Curriculum Rationale
“The overall curriculum aim for is to continue with our high standards in core subjects, ensuring these skills can be applied across the curriculum while also raising the profile of these subjects.” Mrs Lakner
Our Curriculum intent –
We want the children at St Raphael’s not just to know the Gospel values of compassion, justice, forgiveness, respect, perseverance, courage and community but to live them. We want the children to leave with the personal qualities and skill set to fulfil their own aspirations and have the courage to embrace the challenges they may face on this path and have strategies to deal with setbacks. We want the children to be caring and have pride in their community and a sense of belonging that will enable them to live life to the full.
- Our School Development Plan can be viewed here.
- A copy of the school’s ten non-negotiable statements can be found here.
Religious Education
Religious Education is led by Mrs Lakner and Mrs Shields.
“This year in RE we are developing the role of our worship leaders. The worship leaders will be trained and led by staff to develop worship throughout the school through their involvement with each class. Also they will lead reflection times in the chapel before school begins. A further aim this year is to refine and develop our use of assessment in RE so as to monitor the progress and attainment of our pupils. This will involve working with the diocese and with other schools.”
- The school follows the dioceses approved scheme, The Way the Truth and the Life (TWTL).
- More information about the rationale for TWTL can be found here.
- In addition to this we cover world faiths within our RE curriculum during special events and celebrations as a school.
- Our RE policy can be found here.
- Prayer and worship is a key part of school life and also complements the curriculum and our worship policy can be found here.
- The Shrewsbury Diocese Education page can be found here.
RSE
Here at St Raphael’s we recognise the value that a high-quality RSE curriculum can offer to our pupils. We embrace the challenges of creating a happy and successful future adult life for all our pupils, by giving them knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships. We deliver this teaching through the prism of Catholic RSE. We follow the ‘Life to the Full’ programme, produced by Ten:Ten. The framework of ‘Life to the Full’ is taken from the Model Catholic RSE Programme by the Catholic Education Service.
- To view the policy for RSE click here.
- To view our intent and curriculum overview click here.
- To view the Whole School Overview click here.
- To view the Programme Pathway click here.
- To view the Information for Parents Booklet click here.
- Parents portal log in information click Parents Portal Information
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Our SEN lead Mrs Neale. The national guidelines on school’s provision for SEN has been changed from September 2014.
“My aim for SEND is to ensure that all children are happy and independent in their learning. We will focus this year on early identification of needs and in particular on supporting children with communication and language delay.”
- Information on our SEN offer can be found here.
- Information on the Tameside Local Offer can be found here.
- Our SEN policy can be found here..
Early Years Foundation Stage
Our EYFS team teachers are Mrs McLeod in the nursery class and Mrs Shields and Miss Wilson in the reception class. We follow the national guidelines on the curriculum called Development Matters. This is explained in the curriculum overview at the top of the page.
At St.Raphael’s we aim to provide abroad, balanced, differentiated curriculum which addresses the children‘s social, emotional, physical, intellectual, moral and cultural development within a safe, secure, stimulating environment. Our curriculum enables the child to learn and develop skills, attitudes and understanding in the 7 EYFS areas of learning:
The prime areas are:
- Personal, Emotional and Social Development (PSED)
- Communication and Language (CL)
- Physical development (PD)
The specific areas are:
- Mathematics (M)
- Literacy (Lit)
- Understanding the World (UW)
- Expressive Art and Design (EAD)
“Our aim for EYFS is to further develop outdoor provision ensuring that the children continue to receive purposeful learning opportunities.”
- Further information on Development Matters can be found here.
- The EYFS Policy can be found here.
- The EYFS Outdoor Learning Policy can be found here.
English
English is led by Miss Wilson. The school follows the National Curriculum.
“My aim for English this year is for all children to be immersed in a school reading culture which will promote an appreciation of reading and allow the children’s love of reading to be refreshed. In addition we want to embed our writing targets to support children having an increased ownership of their own writing.”
- Information on our Reading Scheme can be found here.
- Information and support with our Phonic Scheme can be found here.
- Information on Writing can be found here.
- Our English polices can be found here for Literacy, Writing, SPAG and Phonics.
- Information on our Reading objectives for each year group can be found here.
- Information on and Writing objectives for each year group can be found here.
- Information on Speaking objectives for each year group can be found here.
Mathematics
Mathematics is led by Mr Matthews.
“My aim this year in maths is to further develop reasoning skills throughout the school so the children are resilient mathematicians who understand that in order to make progress they must persevere with a problem or puzzle. We want the children of St. Raphael’s to enjoy the challenge of applying their excellent maths skills in a variety of ways.”
- The school follows the National Curriculum.
- Information on our Maths teaching and some support for parents can found on the maths page here.
- Information on our Calculation Policy can be found here.
- Our Mathematics Policy can be found here.
- Information on the key learning in these areas can be found below.
| Year 1 | Key Objectives | Target Sheet |
| Year 2 | Key Objectives | Target Sheet |
| Year 3 | Key Objectives | Target Sheet |
| Year 4 | Key Objectives | Target Sheet |
| Year 5 | Key Objectives | Target Sheet |
| Year 6 | Key Objectives | Target Sheet |
Science
Science is led by Mrs Murphy. The school follows the National Curriculum.
“In science this year I would like to see classes develop floor books to encourage questioning and collaborative investigations.”
- Information on our Science teaching can be found here.
- Information on our Curriculum Overview can be found here.
- Our Science policy can be found here.
- Information on our End of Year Expectations for Science can be found below.
| Year 1 | Target Sheet | Key Stage 1 Science Progression |
| Year 2 | Target Sheet | |
| Year 3 | Target Sheet | Key Stage 2 Science Progression |
| Year 4 | Target Sheet | |
| Year 5 | Target Sheet | |
| Year 6 | Target Sheet |
Computing
Computing is led by Miss Taylor.
“My aims for Computing this year are; to further support the use of technology to support teaching, learning and assessment; to develop the Computing curriculum across all classes and to inspire children to become competent coders and users of technology to support their own learning and To support teachers in the development of their own skills to allow the effective delivery of the computing curriculum and the use of technology to enhance learning.”
- The school follows the National Curriculum using the Rising Stars Scheme.
- Information on our Computing Scheme can be found here and here.
- Information and Guidance on E-Safety and School Policy can be found here.
- DFE Guidance for Parents on Cyber Bullying can be accessed here.
- Our Acceptable Use agreement for children can be found will be uploaded soon.
- Our Computing policy can be found here.
Physical Education
Physical Education is led by Mrs Lee.
“Our aim for PE is to improve standards of teaching and learning to ensure that children are provided with the best opportunities to develop physical literacy. This will include a focus on doing, feeling, thinking and health within sports. As well as sport we are looking to develop health and well being through different means such as yoga, fitness and healthy eating.”
- The school follows the National Curriculum and is assisted by the Tameside Sport Coaches.
- Information on our Physical Education Expectations can be found here for here for KS1 and here for KS2.
- Our Sport Funding Statement for parents can be found here.
- Our Physical Education policy will be uploaded later in the year.
Art
Art is led by Mr Matthews.
“My aim is to create an enjoyment and appreciation of art through high quality teaching and learning. Given the skills and confidence, every child at St. Raphael’s will work towards producing a piece of art that they can be proud of.”
- Information on our Art and Design Curriculum can be found and here.
- Information on the key learning in these areas can be found here.
- Our Art and Design policy can be found here.
Music
Music is part of the well-being team led by Mrs Lee, Mrs McLeod and Mrs Shields.
“My goal is to support staff across the school to teach a wide range of music skills across a range of genres, developing pupils’ passion for music within a stimulating and safe environment.”
- The school follows the National Curriculum. We are currently working towards gaining the Arts Mark. We are assisted in this by the support of the Tameside Music Service.
- Information on our Music Curriculum can be found here.
- An overview of the Charanga Music Scheme can be found here.
- Our Music policy can be found here.
History
History is led by Mrs Neale.
“I look forward to developing History so that the children enjoy it as a story full of colour, fascination, action and occasionally gore. I aim to help raise the standards and progression in teaching and develop a creative curriculum.”
- The school follows the National Curriculum.
- Information on our History Curriculum can be found here.
- Information on our History Curriculum Map can be found here.
- Information on the key learning in these areas can be found here and here.
- Our History policy will be uploaded later in the year.
Geography
Geography is led by Mrs Neale.
“Our aim in Geography is to inspire in pupils a curiosity about the world, whilst fostering a sense of responsibility for the earth and its resources, this will included a school based recycling project organised by the children. Alongside this we aim to focus on the development of key geographical skills.”
- Information on our Geography Curriculum can be found here.
- Information on our Geography Curriculum Map can be found here.
- Information on the key learning in these areas can be found here, here and here.
- Our Geography policy can be found here.
Modern Foreign Languages
MFL is led by Mrs Neale.
“Our aim for French is for the children to grow in confidence with their spoken French and to begin to read and write some key words and phrases.”
- The school follows the National Curriculum. Mrs Neale delivers this to each class over three terms of the year.
- Information on our French Curriculum Statutory Expectations can be found here
- Information on our Curriculum Map can be found here.
- An overview of the progression of the vocabulary taught will be uploaded later in the year.
- Our French Policy can be found here.
Design & Technology
Design and Technology is led by Mrs Murphy. The school follows the National Curriculum.
“This year in D&T I would like to see children have more opportunities to develop planning, making and evaluating skills.”
- Information on our Design and Technology Curriculum Statutory Expectations can be found here.
- Information on the key learning in these areas can be found here.
- Information on the Food aspects of the curriculum can be found on the Food Forum website with a link here.
Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Relationship and Sex Education (RSE)
PSHE and RSE is led by Mrs McLeod
PSHE
At St Raphael’s, PSHE enables our children to become healthy, independent and responsible members of society. It aims to help them understand how they are developing personally and socially, and tackles many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up.