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Language
Curriculum is ‘what’ will be taught. The Government has slimmed these requirements down to enable schools to add areas they feel children need for their development. At St James CE Primary School we deliver the International Early Years Curriculum and the International Primary Curriculum as part of our curriculum provision which is closely matched to the NC requirements.
We will mix a rich cross curricular approach through the IPC to make learning fun, with discrete teaching of specialist subjects such as MFL, computing, PSHE, RE, Music and Physical Education. Our curriculum is designed to make sure it is accessible for those with disabilities or special educational needs.
For more information about our school curriculum please make an appointment at the school office to see the Principal Mr Connolly.
Power Maths is a UK curriculum mastery programme designed to spark curiosity and excitement and nurture confidence in maths. It is:
Below you can find the White Rose Hub schemes of learning for Years 1 to 6 which are embedded across Power Maths.
Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFS)
To develop your child’s fluency and mental maths skills, we are introducing KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts) throughout school. KIRFS are a way of helping your child to learn by heart, key facts and information which they need to have instant recall of.
KIRFs are designed to support the development of mental maths skills that underpin much of the maths work in our school. They are particularly useful when calculating, adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing. They contain number facts such as number bonds and times tables that need constant practise and rehearsal, so children can recall them quickly and accurately.
Instant recall of facts helps enormously with mental agility in maths lessons. When children move onto written calculations, knowing these key facts is very beneficial. For your child to become more efficient in recalling them easily, they need to be practised frequently and for short periods of time.
How can we access the KIRFs at home?
Each half term, children will focus on a Key Instant Recall Fact (KIRF) to practise and learn at home for the half term. They will be available on our school website, your child’s dojo class page and each child will receive a copy at the start of a term to keep at home.
How do we practise the KIRFs?
The KIRFs include key vocabulary and examples of the key skills, as well as practical ideas to assist your child in grasping the key facts. Each KIRF also contains helpful suggestions of ways in which you could make this learning interesting and relevant. They are not designed to be a time-consuming task and can be practised anywhere – in the car, walking to school, etc. Regular practice – little and often – helps children to retain these facts and keep their skills sharp.
How are the KIRFs developed in school?
Throughout the half term, the KIRFs will also be practised regularly and in short bursts in school and your child’s teacher will assess whether they have been retained. Over their time at primary school, we believe that – if the KIRFs are developed fully – children will be more confident when working with number, understand its relevance, and be able to access the curriculum much more easily. They will be able to apply what they have learnt to a wide range of problems that confront us regularly.
At St James CE Primary School we use Literacy and Language for our English scheme of work. This complete literacy programme for pupils in Years 2 to Year 6 teaches children to read, write and discuss texts with maturity. The beautifully written stories and non-fiction texts are written by well-known authors to engage children in studying whole texts.
Please click below to see the English Overviews.
Literacy and Language is a complete literacy programme for pupils in Years 2 to Year 6 which teaches children to read, write and discuss texts with maturity. Please click on the links below to see how Literacy and Language links to the National Curriculum.
At St James CE Primary School we recognise the importance of early reading and have chosen a phonics scheme that is rigorous and has a sequential approach helping to develop pupils’ fluency, confidence and enjoyment of reading. Read Write Inc Phonics is a DfE approved scheme which looks at both reading and writing and ensures reading books are closely matched to the sounds learnt.
In Reading pupils learn the English alphabetic code: first they learn one way to read the 40+ sounds and blend these sounds into words, then learn to read the same sounds with alternative graphemes. They experience success from the very beginning. Lively phonic books are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words and, as children re-read the stories, their fluency increases. Along with a thought-provoking introduction, prompts for thinking out loud and discussion, children are helped to read with a storyteller’s voice.
In Writing pupils write every day, rehearsing out loud what they want to say, before spelling the words using the graphemes and ‘tricky’ words they know. They practise handwriting every day: sitting at a table comfortably, they learn correct letter formation and how to join letters speedily and legibly. Children’s composition (ideas, vocabulary and grammar) is developed by drawing on their own experiences and talking about the stories they read.
For more information on Phonics or Reading at St James Primary School please click on the links below.
The International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC) is an internationally researched curriculum for learners aged 2-5+years old made up of developed thematic units of learning to guide learning activities and experiences. The IEYC is designed around and driven by underpinning foundations that insure the curriculum remains learning focused and puts the goal of improving learning at the centre of what we do.
Why did we choose IEYC?
Here at St James CE Primary School we provide a creative curriculum based around the International Primary Curriculum (IPC). The IPC is our International Primary Curriculum for children aged 3 – 11 years old. It is a comprehensive, thematic, creative curriculum, with a clear process of learning and specific learning goals for every subject. It also develops international mindedness and encourages personal learning.
At St James CE Primary School we use Jigsaw as our PSHE scheme of work. Jigsaw is a mindful approach to PSHE, that brings together Personal, Social, Health Education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development in a comprehensive scheme of learning. PSHE is taught once a week from Nursery to Year 6 and helps teachers to focus on tailoring the lessons to their children’s needs and to enjoy building the relationship with their class, getting to know them better as unique human beings. Within Jigsaw, there are 6 key themes which are repeated in each year group. They are:
The government has released new and updated guidance on the delivery of Relationships and Health Education. All schools have a statutory duty to deliver the curriculum. As a school we use the Jigsaw Scheme of Work. Jigsaw offers a comprehensive Programme for Primary PSHE including statutory Relationships and Health Education, in a spiral, progressive and fully planned scheme of work, giving children relevant learning experiences to help them navigate their world and to develop positive relationships with themselves and others. Within Jigsaw, there are 6 key themes which underpin the Relationships and Health Education curriculum at an age-appropriate level (see above).
For more information on the content of the RSE curriculum please click on the link below.
RE is an essential and incredibly important part of the curriculum at St. James C of E Primary School and is taught as a discrete subject once a week. We follow the Questful RE scheme of work which promotes the explicit teaching of Christian concepts and God’s big salvation story, therefore the content of this scheme gives pupils a deeper understanding of Christianity. Through an open investigative enquiry approach pupils are given the opportunity to explore major religions and world views. The large number of questions included in each unit is a key feature of each unit in the scheme and as pupils explore these questions they will discover more about themselves, their relationships with others, their relationship with the world around them and their relationship with God. Across the school, a yearly overview ensures children cover a wide variety of topics and themes which are in turn linked to our Christian values. Lessons throughout school are planned to be engaging and allow the children to openly share their faith.
At St James CE Primary School we use Get Set 4 PE as our scheme of work. Taught weekly, our PE Scheme of work has been written with careful consideration of the aims of the National Curriculum, to ensure that children are given a wealth of opportunities to develop their physical skills as well as developing the whole child. Each lesson plan has progressive activities that are designed to inspire and engage pupils, allowing them to explore and develop skills and embed knowledge. The lessons are accompanied by supporting resources including resource cards, skills videos and music. Differentiation tasks provide activities with simple changes to appropriately challenge our pupils. Activities cover the breadth of the curriculum and include gymnastics, dance and yoga, as well as more traditional games such as tag rugby, cricket and tennis.
At St James Primary School we use Purple Mash as our Computing Scheme of work. The Purple Mash Computing Scheme of Work is a comprehensive set of resources aligned to the National Curriculum for Computing, Technology and Digital Competence. The Scheme of Work is intended to facilitate teachers in achieving the very best outcomes for children. It exposes children to a wide variety of digital tools, technological skills, and innovations. It contains everything that is needed to deliver inspiring and engaging lessons whilst allowing for the flexibility to meet individual school needs. The scheme for Early Years (Reception) shows opportunities for using Mini Mash or Purple Mash as part of the Early Years classroom to support children in working towards early learning goals.
At St James Primary School we use Charanga as our Music Scheme of work. Charanga is an award-winning, modern-day resource for primary music that covers the National Curriculum. The scheme uses a vast library of songs, resources and listening activities celebrating the world’s greatest music and is used by 50,000 teachers nationwide. Charanga is taught through 6 units of work per year from Reception to Year 6. Each Unit of Work comprises the of strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music:
Alongside our Charanga music scheme we also have Musical lessons from the Manchester Music Service who support our Year 3 pupils to play Ukulele and year 2 pupils to play African Drums. We also incorporate music into our IPC topics where appropriate to ensure cross curricular links with music.