The Curriculum at St Bede’s Catholic Academy
At St Bede's we define learning as the movement of information and skills into long term memory that can be used and drawn upon repeatedly to gain a further knowledge of the world around them.
The curriculum is underpinned and driven by an understanding and response to:
· the school’s distinctive ethos as a Catholic primary school
· the culture and diversity of the school population and community in Stockton on Tees
· the unique needs of the children in our care
We have developed a fully comprehensive curriculum framework that meets the requirements of the National Curriculum. Our curriculum is systematic and builds upon prior knowledge. We see our curriculum as not set in stone but alive and dynamic. Our school community is committed to continually improving and refreshing our curriculum over time in response to feedback from stakeholders (especially our pupils!), best practice, current research, key legislation and changes in society and our demographics.
At St Bede’s Catholic Academy, we are proud to have a knowledge-based curriculum, which stimulates our children into asking searching questions, shapes their learning and enables them to develop into independent thinkers, learners and good citizens of the United Kingdom. We will continue to look inwards, look outwards and look forwards to ensure the absolute best for the young learners of St Bede’s. Our children's learning is both meaningful and benefits from a specific focus on the core requirements of the English and Mathematics and Science curriculum. This will allow them to experience the challenge and enjoyment of learning. Our curriculum is engaging, exciting and innovative, helping to ensure that our children develop a rich and deep subject knowledge, this knowledge and skills will allow them to excel, and become creative and curious citizens with a strong understanding of the world they will grow up in.
Our curriculum is based on an analysis of how it can benefit the needs of our specific children and our community. We make no apologies for tailoring the curriculum to best meet the needs of the children in our care. Our community is at the heart of our teaching and learning and topics have been selected to embrace the wider community in which we live - celebrating our diverse family, – as well as expanding children’s knowledge of events and places they wouldn’t ordinarily visit or know about.
The topics have been designed to complement and build on one another with clear progression and links so that in subsequent year groups, they will be able to explore concepts deeper, applying their knowledge in different contexts. We have planned to develop and demonstrate children’s creativity through our enriched curriculum, home based creative projects, jigsaw pedagogy and our entitlement map, all of which will allow our child to develop problem solving, creativity and communication skills.