Our Curriculum

St Matthew's is a church school for the whole community. In 2018 we began to review our curriculum so that it better reflected our unique character as an inclusive church school. We worked with our stakeholders to decide how we could best provide the children with a broad and balanced curriculum, which would give our pupils the knowledge and skills they would need to have by the time they left us. We wanted to improve outcomes, raise attainment and give children the confidence and independence needed for the next step of their journey.

From this we developed our curriculum intent statement ‘We Can’ This was chosen because it is meaningful and accessible to everyone and reflects our ethos. The intent statement is supported by six bespoke curriculum drivers.

We Can...

With the love of God.

As a church school, we have a unique Christian character and ethos, which underpins learning, relationships and caring for others

With a growth mindset.

Growth mindset is well established at St Matthews and we want our curriculum to continue to support and reflect this approach to learning.

With understanding of the world.

We prepare our children for the world they will grow up in. Supporting them to acquire a depth of knowledge and awareness of their world and how to care for it.

With a healthy mind and body.

We believe that physical and mental wellbeing is essential for learning and life.

With life experiences.

Children are provided with a breadth of experiences which take them beyond the classroom.

With a pride in our diversity.

Teaching and learning reflects the diverse nature of our school and the world beyond. Understanding, tolerance and respect is promoted.

Implementation

• Teachers support staff and parents were asked what skill and knowledge our children needed by the time they leave us in Year 6.
• SLT developed the intent statement ‘We Can’.
• The intent statement was shared with staff and the curriculum drivers were developed.
• Subject leaders developed a progression of skills and knowledge document, based upon the statutory National Curriculum.
• Teachers worked in year groups to develop a new topic map for their year, with a focus on balance and breadth.
• Teachers shared their vision of the curriculum drivers within the topics with their peers.
• In September 2019, the new topics began to be taught.
• Parents are invited in to work alongside children on the new curriculum during parent pop-in sessions.
• Subject leaders are monitoring the implementation and impact of their subject within the curriculum.

At St Matthew's we pride ourselves on having an exciting and enriching curriculum.

Please select one of the articles below to find out more!

Also, have a look at our class pages to see the curriculum in action.

Whole School Topic Overview