Our aim is that each child who leaves our school will be a confident, competent and caring member of the community, with a desire to continue learning rooted in a firm belief in the love of God.
- Through our curriculum we are trying to achieve
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- A love of God
- a broad and deep curriculum where qualities other than solely academic ones are valued and respected (the value of the arts)
- independent learners with a passion for lifelong learning,
- engagement (wonder and excitement about the world children live in),
- awareness (an awakening to the vast variety of opportunities available),
- connectedness (how things sit together & the butterfly effect, children’s own attitude etc impacts on their learning & ability to achieve things, not necessarily academic achievements),
- rich variety of learning experiences, reflecting different cultures, attitudes and opinions to the big questions in life,
- sense of community and everyone having a part to play,
- tolerance, accountability, respect, forgiveness and healthy moving forward together,
- healthy well being.
- Excitement about the world children live in and a desire to know more about it, children therefore need to be aware of as much of it as possible so they can see how it is constructed and how they might fit into the huge web that they are part of without being trapped by it.
- Our curriculum is implemented in different ways
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- Under the school statement to live by: Living, loving and learning together with our eyes focused on Jesus.
- Faith building, (prayer, worship, example)
- Under a cultural arch that spans two years, curriculum during Year A is linked to Our Mining Heritage & during Year B the Cultural Diversity of Britain is our focus.
- formally in the class room, (national curriculum planning, development & learning of key skills, recognition of different teaching & learning styles, non-negotiables, discrete subjects – linked where it fits),
- visitors into school,
- trips to places,
- participation in Arts Award,
- responsibilities within school,
- involvement in projects & activities inside and outside of school on a school, village, parish, county, country and worldwide scale,
- respect for others, their opinions and their differences,
- growing children’s self-esteem through patience, love, understanding and forgiveness.
- Our curriculum has the following impact:
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- Children ready for the next stage of life’s journey.
- Children have good spiritual, moral, social and emotional development.
- Children want to make a difference to the lives of others.
Reading and Phonics
At Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and at St Joseph’s Schools we believe that being able to read and write are the vital skills that enable us to understand and express ourselves more effectively.
These skills open the door to learning. We passionately believe in helping children to develop not only the technical skills of reading and writing, but also in engendering a love for literature and the different genres of writing.
Phonics
Our teaching and support staff have been trained in the phonics programme ‘Sounds~Write’. Our teaching of reading and writing within the school is, therefore, based on the Sounds~Write programme. This begins very early on when children join in Reception and continues until a child is a confident and competent reader and speller. Sounds~Write is used around the world and is one of the DfE approved schemes.
The knowledge of sounds and symbols is an important starting point for understanding and using written language and we believe that a strong and consistent approach to the teaching of phonics is vital for our children to begin to access the rest of the curriculum. This is, however, used in conjunction with many other strategies to help children to begin to read and write.
Find out more about Sounds~Write here: Sounds~Write
While learning to read children are given fully decodable readers to build confidence and encourage a love of reading.
Once children move away from these books they are encouraged and helped to read books that are appropriate for their level using assessment through Accelerated Reader. Our reading library is catalogued and differentiated using the Accelerated Reader scheme. This is a powerful tool for monitoring and managing independent reading practice while promoting reading for pleasure.
Find out more about Accelerated Reader here: AR Parents Guide (Reading)
- Search for a book on AR Bookfinder here
- To log into OLQM Home Connect, click here
- To complete an OLQM Accelerated Reader Quiz, click here
- To log into STJ Home Connect, click here
- To complete a STJ Accelerated Reader Quiz , click here
Social Media
Please keep an eye on our Twitter feed for updates and insights of school life.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
At Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Primary and St Joseph’s Schools, we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers. The Curriculum is all the planned activities that the school organises in order to promote learning, personal growth and development. Further information can be found in the SEN Information Report.
If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.
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