Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Primary School

School Curriculum - Our Values, Methodology and Outcomes

Section 1: Our  School’s Values

As a Catholic school we believe that every human being is created in God’s image and likeness and therefore is valuable and worthy of respect.  We believe that Christ called us to love one another and that unless Christ is at the very heart of all that we are and all that we do, than we cannot be a Catholic School.

This call to love one another is used as the basis in the formation of Our Lady of the Wayside School’s values; values which underpin all our actions and which have been used to inform and shape the design of our school curriculum. These values are to be found rooted in the Beatitudes, the proclamation of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.  These values are:

• Values of Faithfulness and Integrity
• Values of Dignity and Compassion
• Values of Humility and Gentleness
• Values of Truth and Justice
• Values of Forgiveness and Mercy
• Values of Purity and Holiness
• Values of Tolerance and Peace
• Values of Service and Sacrifice

These values represent the aspirations we have for each and every child within our school community. They are integral to every aspect of school life and are woven into the fabric our curriculum’s intent, our curriculum’s implementation and how we evaluate and measure our curriculum’s success.

Section 2: Our School’s Methodology

Whilst our values form the basis of our core purpose as a school, and importantly as a Catholic school, we also have a shared and an agreed methodology.  Our methodology informs how we put our values into action, both through our curriculum design and the manner in which it is implemented. Our methodology is:

• Knowledge is at the heart of effective teaching and learning; the more knowledge children have the more they will make sense of the concepts taught.

• While concepts require knowledge to make sense, learning is more than just knowledge and the ability to recall information. Learning requires pupils to understand knowledge, to be able to apply knowledge to different contexts and to recall previous knowledge to assist in acquiring new knowledge.

• Learning is most effective when children have the opportunity to build on prior learning.  Knowledge, skills and understanding must be carefully planned and organised so learning is sequential and developmental.

• For knowledge to become embedded into long term memory, children need to develop understanding by applying knowledge into real contexts, contexts which excite and engage children- what we at Our Lady of the Wayside refer to as contextualised teaching and learning. Catholic Social Teaching underpins our contextualised teaching and learning.

• Children need to be provided with a breadth of contexts to ensure their understanding does not become context bound resulting in children struggling or unable to transfer knowledge from one context to another.

• Children (and adults) relate to stories and remember the story. Where ever possible, knowledge will be taught through the context of stories, stories linked to a person, a place or an event. We believe this will help children to remember the knowledge.

• Children have the right to be introduced to the very best that has been thought and said, for this helps engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement. We refer to this as cultural capital.

Section 3: Implementation of our Curriculum

Our Lady of the Wayside school leaders believe that class teachers are best placed in determining the learning sequence and the amount of lesson time required at that particular moment in time. To ensure our curriculum is successfully implemented (pupils knowing more, remembering more and being able to do more) teaching will react to the learning needs of the pupils based upon daily teacher assessments; what we refer to as assessment for learning or formative assessment. In practice, this means we operate a dynamic timetable with no set lesson times. When considering lesson timings, the class teacher will consider the teaching and learning focus. We have identified five foci:

Focus 1 – To acquire (the knowledge is taught) 

Focus 2 – To be fluent (the knowledge is performed accurately and fluently) 

Focus 3 – To maintain (the knowledge is retained and is retrievable) 

Focus 4 – To generalise (the knowledge is applied to different situations) 

Focus 5 -  To adapt (the knowledge is adapted to suit new situations and contexts)  

Lesson timings will reflect these foci, for example, if the focus of teaching was on children acquiring new knowledge, the length of the lesson would be reduced to avoid over loading the child’s working memory. In contrast, where the focus is on generalising and adapting knowledge gained, the length of the lesson is likely to be longer and driven by a learning task, or a skill based activity.

Section 3.1: Curriculum Content

Each curriculum subject is mapped, annually, onto a long term plan (LTP). This identifies the order in which concepts and knowledge are to be taught and ensures full curriculum coverage. As new knowledge builds upon existing knowledge, we believe it is essential that there are no knowledge gaps within our curriculum.

In addition to this long term plan, school leaders and curriculum champions have carefully considered and mapped knowledge end points for each subject; end points are sometimes referred to as curricula goals and are statements of knowledge outcomes. Here at Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic School, we refer to these end points as our ‘scope statements’. We used the 2014 National Curriculum to identify scope statements before adding our own School scope statements; these statements reflect our values and aspirations. The final stage of the process was the identification of the components parts of learning where each scope statement was broken down into smaller steps. When considering the sequence of learning, some components parts will be taught in a particular order; for others, the order is unimportant and the order is decided upon by the class teacher.

Our Lady of the Wayside School uses Microsoft Excel to map and record the implementation of our scope and components statements.

Section 4: Understanding Impact (Making a Difference)

Learning is defined by pyschologists as, ‘an alteration in long-term memory. If nothing has been altered in long-term memory, nothing has been learned.’ Sweller, J et al (2011). At Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic School, we believe academic achievement is defined by pupils knowing more, remembering more and doing more with the knowledge gained.

We review each child’s learning journey on a regular basis. We think of them as a historian, a scientist, a geographer etc. We use the language of developing, embedding or established to capture the child’s achievement and we have developed corresponding descriptors:

Section 4.1 Assessment and Recording Judgements

We have developed a three stage approach to the gathering and recording of assessments.

Stage 1 Assessments: These are ongoing and often informal assessments. Information is gathered from a variety of sources, including; outcomes from adult observations, a child’s response within lessons, outcomes from learning activities, assess and review outcomes and feedback from the child themselves.  This information is used by class teachers to build a picture of each child’s achievements. It is also informs the next steps in the teaching sequence for groups of pupils and for the individual pupil.

Stage 2 Assessments: This is summative process which involves the class teacher making a judgement on a particular element of a subject, for example, a child’s achievement in the addition and subtraction element of mathematics. The class teacher will make their judgement using information gathered from Stage 1 assessment, this may be supplemented by outcomes of formal testing. The Stage 2 judgement will never be made on the outcome of a single test. Curriculum champions, and school leaders, will use this information to identify curriculum strengths and areas for development. Stage 2 assessments will inform curriculum planning, resourcing and the professional development needs of teaching staff.

Stage 3 Assessments: Stage 3 assessments are very similar in purpose and format to Stage 2 assessments. They differ in that the class teacher makes a judgement on the subject as a whole, not on a particular element of the subject. The class teacher will make their judgement using information gathered from Stage 1 and Stage 2 assessments. The information is used to measure school effectiveness linked to a particular subject and to inform school improvement priorities.  This information will be shared and reviewed by curriculum champions, school leaders, Our Lady of the Wayside’s Local Governing Body and Our Lady and All Saints Catholic MAC.

Section 4.2 Sharing Teacher Assessments

From 1^st September 2022, we have introduced new arrangements for sharing achievement information with the child and their parents. Our new arrangements aim to:

• Ensure the child’s voice is heard and the child takes responsibility for their learning.
• Strengthen the partnership between teacher, child and parent.
• Provide parents with information in a timelier manner.
• Assist parents in better understanding how they can support their child’s education at home.
• Ensure teacher’s time is used efficiently and effectively.

Approximately every six weeks, children and parents receive a mini written report, what we refer to as a Pupil Report Card. Pupil Reports Cards contain information related to:

• Attendance
• National assessments (for Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6)
• School life and learning characteristics
• Curriculum achievement
• Next steps (child’s targets)
• Parent and pupil voice

Following the issuing of the latest Pupil Report Card, parents are invited to join with their child, and their child’s class teacher for a Pupil Review Meeting. These meetings will discuss what is going well and agree the next steps (targets). The child, and the child’s voice, at the heart of these meetings.