Learning

Equal opportunities are provided for all children regardless of gender, race, disability or SEND need; this is in line with the Equalities Act 2010 and SEN and Disability Regulations 2014. Please see our SEND page for more information. This means that every child has the chance to take part in the whole school curriculum. We plan to develop the whole child and provision is made to ensure pupils’ social, emotional, physical and intellectual development.

Curriculum

Children in the Foundation Stage (i.e. those in Reception classes) follow a curriculum based on the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.

Children in Year 1 to Year 6 follow the National Curriculum 2014, including the following core subjects:

English
Mathematics
Science
Computing

and foundation subjects

History
Geography
Design Technology
Art
Physical Education
Music
Languages
Religious Education

The long term plan ensures that all the curriculum areas are covered during the year and activities are matched to pupils’ abilities. We provide rich and varied contexts for pupils to acquire, develop and apply a broad range of knowledge, understanding and skills

We encourage children to develop independence, teamwork and collaboration in their work. We teach them to look after resources and to use materials correctly.

Engagement

At St James we work with our families, to link our key values of community, peace, respect, forgiveness, trust and courage. We ensure all our families know about our curriculum and enable them to engage in our learning.

As a school we:

Hold parents evenings twice a year
Hold three grand finales inviting parents to view the work of our students
Have phonics and math's workshops
Send out curriculum newsletters
Communicate through our schools social media
Invite parents for regular coffee mornings and events

Assessment, Recording and Reporting

We continually assess our pupils and families will be informed of progress and may have access to the records that we keep. Parents will receive a written report on their child at the end of each school year. There will be consultation evenings for parents throughout the school year to discuss your child’s attainment with the class teacher.

Additionally:

At the end of the Year 1 parents are informed of their child’s phonic screening score.
At the end of Year 2 and 6, teacher assessments and SATS (Standard Assessment Tests) are reported to parents.

Educational Visits

During the year visits are made as part of the curriculum. Also we may invite theatre groups and other people of interest to educate and inspire the children. In these cases you may be asked to make a contribution towards the cost. We try to keep the costs as low as possible in the hope that parents will make the contributions necessary to enable the event to take place. No pupil will be treated differently according to whether or not a contribution has been made. If insufficient contributions are received the events may have to be cancelled.

Relationship and Sex Education

Throughout the curriculum we promote healthy relationships between friends and family. We regularly discuss what makes a good friend and how to resolve arguments and difficult relationships. We formally teach the children about the development of human bodies along with human and animal reproduction as part of the science national curriculum.

Staff will answer children’s questions as truthfully as possible and all Year 6 pupils undertake an informal program of relationship and sex education led by our school nurse. Parents/carers are provided with information about this program and are able to view any of the resources used.

A copy of the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Policy is available from the school office.

Enrichment Opportunities

There is the opportunity for pupils to participate in a wide range of extra curricular activities.

Some of our past and current opportunities are;

Multisport
Hockey
Digital Leaders
Football
Craft
Needlework
Dance
Performing arts
Gymnastics
Music