...a haven of hope and aspiration...

As a safe haven of hope and aspiration our richly unique and diverse children are nurtured with kindness and compassion, learning to value themselves and others. We have planned the curriculum to help children to be resilient learners who are ready to flourish, so that they can be ready to make the most of their future lives. Our school values of Compassion, Aspiration, Friendship, Resilience and Respect underpin everything that we do and guide our children to be good citizens in an every increasingly complex and challenging world.

We want our children to be life long lovers of learning whose immersion in meaningful and memorable experiences will allow them to make connections and use their critical thinking skills in order to ask questions, find answers and use carefully constructed and cohesive blocks of skills and knowledge in order to succeed.  Our curriculum is a creative and thematic approach to learning that is mapped to the new 2014 Primary National Curriculum to ensure comprehensive coverage of national expectations.

Our curriculum is delivered through Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs) and knowledge projects which provides a rich menu of exciting and motivating learning activities that make creative links between all aspects of our children’s learning. We believe that our children learn better when they are encouraged to use their imagination and to apply their learning to engaging contexts.

Our personalised approach places children with SEND and EAL at the centre of our learning experiences. Building carefully from their existing skills and knowledge, pupils are invited to express and to communicate their learning, enabling an inclusive and responsive frame. All adults ensure that learning is presented in manageable chunks and is faithful to the identified provision and needs of these and all groups of pupils.

We recognise that some pupils may have limited opportunities for rich experiences outside of school; those fostered in school aim to mitigate any social disadvantage through this approach. We offer a wealth of learning challenges throughout the academic year that require all groups of pupils to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding effectively across the curriculum.

Our curriculum also provide a rigorous essential skills framework that outlines the end of year expectations in all subjects. These essential skills are tied to activities and are age related so that staff can track children’s progress and identify their individual learning needs.

Reading sits at the heart of our curriculum and is powered by a text driven approach. We employ core decoding skills through phonics as a base for effective decoding by segmenting for reading and blending for reading into spelling. In order to expose all children to high quality inclusive texts that promote a love of reading, a thirst to acquire vocabulary and a drive to be authors through exciting and purposeful writing initiatives Archbishop Courtenay Primary School uses a range of resources to engage and support learning.

PSHE lessons ensure that we support all our children’s social and emotional well-being and mental health so that they are able to articulate and share their feelings with increasing confidence. The children’s spiritual development is placed front and centre in our curriculum as part of our commitment as a Church school. We offer a safe haven for all children; we celebrate their differences and strive to prepare them for the next stage in their education using our school and the British values to anchor them as model citizens.