St Joseph’s Curriculum

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and Nursery is a happy, vibrant and friendly school. We are fully inclusive with a strong sense of community, where all children are treated equally.  We celebrate the right to be different and to reach our full potential in different ways.

Pupils’ learning and development is at the heart of our school’s curriculum; it is broad and balanced and equips pupils with the skills necessary to succeed in life after school.

Our vision at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is to provide the highest quality of education within a Catholic ethos. The children's spiritual development is seen as fundamental and is the foundation of our school.  Religious Education is not just a subject but part of everyday life.  Through the love of God, we will foster individual uniqueness, working hard using the talents God has given us for the good of other people and to achieve our best. Together, with our families, our parish and our local community, we seek to create a safe, happy school where we 

 'Treat others as you wish to be treated'

and become confident and caring citizens with a passion for learning.  Our school mission statement permeates through everything that we do.

At St Joseph’s, we recognise the value our pupils add to our world today and in the years to come. We recognise that our pupils’ futures will be in a rapidly ever-changing and diverse world - a world that must value, celebrate, and protect our surroundings, our environments, our cultures and ultimately our planet. Our pupils will become adults in a world where jobs will be created to solve problems that currently do not exist. Our pupils will need to be flexible, adaptable, critical and creative thinkers as well as being resilient.  Our pupils will need to have the confidence and ability to shape the world around them in order that they positively impact the wider world and our planet.  

We have a full understanding of the context of our school and the wide range of experiences this brings for our children. Careful consideration has been given to these experiences and this has helped us to design a curriculum which celebrates their strengths whilst helping them to overcome any challenges they may face. As a result, we will: 

• Provide all pupils with a wide range of challenging and ambitious learning  experiences
• Develop children’s language skills, with a focus on vocabulary development 
• Personalise learning, where necessary, to meet the needs of individuals
• Ensure our curriculum reflects our strong community ethos 

We are passionate about designing and engaging our learners in a language-rich,  inspiring and relevant curriculum that challenges them to connect with the world around them in different ways, and supports their development of knowledge and skills, setting them up to become positive and influential citizens of the world and lifelong learners.

‘Learning happens when the thinking happens’

Our learning is organised into the subject areas as laid out in the National Curriculum  (2014) for Key Stages 1 and 2 and the Early Years framework (2023).

We teach our subjects discretely however, where possible, ensuring that meaningful links are made between subjects in order that our pupils gain a deeper understanding of what they are learning; all our children experience our curriculum through their

Hands – practical experiences enriched through workshops, trips and residentials

Head – academic thinking, making links and deepening conceptual understanding

Heart – connecting emotionally with their learning

Subject leaders have designed progressive curriculum maps which ensure children gain the key knowledge and skills in every subject from our Early Years through to Year 6. Our teachers endeavour to ensure that every child is included in all subjects by making necessary adaptations. 

We have designed and planned our curriculum to offer a range of experiences which contribute to every child receiving a full, rich and broad curriculum. 

As well as this, we place a heavy importance on fostering and developing pupils’ emotional and physical wellbeing. We believe that by getting this right, our pupils will be better placed to engage in their learning and therefore be more successful. 

We are proud of our school and the community we serve, and delivering a curriculum that enables each and every one of our pupils to be happy and have the ambition to succeed is at the heart of everything we do.

Curriculum Enrichment

We provide a variety of extra-curricular activities for pupils that enhance their learning experience. The activities range from after-school clubs, to educational trips and visits – a list of the extra-curricular activities available is updated every term and shared with parents and carers. Extra-curricular activities are designed to enhance and extend pupils’ learning experiences, form personal connections between pupils and their peers, provide additional opportunities beyond the classroom curriculum and support in the acquisition of social skills essential for life both within and beyond school.

How the school involves parents, pupils and the local

community in curriculum planning and delivery:

Our school values the input of its pupils, parents and carers with regards to the planning and delivery of the curriculum. We believe pupils get a well-rounded education if everyone is involved in shaping it. We inform parents of curricular learning through effective use of our digital learing platform - Kinteract, in addition to parent/teacher termly meetings,  which also provide an opportunity for parents to share their own ideas about the class curriculum.

We engage with the wider community by ensuring there are opportunities for pupils to participate in community projects and work with local organisations and groups, for example the Parish Council. We embed each project within the curriculum into the relevant subjects. This shows pupils the value of being and active and responsible member of their community.

Click on the topic you are interested in finding out more about.  There are links to external sites included to give a broader view of the programmes we are using to support the curriculum as well as photographs of the classes putting them into practice.

Please use our separate pages to learn more

about our curriculum subjects: