St Winifred’s Catholic Primary School 

Curriculum Statement and

Policy on Teaching and learning

Teaching and Learning Policy

At St Winifred’s we are committed to ensuring high quality of education  through  a broad and  balanced curriculum, in order to enable all our pupils  to achieve their full potential. We aim to provide a safe,  happy and stimulating environment for all our pupils so that learning can take place in a relaxed and secure atmosphere.

 

We recognise that ensuring a high quality of education at St Winifred’s is the responsibility of the whole school community : teachers, headteacher, governors, and support staff and parents. We therefore are committed to fully involving all of these members of our community.

 

We have a wide range of structures in place to ensure that both teaching and learning are effective in our schools ( policies and schemes etc..) . These structures are documented and issued to each member of the school community  as appropriate, and are regularly reviewed .

 

As a school we recognise the importance of the teaching of  literacy and numeracy in order to ensure full  access to all other areas of learning . Children of all abilities receive high levels of support. We devote a significant percentage of  teaching time to these areas, which reflects our very strong commitment to ensuring that all our children leave, having attained high levels of achievement in basic skills. We have a separate statement which outlines our principles and practise in these areas.

 

We have agreed on the common aims and principles which  form the basis of all teaching and learning in our school.

 

We aim to enable all children to:

 

  • become independent learners
  • have access to the whole curriculum:
    • aesthetic and creative
    • moral and spiritual
    • linguistic and literary
    • mathematical
    • scientific
    • technological
    • social
    • including the National Curriculum
  • develop self awareness, self esteem and confidence
  • develop their potential, their gifts and abilities, and their interests
  • develop the ability to persevere
  • develop curiosity and an enquiring and questioning attitude
  • develop the ability to identify and solve problems
  • develop the ability to work and play collaboratively
  • develop relationships
  • take pride in themselves and their work
  • recognise and celebrate diversity
  • develop understanding, empathy and tolerance
  • develop understanding of how their actions and decisions affect themselves and others

 

We aim to achieve this:

 

  • through our Mission as a Catholic school
  • through the whole curriculum
  • effective planning, record keeping and assessment
  • target setting, monitoring and evaluating
  • in a happy, safe, secure, stimulating environment
  • with the support and involvement of the whole community

 

We believe  that learning is of a high standard when:

 

  • we all have realistically high expectations of all our children
  • children are motivated, involved, engaged, stimulated, interested and challenged
  • children are encouraged to question, reason,predict, solve problems, and ‘have a go’
  • learning is child-centred
  • children are clear about what they are learning and why they are learning it
  • tasks and activities are relevant and meaningful
  • continuity , enrichment and progression are carefully planned
  • the learning process is valued as much as the outcomes
  • children are enabled to take responsibility for their own learning and are clear of expectations
  • parents are involved as much as possible
  • children are given opportunities to work independently and collaboratively
  • children are enabled to transfer learning from one context to another : making vital links
  • children are enabled to sustain concentration
  • achievement and effort are recognised, valued and celebrated
  • children are enabled to reflect on their learning
  • tasks are appropriately matched to ability and needs
  • children are clear about the school guidelines and behaviour policy
  • children are aware of routines
  • children are clear about their right to be educated

 

 

We believe that teaching is of a high standard when:

 

  • we have a consistent whole school approach
  • lesson content is carefully planned, has clear outcomes  and is structured to ensure progression
  • teachers have a good knowledge of subject content
  • assessment and record keeping informs planning on a daily as well as long term basis
  • planned lessons follow the National Curriculum
  • tasks are clearly explained
  • children are interested , motivated,challenged, and achieving their potential
  • children are happy secure and stimulated
  • work is appropriately differentiated
  • marking includes target setting in which the children are involved
  • the classroom is well resourced and organised to promote independent learning
  • a variety of teaching strategies and approaches are used to match the needs of the children, environment and subject area
  • learning is taking place as appropriate
    • whole class
    • groups
    • collaborative
    • individual
  • children are learning in a variety of ways as appropriate: direct teaching, individual, research, practical experience etc.
  • classroom assistant time is carefully planned and expectations are agreed
  • children are learning from each other
  • relationships are based on mutual trust, respect and confidence
  • full use is made of the school environment, and of opportunities for educational visits
  • teaching expertise is shared
  • professional development is actively encouraged and targets set
  • children’s work is regularly sampled
  • whole school monitoring systems are in place
  • staff work together as a team to plan and to support each other
  • formal systems are in place for passing on records
  • time is allocated appropriately to subjects

 

We believe that learning environments promote achievement of high standards when:

 

  • children’s work is valued, celebrated and shared through the displays throughout the school
  • classrooms are planned, organised, and managed in order to make resources readily available to promote independence and stimulate learning
  • the working environment is clean and tidy
  • care is taken of resources and of the whole environment
  • the local community is used as a resource

 

 

Teacher repertoire:

 

  • clear and accurate exposition
  • clear explanation
  • effective demonstration of key points/ideas
  • effective and sensitive questioning techniques
  • effective management and use of time
  • effective organisation of group work
  • designing, challenging differentiated learning tasks
  • a range of group strategies
  • effective use of ability grouping
  • effective management of investigative group work
  • skills of narration / story telling
  • establishing and maintaining effective and responsive pupil – teacher interaction
  • effective marking and feedback
  • appropriate planning, monitoring, evaluating and assessing pupil work
  • deployment of support staff and helpers
  • liaise with other agencies

 

Last review March 2022