Curriculum Statement

Curriculum Vision

At Our Lady’s Bishop Eton Catholic Primary School we have a broad and balanced curriculum that supports our pupils to learn, grow and develop into Citizens of the World. We have carefully mapped out our curriculum, experiences and responsibilities so that we offer all our children the opportunity to develop personally and academically regardless of a pupil’s starting point. We prepare pupils for their futures whilst always learning from the past and what came before. Our inclusive curriculum is underpinned by a shared set of values and beliefs, which promote equality and diversity, including the Gospel Values. We offer a curriculum in which our values are not limited to the explicit teaching of PSHE and Religious Education lessons but instead offer additional opportunities throughout our Core and Foundation subjects to reflect upon our attitudes and beliefs.

Values Curriculum

At Our Lady’s Bishop Eton Primary School, we believe that it is the Gospel Values that shape how we behave, what we say and how we build relationships. We also believe that schools have a moral purpose and that we should encourage our pupils to become responsible citizens who contribute positively to society. The philosophy and ethos of Our Lady’s Bishop Eton ton School is based on a positive work ethic, tolerance, respect and kindness and we promote these Gospel values through everything that we say and do. Like riding a bike, values are learned through a combination of instruction and practice. Our children learn what the Gospel Values are, how to recognise them, and how people react to them, equipping them with invaluable social skills and emotional intelligence.

Our Values Curriculum creates a caring and supportive community and a strong learning environment that both enhances academic achievement and develops our children’s social and relationship skills. This positive learning environment is achieved through the positive values modelled by staff throughout the school. It liberates teachers and students from the stress of confrontational relationships, which frees up substantial teaching and learning time. It also provides social capacity to pupils, equipping them with social and relationship skills, intelligences and attitudes to succeed at school and throughout their lives.

Our children learn about the Gospel Values primarily through everyday interaction with everyone in the school community. It is through modelling positive behaviour and values that we can all understand our expectations of each other and how we all want to be treated. To support this, we have a structured approach to Religious Education, Prayer and Liturgy, our Catholic Life and assemblies; all of which teach the values and encourage children to deepen their understanding of what the values mean to them

The Government defines British values as:

  • Democracy
  • The rule of law
  • Individual liberty
  • Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

These values fit within the school’s values and are promoted and supported throughout the curriculum and through our attitudes and relationships.

Some of the ways that we promote our values include:

  • Positions of responsibility: Pupils elect Head Boy and Head Girl and House Captains.
  • School council and Live Simply Council:  Pupils elect the members who then represent their class at meetings
  • Curriculum: RE lessons provide opportunities to learn about many different faiths and beliefs. PHSE lessons focus on rights, responsibilities and making good choices
  • Assemblies:  cover stories from many faiths and cultures
  • Policies: Such as Inclusion and Equal Opportunities ensure that no group is discriminated against
  • Circle times and restorative conversations are used to bring issues out into the open and strengthen relationships

Curriculum Intent

At Our Lady’s Bishop Eton our intent is that all pupils receive a high-quality, sequenced curriculum which engages and challenges pupils. Through building upon National Curriculum aims, we have personalised our curriculum offer to reflect our locality and culture as well as offering the opportunity to familiarise learners with cultures and viewpoints that may differ from their own. We have placed significant emphasis on making our curriculum broad and balanced; all National Curriculum subject areas have equal importance, however we understand that success in these subjects is often underpinned by basic Literacy and Numeracy knowledge. We challenge all pupils to succeed in all areas of their academic journey and therefore we do not narrow our curriculum; our success is rooted in our pupil’s exposure to wider progressive knowledge, vocabulary, conceptual understanding and the schemas they develop.

The curriculum ecompasses all learning including visits, visitors and wider enrichment opportunities such as residentials. We take pride in our busy schedule of extra-curricula activities which enrich and challenge our pupils to become the most rounded individuals they can be. We offer pupils further opportunities to develop cultural capital through clubs including: instrumental tuition, Music Theory club, Samba drumming and a ukelele club; a wide range of sports clubs which utilise expertise from our local community – athletics, fencing, judo, football, gaelic football and gymnastics; and we have a wide range of clubs which promote our school values such as e-Cadets, Pupil Council, Live Simply and the Mini-Vinnies.

Curriculum implementation

We have carefully mapped out learning and skills across the school, so that pupils develop into independent learners who are motivated, resilient and ready for the transition into the next stage of their academic lives.

  • Subject leaders map out their own curriculum vision, plan and sequence lessons to ensure a consistent approach to learning. Where required we use high-quality schemes and adapt them to meet the needs of our pupils. This process is overseen by SLT to ensure that all learning is progressive, connected and sequenced.
  • Teachers plan lessons to ensure all pupils receive a high-quality education.
  • Teachers have a whole-school approach to teaching pedagogy linked to the subject area.
  • Teachers share a collective understanding and adapt to the needs of pupils and our pedagogical approach is underpinned by the 5-a-day principles from the EEF.
  • The curriculum is sequenced and has a spiral approach which allows for members of staff to readily reference prior learning and knowledge at regular, planned intervals in the curriculum delivery. It also allows pupils the ability to revisit similar themes and concepts with an ever increasing conceptual understanding of the subject matter.
  • Subject specific skills and knowledge are assessed throughout all curriculum areas, this includes the use of formative and summative assessment

Our Core Values of Respect, Resilience and Responsibility are essential to our curriculum; they guide our pupils’ behaviour in lessons which ensures that pupils work collaboratively and communicate effectively; when required they can be independent learners who are resilient; and have clear understanding of the responsibility they hold within our school community. These, as well as our Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural values including our British Values, are also interwoven into our curriculum allowing pupils the chance to reflect on these values in their learning. 

Curriculum Impact

In order to ensure our curriculum has the desired outcomes for our pupils, we regularly measure impact. We do this through:

  • On-going formative and summative assessment of lessons and units.
  • Monitoring of work
  • Internal and external moderation of work
  • Pupil and parent voice
  • Celebrating learning in lessons and at the end points of units
  • Sampling and promoting work from across the school
  • Tracking of data and pupil progress
  • Tracking of end of key stage assessment standards against National Averages

All subject areas share and contribute to the school’s curriculum vision that through an enriching curriculum delivered to all, pupils become independent, resilient learners whose values and knowledge make them Citizens of the World. 

Each subject forms a vital piece of a holistic jigsaw; they build a pupil’s understanding of the world around them, and in doing so, challenge their own perceptions of it. Although all subjects have their unique disciplinary intricacies, they all share the school’s curriculum intent.

All subjects share a consistent approach to implementing and measuring impact in line with our whole-school curriculum intent.