At St Gerard’s Catholic Primary School, we understand the context of our school community and recognise the unique strengths, experiences and needs of our children and their families. We continually reflect on our school environment, curriculum and wider offer, making thoughtful adaptations to ensure that we meet the needs of our community and provide every child with the opportunity to succeed. Above all, we want every child and their family to feel that they belong to our school family: that they are known, valued, respected and welcomed.
As a Catholic school, the teachings of the Gospel are at the heart of everything we do. We seek to develop a strong sense of community in which children learn to love and respect one another, care for others and understand their responsibility to make a positive contribution to the world around them. Our Catholic values underpin our relationships, our curriculum and our aspirations for every child.
We believe that when children have a strong sense of belonging, they are more secure, confident and ready to achieve. Our curriculum is therefore designed with pupils' learning at its centre, ensuring that all children are supported and challenged to make progress and develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. We provide a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum that responds to the needs of our pupils, while offering opportunities for them to grow as individuals as well as learners.
We want our children to thrive. We provide opportunities for pupils to develop their wellbeing, resilience, confidence and self-esteem, both within the classroom and through enrichment and extra-curricular experiences. We encourage children to embrace challenge, learn from mistakes, celebrate success and develop the interpersonal skills, creativity and independence they need to navigate life with confidence. We want every child to discover their strengths, develop their interests and understand that their voice, actions and choices matter.
Ultimately, we want our children to flourish. We aspire for every pupil to leave St Gerard’s Catholic Primary School with a strong sense of identity and belonging, a love of learning, a secure foundation of knowledge and the confidence and skills to make positive choices and meaningful connections. We want them to become lifelong learners who recognise their responsibilities to others and are inspired by their faith to use their gifts and talents in the service of others.
Our ambition is that, when our children leave St Gerard’s, they are equipped not only to succeed in the next stage of their education but to go out into the world and make a positive difference. Through our Catholic education, we seek to inform, empower and inspire our children to better the society and world in which they live, becoming compassionate, courageous and responsible citizens who help others to flourish alongside them.
Implementation
Children are challenged daily to become inquisitive, resilient, creative and independent learners through high-quality teaching across all curriculum subjects. Whilst subjects are taught discretely, teachers make purposeful links across the curriculum to deepen understanding and strengthen pupils’ ability to transfer knowledge and skills.
Our teaching approach is informed by Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction and reflects our commitment to high-quality teaching for all pupils. Teachers regularly review prior learning to strengthen pupils’ long-term memory and carefully question pupils to deepen thinking and assess understanding. Learning is sequenced logically and presented in small, manageable steps, with teachers modelling best practice and supporting pupils through guided practice before independent application.
Teachers adapt learning appropriately to ensure all pupils can access an ambitious curriculum. Appropriate scaffolds, targeted support and challenge are used to enable every child to succeed and make progress.
Teachers explicitly teach and revisit subject-specific vocabulary and provide regular opportunities for discussion so that pupils can confidently articulate their understanding and explain their thinking.
Timetabling
Our timetable has been carefully designed using research into how children learn most effectively. We recognise that learning is strengthened through regular practice, retrieval and carefully sequenced teaching.
In the mornings, pupils focus on English and Mathematics to develop fluency in core skills. Depending on age and stage of development, this includes phonics, handwriting, spelling, grammar, reading and writing. Daily Mathematics lessons ensure pupils develop strong mathematical understanding and reasoning skills, including mastery of number.
In the afternoons, Science and foundation subjects are often taught in carefully planned blocks. This approach allows pupils to study subjects in greater depth, make stronger connections in their learning and reduce unnecessary cognitive overload caused by frequent switching between subjects. Through regular retrieval practice and revisiting of prior learning, we aim to support knowledge moving into pupils’ long-term memory.
Impact
When children leave St. Gerard’s Catholic Primary School, they will:
have a strong faith and spiritual understanding rooted in Catholic values;
possess secure and transferable knowledge across the curriculum;
be able to retrieve prior learning and make meaningful connections between subjects;
think creatively, critically and independently;
demonstrate resilience, confidence and curiosity as learners;
show compassion, respect, tolerance and forgiveness towards others;
be fully prepared for the next stage of their education and life beyond primary school.
