Whole School Curriculum Design at St John XXIII Catholic Primary School

Our School Mission Statement 

Our school Mission Statement was drawn up through consultation with the Governors, Staff, Parents and Children of St John XXIII Catholic Primary School. The statement reflects our schools mission to keep God in all aspects of our daily life.

 'We aim for excellence, with God at the centre of all

we think, do and say'

Our School Vision

St John XXIII Catholic Primary School is a culturally diverse and multilingual community founded upon the teachings of Christ; a community which has love, compassion and reconciliation at its heart. Our vision statement supports us in our spiritual life, our education and our behaviour. It permeates our curriculum as we our strengthened and guided by our patron saint, St John XXIII and his ‘Daily Decalogue’ to provide us with our spiritual goals ‘only for today’.

• Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
• Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behaviour; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
• Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
• Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
• Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
• Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
• Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
• Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
• Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.
• Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

Our School Aims

• To acknowledge the uniqueness of all pupils and staff in the school  
• To provide a meaningful, happy and secure learning environment in which pupils develop their God given talents and abilities and make progress according to their individual needs 
• To forge positive working relationships with parents and carers and encourage a partnership between home, school and parish, involving parents in all aspects and stages of school life 
• Further development of personalised and individual learning experiences so that pupils can increase their knowledge, understanding and skills in small progressive steps of achievement 
• To maximise engagement in learning opportunities through a broad, balanced and creative curriculum relevant to all pupils  
• To promote independence in children and develop a ‘readiness’ for all stages of transition 
• Equip pupils with effective communication skills, valuable life skills and positive behavioural skills  
• To ensure our pupils have a breadth of rich experience which supports learning, the development of life skills and promotes pupil voice  
• To encourage children to have aspirational goals and to pursue personal interests and to make choices and decisions so they can contribute positively to society 
• To ensure equality of opportunity for all, embracing everybody regardless of disability, gender, race, age or sexuality 
• The maintenance and further development of health and emotional well-being for all in the school community  
• To promote Fundamental British Values as part of SMSC, mutual respect, PSHE and Citizenship 

Whole School Curriculum Intent

At St John XXIII, we are committed to providing a broad, ambitious and carefully sequenced curriculum rooted in our Catholic ethos. Inspired by Pope Leo’s vision of Maps of Hope, we see education as a journey: one that provides clear direction, purpose and opportunity for every child. 

Our curriculum is intentionally designed so that knowledge and skills build progressively from Early Years to Year 6. Through planned sequencing and purposeful revisiting of key concepts, children deepen their understanding over time, strengthening both long-term memory and cognitive development. Learning is not isolated; it is connected, meaningful and responsive to the needs of our local community. 

Reading lies at the heart of our curriculum. We recognise that language is the gateway to learning and the foundation for future success. Through our systematic approach to phonics and reading, including Read, Write Inc, Accelerated Reader and high-quality class texts, we ensure that all pupils develop fluency, comprehension and, most importantly, a genuine love of reading. Rich vocabulary and purposeful talk are woven through every subject so that children become confident communicators. 

Guided by our belief that every child is created in the image of God, we hold high expectations for all. Our curriculum is inclusive and aspirational, ensuring that no child walks the journey alone. Through careful adaptation, encouragement and challenge, we enable every pupil — regardless of starting point — to flourish. 

By the time children leave St John XXIII, they will: 

• Communicate with confidence and compassion, using rich language to articulate their ideas, faith and understanding, becoming voices of hope and encounter in the world. 
• Journey as resilient pilgrims, embracing challenge with perseverance, guided by hope and a strong moral compass. 
• Recognise their God-given dignity and vocation, developing their unique gifts in service and solidarity with others. 
• Step forward with ambition and purpose, emotionally mature, responsible and ready to fulfil their mission in the next stage of education and beyond. 

Whole School Curriculum Implementation

Our mission statement sums up the expectations fostered at our school. We have a belief in teaching for depth and mastery so that in almost all cases and circumstances, a child can be supported to reach age related expectations in reading, writing and maths.  

We use the National Curriculum to ensure every teacher teaches the knowledge and understanding appropriate to that age group. The framework has been broken down into objectives to ensure there is clarity for the teaching staff on coverage. We value a knowledge led curriculum where we aim to develop children’s thinking and reasoning.  

As part of this planning process, teachers plan for the following: 

• A knowledge organiser for all subjects to ensure consistency across all areas of the curriculum; 
• A cycle of lessons for each subject, which carefully plans for progression and depth; 
• A Big Question at the start of each topic to find out what pupils know. This will be carried out independently so teachers can then plan forward from pupil starting points. 
• Double Page Spreads at the end of each topic, based on the Big Question, to show how learning is embedded throughout a topic 
• Challenge questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical and open manner 
• Trips, Experience Days and visiting experts who will enhance the learning experience; 

We believe in ‘Quality First’ teaching using the Graduated Approach for all children and have a clear set of phases to identify SEN children and a rigorous clear interventions plan which ensures we address any identified gaps in learning at the earliest opportunity through robust assessment.  

Subject Leaders receive up to date training to have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in curriculum design and delivery. They have the knowledge, expertise and practical skills to carry out this role to the best of their ability, closely supported by the Senior Leadership Team. Subject Leaders lead staff meetings to share their expertise in order to develop the confidence of all teachers. 

Subject Leaders produce a ‘Curriculum Map’ and ‘Subject Specific Curriculum Progression Maps’ for their subject area to ensure that skills are built upon year on year and children have opportunities to develop their cognitive memory by revisiting knowledge at different points in the year.  

Assessment is used daily in the form of Assessment for Learning. This informs the planning for future lessons and identifies where further individual or group support is needed. SONAR is used to track pupil progress and attainment in RE, Reading, Writing, Maths and Science. Foundation Subjects are assessed using the Big Question and retrieval quizzes following The Feedback Policy. 

Whole School Curriculum Impact

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods: 

In Class Feedback 

• We understand that feedback in linked to progress and has to be timely to make an impact. In class feedback is used to support teacher’s workload, ensure it is as immediate and timely and specific as possible, and leaves the teacher time to focus on individual identified needs. 

Corrective Teaching/Summative Assessment 

• When a pupil has not met the learning objective there is timely support so they are able to continue on the learning journey with their peers. Teachers adapt their planning for the next lesson to ensure there is time to address these misconceptions. It may be addressed in the next lesson, by a Teaching Assistant, in small groups in the lesson or at Booster Clubs. The misconceptions may also be addressed through in class marking, conferencing, verbal feedback or with the use of mini plenaries.  

Pre Teaching/Pre Assessment 

• All teachers must be aware of the pupil’s prior attainment. Through our Pre Learning Assessments  we aim to pre-empt the difficulties for some pupils. We analyse the information and plan the learning according to individual needs and cohorts. The Pre Learning Assessments provide the starting points for learning. Where possible, the Teaching Assistants support teachers and complete pre-learning activities or activities in lessons will be tailored to address the learning gap. This might be re visiting vocabulary or basic skills needed to access the age related objective.  

Interventions  

• When we identify need, we deliver short, focused, interventions. The interventions are repeated over a week, either, daily or a specified number of times per week. The interventions are specific to the need and they are given until the misconceptions are addressed or the gap in learning is reduced.  
• Same day interventions are also used to pick up on misconceptions from the current days teaching and learning.   

Partnership 

• Teachers engage parents through September welcome meetings. Parent Consultation Days ensure an effective partnership to ensure children meet their age related expectations.  

Moderation 

• RE, maths, reading and writing are all moderated internally to ensure we make robust judgements, particularly on transfer between key stages. Teachers also take part in external moderation at a Local Authority and Trust level. Every term, teachers meet to moderate RE and writing and ensure that teacher assessments are accurate.  

Formal Assessment Cycle  

• KS1/KS2 SAT’s in May 
• Year 1 Phonics in June 
• Annual PIRA and PUMA standardised tests in Reading and Maths in October, February and June. 
• Writing is moderated by all staff and then Teacher Assessment agreed based on the child’s performance in class.  
• SONAR is used termly to track attainment and progress against the subject specific learning objectives. This is in Reading, Writing, Maths, Science and RE. 
• Foundation Subjects are assessed in groups of children meeting the expected standard, working below/above the expected standard. This will be based upon ‘low risk quizzes’ and with use of the Knowledge Organisers.  
• Reading is assessed using the PM Benchmark Reading Records in Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and for those children in Year 3 still on the book bands.  
• Accelerated Reader is used for pupils from Year 2 to Year 6 
• EYFS use their OAP walls to live monitor pupils in the setting on a daily basis 

Report Cards and School Reports 

• Parents receive a Report Card at the end of the Autumn and Spring terms to inform them of their child’s targets for the following term.  
• School reports are issued at the end of the school year. All subjects, including RE, are marked as Working towards National Expectations, Meeting National Expectations or Exceeding National Expectations. 

Long Term Curriculum Maps

How Have We Designed Our Curriculum?

We have designed a curriculum that is relevant and contemporary.

The intent for our curriculum is richness in knowledge and skills and the development of resilience, independence and self-motivation. Also, as many of our pupils come to us in the Early Years with limited English, vocabulary acquisition is key through all subjects from Early Years to Year 6.

1) Our curriculum is reflective of our core mission:

We encourage our pupils to be aspirational through a broad programme of cultural capital – experiences and off site trips which open the world to our pupils. We have incorporated the study of inspirational scientists into our curriculum. We collaborate with a variety of occupations including the fire service, police force, Sky Academy

Gospel Values are at the heart of all that we do. We ensure a robust liturgical programme throughout the year that includes the regular celebration of Mass, Benediction, Confession, prayer and worship; Stations of the Cross. 

We encourage our pupils to harness a sense of self-belief. We celebrate achievement, effort and mistakes that help our children to learn.

2) Our curriculum is reflective of our context and locality, reflecting the needs of our children in Shepherds Bush

Cultural Diversity
As a school in Shepherds Bush, we ensure that our pupils’ personal development is grounded in acceptance and understanding of all. Our curriculum has been designed to reflect this.  Our curriculum has also been designed to ensure that pupils understand they are an important part of a global community.

Examples of our Curriculum Design:

- Windrush

- Remembrance 1914-1918: this includes a study of Walter Tull, the first black British Army Officer 

- the Civil Rights Movement 

- colonialism and the British Empire

- Khadja Saye - local artist who sadly lost her life in the Grenfell Tower fire

The Locality
We have designed our curriculum to ensure that our locality is central to our children’s learning. We have included the Tudors in our history curriculum due to our proximity to Hampton Court Palace and we also visit other local buildings of note e.g. Osterley House, Gunnersbury Park Museum. We make use of the locality and much of our map work centres around the local area. We are fortunate to have close links with London and its museums and galleries. We also ensure that our visits to London are by public transport to ensure that our children become responsible members of the public.

3) Sustainability and Life Skills

Sustainability

Examples of our Curriculum Topics:

Water, Water Everywhere! 

The Earth’s Resources 

and our science curriculum topics, all of which are reflective of a positive approach to sustainability and our quest to develop global citizens of the 21^st century with a sound understanding of climate change and how we can work towards saving our planet for future generations.

We have introduced an Eco shop and we are fortunate enough to have a conservation area where we have planted wild flowers.

Life Skills

Examples of our Curriculum Design:

Social Media: Friend or Foe? This topic explores a theme that has a huge influence on society, both positive and negative. Pupils explore ways to manage the pressures of social media and ways in which to stay safe online, which is supported by our work on E-Safety.

Managing Money 

The History of Democracy. This topic studies the signing of the Magna Carta to our present constitution. It is an important theme for our pupils as citizens of the 21^st century and is closely linked with our work on British Values. We ensure that our pupils study democracy and the importance of voting as a member of a national and global society. 

We also ensure that there is a robust programme of Internet Safety (all years) and a wide programme of cultural capital and off site trips which open the wider world to our pupils.

Our residential trip in Year 6 encourages our children to become independent, resilient and accountable for themselves. Our robust PSHRE programme ensures that our children know how to safeguard themselves and others.

We encourage our children to participate in a range of  public speaking events i.e. assemblies, productions, and that they have the opportunity to experience positions of responsibility i.e. Eco shop staff, Wellbeing Champions, Pupil Chaplains. 

 

4) Life-long readers

We encourage our children to develop a life-long love of reading. We provide the skills required for early reading through our chosen scheme Read, Write Inc. and we ensure that we instil reading confidence in our children by regular reading opportunities in class and by providing home reading books that match the sounds learned in lessons. We believe that this promotes a feeling of success which leads to confidence in reading.

We provide a variety of diverse, rich reading materials in our classrooms and in our libraries, and we have designed a curriculum that provides opportunities for reading across subjects e.g. in history, geography, science and RE. We believe that a positive reading culture, and the ability to read well, opens a world of opportunity for our children as they grow to adulthood and is a moral obligation.

The Principles of our Curriculum Design

•  Subject leaders use the following principles to ensure the success of our curriculum. 

• Challenge and Enjoyment

  We believe in practical application and experience.

  We believe that the enjoyment in learning contributes to the personal development of all pupils and so we are mindful of the Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural growth of all.

• Progression 

  We ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum and progression across all the expected Learning Objectives through mapping and monitoring.

• Language Development 

  We aim to ensure that vocabulary acquisition and development is a priority across all subjects from EYFS to Year 6.

  Reading is a priority applied across the curriculum.

• Depth

  We aim to ensure that play based learning is a focus in Early Years as it provides deep learning behaviours for the future.

  We use Learn, Recall, Remember: Knowledge Organisers to embed factual knowledge-based learning.

• Assessment for Learning

  We aim to ensure that Assessment for Learning is used in lessons to move learning forwards, to address misconceptions and to support planning for progression.

• Relevance

  We aim to ensure that real live experiences are supported.  Topics that take account of our community and wider world are key.  We provide opportunities for pupils to transfer skills across the curriculum.

• Coherence

  We ensure the skills of logic and consistency throughout our curriculum but particularly through the teaching of mathematics, Design and Technology, science and computing. Confidence in mathematics is held in high regard for curriculum success.

• Our Curriculum:

  is founded on Gospel values

  encourages learners to contribute to the ethos and life of the school community

  encourages problem solving and reasoning across all subjects

  provides an ambitious, relevant, knowledge and skills rich education

Our Curriculum Choices

Why The Religious Education Directory? (RE)

This programme guarantees continuity and progression in our RE teaching. It has been developed by the Teachers’ Enterprise in Religious Education and is based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Religious Education Directory.

 Why Read Write Inc.? (Phonics)

We have chosen to use Read Write Inc Phonics to support the development of our children’s reading regardless of socio-economic status, special need or language status. It provides a whole-school approach to teaching phonics and early reading. The impact of this programme means that we consistently achieve strong outcomes in the annual Year 1 Phonics Screening.

‘Success in reading is a more important driver of social mobility than socio-economic status (OECD, 2002)’ EEF, 2018

 Why The Power of Reading? (English)

The Power of Reading is a book based approach to English. We use the texts promoted by the CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Schools) to teach and to develop our children’s skills in both reading and writing. It is a programme  built on years of research and best practice.  The programme supports attainment in writing and vocabulary; this is important for us as many of our children come to us with English as an Additional Language.

 Why White Rose Maths? (Maths)

This programme gives our children a deep and conceptual understanding of maths. The Educational Endowment Fund found that the programme is proven to give pupils an average of two months progress compared to other pupils in comparison schools.

 Why Plymouth Science? (Science)

This programme contains pre-learning from previous year groups and lessons and cross curricular links across modules. It contains detailed lesson plans including knowledge, working scientifically and scientific enquiry objectives. It includes hands on learning and metacognitive approaches: mini quizzes, recapping, revisiting knowledge. We have built on this programme by including an aspirational study of inspirational scientists across KS2.

 Why have we developed our own programme for History and Geography?

We have developed our own history and geography programmes which are rich in knowledge and make reference – where appropriate – to our local area. We want our children to think deeply about the historical and geographical knowledge presented to them and so, throughout these programmes, there opportunities for discussion and questioning.

 Why our own programme for Spanish? (Modern Foreign Language)

Our MfL teacher is Spanish and has developed a programme that teaches the foundations of conversation and written Spanish, whilst also engaging our children by linking with topics that they already study, such as The Epiphany in RE.

 Why Get Set for PE? (PE)

We use a high quality PE programme that encourages our children to explore their creativity and to develop a positive connection to movement. Our children are physically active learners who are confident and competent in their PE skills and knowledge.

 Why iLearn2? (Computing)

The intent of iLearn2 is to help pupils become independent, creative, safe, respectful and problem-solving digital citizens with a broad and transferrable set of skills. It is built upon 3 strands: Computer Science (code writing, using web based software, using interactive games and text-based language); Information Technology (the use of applications to create digital content, including document creation and editing, video making, digital art, graphic design, animation, 3D modelling and website building); and Digital Literacy (skills to find, evaluate, utilise and share using technologies and the Internet. This also includes important e-safety and internet research skills, as well as an understanding of computer networks).  

Our children build upon skills and concepts established from the previous year and develop them further in the current and subsequent year.  The e-safety skills are mapped to the Education for a Connected World Framework.  

 Why Kapow? (Art and Design)

We wanted an art curriculum that is knowledge-rich and that gives our children a wide range of skills and progression in what they can achieve creatively. Kapow builds self-knowledge and exposes them to a wide variety of media, techniques, approaches and artists.

 Why Kapow? (Design and Technology)

We believe that Design and Technology is about providing opportunities for our children to develop their knowledge and understanding to create quality products. Kapow nurtures creativity and innovation through design and helps to develop our children’s skills through collaborative working and problem-solving.