Please contact the school office for further curriculum information.

Intent

• Promote positivity, resilience, well-being and self-esteem
• Meet the needs of every child across the whole curriculum.
• Focus on the development of language and communication in every aspect of school life.
• Provide children with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed
• Provide a broad, ambitious, engaging and relevant curriculum.
• Rooted in Gospel values develop global citizens of the future

At the Annunciation Catholic Junior School, we strongly believe that education is the key to social mobility; providing limitless opportunities for our pupils to shape their futures. We aim to develop the whole child - academically, artistically, physically, spiritually, morally, socially and culturally. We believe that the acquisition of knowledge and skill are of equal importance and therefore have developed a curriculum using a cumulative and spiral approach. Subjects are taught discreetly, as individual subjects, but we do make cross curricular links that enable children to apply knowledge and skills in other areas.

During their time with us we aim to equip pupils with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. To achieve this, we recognise the importance of key academic, personal and vocational skills which prepare them for their next stage in life. Alongside investing in pupils’ cultural capital, our Catholic values play a huge role in preparing them to be educated citizens ready to make their own individual impact on the world. During their time with us we aim to ensure that your children live their lives through Gospel values. Our school Mission Statement is ‘Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire’ and we try to live this out in all that we do. Our school values, which are derived from our Dominican roots, support this mission in guiding our thinking and our behaviour.

Our intention is that our pupils will find a love for learning and develop resilience that allows them to recognise areas of strength and areas of development, recognising what steps need to be taken to improve. Our rich and varied curriculum offer coupled with the clear individual teacher feedback offered to pupils provide children with strategies needed to make next steps in their learning and personal development.

At our school there is a focus on the importance of reading and writing so that children become fluent communicators with a skillset that allows them to access all other subjects. Our well-planned maths and science curriculum increase pupils’ capacity to hypothesise, investigate, evaluate and deepen prior knowledge.

Pupils will develop high expectations of themselves in terms of their learning and behaviour. They will be encouraged to be independent learners who can work in collaboration with others, curious about the curriculum they are offered. They will develop support and nurturing skills towards their peers and also organisational skills to support their learning. These behaviours and expectations will work to contribute to society well educated, responsible global citizens when our pupils leave us to take their next steps in education and their future careers.

Our curriculum is taught by teachers with high expectations who plan and deliver a curriculum that is interesting, extends children’s understanding of different subjects that takes into account the local context and our diverse community.  The curriculum is ambitious, challenging and caters to the needs of all learners.

At The Annunciation Catholic Junior school, a glass ceiling is never placed on what our pupils can achieve and it is a non-negotiable that staff, pupils and parents recognise, as in our mission statement, that their potential impact on the world is limitless. We pride ourselves on being a place of safety, personal development and a place for pupils to develop their intellectual, moral and spiritual skills. We see our role as being a place where every day our pupils immerse themselves in experiences and self-discovery they would not have experienced had they not attended school that day.

Implementation

At The Annunciation Catholic Junior School, we have used the National Curriculum alongside specific year group topics. We have mapped out a Cumulative curriculum for non-core subjects where skills are taught progressively across year groups leading to knowledge building over time. A spiral curriculum is used in core subjects where teachers revisit previous learning and add new knowledge, e.g. persuasive writing is taught in both year 4   and year 5 with increasing complexity. Clear opportunities for speaking and listening are planned for across the curriculum.

Key skills are revisited throughout curriculum areas with an aim that children know more, can do more and ultimately remember more. Reflecting on the needs of our pupils, it is a non-negotiable that all subjects develop vocabulary, speech and language skills. Subject leaders have mapped out the skillset coverage intended for each of their subject areas ensuring that there is clear progression as children move from one year to the next and so that teachers have a clear understanding of why they are teaching a concept, what came before and what comes next. We have implemented through our progression of skillset documents, medium term and weekly plans a whole school curriculum that demonstrate high expectations for all.

Learning is purposeful, exciting and topic based with every lesson beginning with a learning question. Steps to success are clearly shared with the children so that they become in control of their own learning and know what they must work on to learn a specific concept. The community and wider area surrounding The Annunciation Catholic Junior School is important, and is reflected in outcomes and opportunities we provide for the children such as: specialist language teachers, specialist art and DT provision, specialist music provision, University led Brilliant Clubs, Drama clubs, public speaking opportunities, class trips, sports coaching, school events involving parents, assemblies and fundraising events.

We have a focus on providing children with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. It is for this reason we place such an importance on the arts, lunch time and after school clubs, school trips and inter-generational activities (E.g. Inviting elders from the community to talk about their experience of living in WW2).

Impact

The impact of the school’s curriculum can be seen through conversations with pupils about their knowledge of different topics they are studying and have studied. It can also be seen in books they produce and the outcomes for all groups of pupils within the school.  Our greatest impact will be seen when meeting our children who present as confident, knowledgeable, articulate, caring and happy unique individuals.

Everything we do is with the child at the centre, and strong relationships are built between pupils, staff and parents which create an atmosphere for learning which is conducive to success.

Pupils’ progress is measured through ongoing assessment and through three key assessment points during the year. Progression of skills documents are updated to address misconceptions and gaps in learning that have been identified to ensure that the curriculum effectively meets the needs of all pupils.

Appendix 1

• By the time your children leave us they will have experienced/ had opportunity to experience the following:
• Be involved in daily acts of worship
• Experience and lead liturgy
• Attend school mass
• Contribute towards their learning and be involved in decision –making that effects the whole school
• Be taught music lessons by a specialist Teacher
• Be taught Art by a specialist Art Teacher
• Be taught DT by a specialist DT Teacher
• Be taught a modern foreign language by a specialist Teacher
• Play an instrument
• Join a choir
• Join an orchestra
• Perform in local musical events and in well-known concert halls
• Attend a Drama Club
• Attend a Public Speaking Club
• Participate in memorable real-life experiences
• Be innovative and lead learning becoming ambassadors
• Actively engage in learning outside the classroom
• Learn a new language taught by a specialist
• Visit a central London Museum, travelling by public transport
• Go to a museum or place of interest outside of London
• Sleep at least one night away from school with their class
• Have a speaking part in a play /assembly
• Participate in weekly PE lessons taught by professional sports coaches
• Represent our school in a Sports Event
• Compete and collaborate in inter-house activities
• Compete in inter and intra sporting competitions
• Hold a position of responsibility within school
• Have their voice listened to and influence decision making
• Celebrate their culture and family traditions with others
• Take part in a celebration for another faith/culture from their own
• Grow vegetables in school
• Participate in cooking lessons
• Enter a school-based competition
• Have a piece of artwork displayed for all to see
• Join a range of clubs and extra-curricular activities both after school and during lunchtime
• Work with the local community
• Have or be a peer mentor
• Learn to swim
• Work alongside a professional story teller once a year
• Work with artists in residence
• Meet and host events attended by dignitaries
• Learn how to stay safe in a range of different situations
• Develop their wellbeing through lessons and mindfulness clubs
• Actively engage in helping those in need