The Aims of our Curriculum

1. Fulfil the requirements of The Early Years Foundation Stage, The National Curriculum (2014) and RECD (RE Curriculum Directory) 

2. Provide pupils with the essential knowledge and skills that they need to become educated citizens and provide opportunities to develop their creativity and critical thinking skills  

3. Promote a positive attitude to learning: inspire and enthuse children and develop strong foundations for lifelong learning  

4. Enable children to achieve to the very best of their ability (including both attainment and progress)  

5. Teach children about the world in which they live: how their environment and society has changed over time and Britain’s cultural heritage  

6. Enable children to be positive citizens in society: help them to distinguish right from wrong, respect the law and the basis on which it is made and to encourage pupils to become involved in decision making and promote pupil voice  

7. Encourage pupils’ self-esteem and self-confidence, enabling children to have respect for themselves and each other and realise their uniqueness and self-worth  

8. Uphold British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and respect and acceptance of those with different faiths and beliefs  

9. Promote respect for individual differences (including differences of faith, ethnicity, disability, gender and difference of family situations) so that they are able to live and work cooperatively with others and grow up committed to equal opportunities for all  

10. Enable children to develop their computing skills in an increasingly digital age. To ensure that they are responsible users of ICT by teaching children how to stay safe online, how to protect themselves from harm and how to take responsibility for their own and other’s online safety 

11. Empower pupils to make well informed choices and decisions to lead a healthy and happy life, including decisions about: diet, fitness, personal health, relationships, personal safety and finance 

Our Approach to Teaching and Learning

St Anne’s and Guardian Angels’ approach to delivering the best teaching and learning for our pupils has been informed by the 2014 review What Makes Great Teaching by Robert Coe et al. In line with this research, our view is that the best teaching is ‘that which leads to improved student achievement using outcomes that matter to their future success […] student progress is the yardstick by which teacher quality should be assessed’. 

As such there are four key areas which underpin quality teaching. They are: 

        1. Pedagogical and Content Knowledge: Understanding the content 

        2. Classroom Climate: Creating a supportive environment for learning 

        3. Maximising Opportunities to Learn: Managing the classroom effectively 

        4. Activating Hard Thinking: The quality of instruction, content, activities and interactions  

These elements are expanded upon in our Curriculum and Teaching & Learning Policy.