral, cultural, social and physical development of the pupils. The school follows the Early Learning Goals in Foundation Stage with Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils following the New National Curriculum.
(For a more detailed look at the new curriculum follow the link below)
5 core subjects
7 foundation subjects
The teaching of these subjects and cross curricular issues such as Health Education,Environmental Education and Citizenship ensure that every child receives the broad and balanced education that he or she is entitled to.
The curriculum includes not only the formal programme of lessons, but also extra-curricular activities and activities designed to promote the school’s ‘ethos’. These will include the quality of relationships, the concern for equality of opportunity, the values exemplified in the way the school sets about its task and the way in which it is organised and managed.
Religious education is a huge part life at Our Lady of Grace RC Primary School. As well as the teaching the children recieve in lessons they are also exposed to a number of religious events and activities across the whole currciculm such as class masses, assemblies and charity events. We feel it is important to express that religious education is not a discrete subject- it happens all the time, Christ is at the centre of all we do.
We follow the Salford Diocese scheme of work The Way, The Truth and The Life. This is followed right from reception up to Year 6. The children are exposed to creative and stimultaing lessons in which their ideas, thoughts and questions are welcomed.
Here is the Salford Diocese website for any further information: http://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/
Language plays a vital part in the development of our children. Without it communication is virtually impossible.
We want our children to speak fluently, to listen carefully and to be able to read and write confidently.
Reading is essential to all other subjects in school and a child who learns to love books will hold the key to an endless supply of knowledge and pleasure. Please do everything you can to encourage your child; read to them and hear them read throughout their time at school. We use different approaches to reading, which include ‘look and say’. The children are taught sounds (phonics) and follow reading schemes which will develop their reading abilities. We hope that when children leave us, they can read with fluency and understanding from a variety of sources, but most of all that they enjoy reading. Our children will experience different kinds of writing: stories, poems, letters, personal writing, historical, geographical or scientific forms of grammar. We hope that when the children leave us they can write legibly for different audiences, in a variety of formats using correct punctuation and accurate spelling.
The school follows the schemes Support for Spelling and Letters and Sounds for more information follow this link http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/
The school compliments Phonics provision with other schemes including LCP & Read Write Ink.
The school has a varied selection of modern reading books including books from Pearson, Oxford Reading Tree & Collins publishers.
The school uses Pira Assessments to inform teacher judgement.
Maths is important for our everyday lives. It is also enjoyable andexciting. Our teaching is based on a broad, structured and practical approach. The children are taught to develop an understanding of mathematical ideas and skills, such as reasoning, thinking, estimating and problem solving, and to acquire the necessary language. This is achieved through a variety of practical tasks and experiences. Our children learn about; number, including the ‘four rules’ and time tables; shape and space, measure, algebra and handling data. Mental arithmetic, the use of calculators and computers all play an important part in the children’s mathematical development. Most importantly, these skills are applied in practical ways to solve real problems. We hope that our children will develop a positive attitude to mathematics.
Science is all around us and the children learn by exploring and investigating their world and developing enquiring minds. We offer our children appropriate experiences for their level of development, from performing simple experiments withmagnets and circuits to examining living things such as plants,animals, insects and themselves.
The children are introduced to the use of the computer from the Early Years. An important aspect of ICT is computer use which will help the children to work in and understand our ever increasing technological world. A computer suite has been developed within the school and further computers, PCs, laptops and tablets plus digital overhead projectors and interactive whiteboards in every classroom have further enhanced the ICT capabilities and skills of the pupils.
Children are given opportunities to design and make objects for a purpose, for example, from a simple birthday card to a working model.
HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY
Through teaching children History and Geography we help them to find out about their world and the people in it, both past and present. The content of what we teach is laid down by the National Curriculum.
ART, MUSIC and DRAMA
These subjects are an important part of our curriculum and necessary to complete a child’s all round education. In Art, the children are not only given opportunities to develop their artistic skills and talent in using different media, but also to appreciate the work of well known artists. Through Drama, the children are encouraged to become more self confident. Every child will be given an opportunity to take part in a school production and to take advantage of learning an instrument through the Bury Music Service.
Physical Education covers the areas of dance, gymnastics, games, swimming and outdoor education. The children are taught to develop their own physical abilities by practising the many and varied skills of physical education such as balancing, throwing and catching. We try to encourage a healthy attitude to life in our children by backing the physical activities that the children are involved in by looking at health education issues. The school has a fine history of sporting achievements. Football, netball, cross-country running, rounders and athletics are our main activities. All pupils require a change of clothing for Physical Education (shorts, tee-shirt, pumps and suitable clothing for outdoor games) which should be labelled with the child’s name and kept in a drawstring bag.
The education of children in sexual matters is primarily the right and duty of parents, though the school does have a complementary role to play. Sex education is not dealt with as a separate subject, but is placed in the context of the child’s spiritual, moral,emotional and social development.
Our Lady of Grace is a school with high standards of behaviour and parents are asked to play their part in supporting the school to this end. Pupils are expected to behave in accordance with our School Rules. The governors have an agreed policy on school behaviour. We strive to help the children to learn to live together in a caring community by:
Play is the principal means of learning in early childhood. It is the way children express what they are finding out about the world in which they live. Play is activity with purpose. During play, children explore relationships, use their imagination and encounter rich sources of language. They are able to experiment and interact with their environment. They have opportunities to be creative and to develop an awareness of the world that surrounds them. In these ways they become self-confident and self-motivated. The more varied the possibilities for play, the more enriched will be the children’s experiences. The children within the Early Years and Infant Department receive many opportunities to engage in planned structured play activities.
The teachers make continual assessments about the progress of every child in our school from the moment the child is admitted to the school. The teachers in the Reception classes undertake observations throughout the year building into the Foundation Stage Profile.
Formal assessments for Year 1 (Phonics) Year 2 pupils and Year 6 pupils take place in May/June. Each year a formal report is given to parents from which includes information regarding attainment and progress.