Our Curriculum Statement

Our curriculum has been designed to reflect the vision of the Governors; that each child who joins our school, regardless of their starting point, receives their full educational entitlement in a secure, loving atmosphere.  It is underpinned by our Mission Statement, 'Aspire not to have more, but to be more', and is rooted in our School Values of Respect, Honourable Purpose, Stewardship, Compassion and Cooperation.

At St Paul's, we want to inspire all children to want to learn and discover.  To achieve this, our curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced and is successfully designed and adapted to meet pupils' needs.  It is ambitious, providing the same opportunities for all pupils, including the most disadvantaged and SEND pupils, with the knowledge, skills, understanding and cultural capital they need to be successful both within school and beyond.

Our curriculum has been designed to promote the well-being of children, support the disadvantaged, children with SEND and vulnerable pupils by nourishing the growth of knowledge, skills, faith and values so that all our children will take their place in society eventually, as compassionate, contributing and thinking adults.

Our Inclusion Statement

St Paul's is committed to providing inclusive education where pupils with and without learning differences learn and grow side by side, supporting the diverse academic, social, emotional and communication needs of all pupils. 

At St Paul's, we believe when inclusion is done well, everyone in the class benefits.

Our Curriculum Intent

At the bottom of this page you will find subject specific areas, which contain information about how the curriculum is organised.  If you would like further information, please contact Miss Flatley via the school office (admin@stpauls.cheshire.sch.uk).

At St Paul's we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage, the National Curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2 and for our Religious Education we use The Way, the Truth and the Life.  We strive to offer a broad, balanced curriculum in a secure, loving atmosphere, where pupils are encouraged to develop a 'Growth Mindset' when learning.

The curriculum for each subject contains content which has been identified as the most useful.  Curriculum outcomes are carefully sequenced to build on knowledge and skills as pupils progress through the school.  It is taught in a logical progression with enough depth of learning for all pupils to aquire the intended knowledge and skills.  With identified end-points at end of the EYFS, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6, the curriculum is clear about what pupils will be able to know and do to reach those end points, while having the flexibility to respond to local, national and global issues. 

How is the subject specific curriculum sequenced?

At St Paul's we have mixed age classes, so the curriculum for the separate year groups is carefully arranged over two years; we call these years 'Cycle A and Cycle B'.  Some children will learn what is planned when in the younger year group in the class, while some will learn it when in the older year group.  Maths is adapted to be taught progressively across the mixed age class.  The pages below contain information about how the subject specific curriculum is sequenced and what knowledge and skills the pupils will be expected to know at each end point.  

'Sticky knowledge' is the knowledge that will stay with the pupils forever due to an alteration to their long-term memory.  It can be divided into interesting facts that will remain with them forever and the knowledge that they need to learn as part of the National Curriculum. 

Our Curriculum Implementation

The subject curriculum is progressively designed so that teachers are able to ensure pupils can transfer key knowledge to long-term memory and therefore apply it fluently. It is sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build upon what has been taught before. 

Meta-cognitive strategies are used to support and develop all pupils’ learning regardless of ability. 

Teachers use assessment to check pupils' understanding, identifying and correcting misconceptions and helping pupils embed and use knowledge fluently.  The assessment also informs future planning and where support may be needed. 

All staff endeavour to foster the following attitudes in all our pupils: Think for Learning, Explore new things, Concentrate, Challenge, Imagine, Improve, Co-operate, Be resilient and Question. Independent learning, thinking and enquiry is an essential part of our lessons and pupils are taught to develop a growth mindset so that they can recognise their stages of learning and manage the emotional aspects of finding something tricky.