Our Curriculum

 Dear young people, do not bury your talents, the gifts that God has given you! Do not be afraid to dream of great things!    

Pope Francis

At St Joseph's, our curriculum is a journey with a destination. We want our children to know more and remember more; to grow and flourish into young people and future adults of great character and strong Christian values, 'We plant seeds ... that one day will grow'. Reading and oracy are at the heart of our curriculum. This is because, these skills allow pupils to access other areas of learning and develop their understanding of the world, literature, art and science. Many pupils start school with low levels of literacy, including speaking and listening and as a result we ensure that high levels of oracy are built into our curriculum. We are passionate that every child is read to each day at school, exposing children to new and adventurous vocabulary so that they can develop their voice and imagination. A large percentage of our pupils who are on the SEND register, have speech and language needs, therefore our curriculum is designed to enhance oracy skills at all levels, including challenge for all.

In order to develop and refine our curriculum offer, we read 'Simplicitus' by Emma Turner, which is based on Quintilian's thinking around education. We explored, What is learning? How are skills and knowledge acquired? We identified the key learning for each subject and each year group - the 'bread and butter' of our curriculum. We highlighted practice and memory as important to our pupils' learning experiences. Our curriculum is, in the words of educationalist, Mary Myatt, 'A never-ending story' - we are always refinining and enhancing.

Our curriculum is taught with the belief that everyone is capable of learning. We have high expectations of all our pupils and our curriculum has purpose and variety. Quality books and images are used to promote an engagement in reading and stimulus for talk. Our curriculum is sequenced and builds on prior learning so that children know more and remember more, equipping them to be stewards of God's creation and to shine their own unique lights in the world.