Our School Curriculum

Our vision at St Germans School is to provide a stimulating environment that will develop enquiring minds and instil a love of learning in our children. We maintain that learning is lifelong and that the skills and attitudes we instil in the early stages of our children’s lives should stand them in good stead for the future. We attribute high value to the future role of our children in society and aim to develop their social awareness as future citizens of the world. 

At St Germans School, we believe in a broad and balanced curriculum, incorporating the Curriculum Guidance for Early Years and Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum, in well-resourced and stimulating surroundings.  This promotes a positive, challenging and enjoyable learning experience which meets all our children’s needs and abilities. To enable all our children to enjoy, achieve and develop creative approaches to thinking and learning, the curriculum is delivered through topics and other learning opportunities such as visits and trips off site. We also ensure that the children experience a variety of visitors to school such as theatre groups, poets and musicians.

The school teaches from a topic based curriculum with cross curricular links although for some areas subject specific work is more appropriate. The use of sports coaches and peripatetic music teachers enrich the curriculum and add to the children’s enjoyment of school life. We offer a wide range of extracurricular activities which support and motivate children to achieve their full potential in areas such as sport, the arts, computing and outdoor learning. 

We believe that children need to develop social and emotional skills if they are to learn successfully and to enable them to participate effectively in our society. We recognise the importance of an extensive Personal, Social and Health Education programme in our curriculum, which we deliver through the Jigsaw Scheme of Work, alongside assemblies, community links and other activities. We are proud to be a Thrive School embracing the vision of a world in which children’s social and emotional needs must be better understood and met.

At St Germans School all class teachers are responsible for providing a curriculum that is suitable for all pupils in the class, including those with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) with support from the SENCo. We have high expectations for all pupils and are committed to ensuring our curriculum complies with the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. Our inclusion statement emphasises the importance of providing an inclusive learning environment for all pupils including those with SEND. Additional information on this can be found in our Special Educational Needs Information Report and Equalities Policy. (follow internal link below to relevant documents under Key Information)

St Germans School Primary Curriculum

Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact

Curriculum Intent

At St Germans Primary School, our curriculum is designed to encourage our pupils to develop a love of learning and to become confident, independent learners, inquisitive about the world around them.

Teamwork and responsibility are an essential part of our curriculum. We value the views of our pupils and listen to their ideas and opinions. We enable children to become involved within the local community, celebrating local traditions and taking an active part in events throughout the year. We are proud to be a Cornish School, celebrating events and traditions through the year.

We recognise the importance of the children having a wider Global perspective. Our commitment to being an Eco School and Fairtrade School are embedded into our curriculum. We are determined to be outward looking and to equip our children to have an understanding of our changing world.

Encouraging positive behaviour for learning is fundamental in developing children who want to learn for themselves and who want to find out more. We want our children to learn the skills to face challenges successfully enabling them to grow into resilient and resourceful learners.

Our curriculum enables us to celebrate diversity, encourage respect and build a sense of community. It provides and acknowledges success for all children, in all aspects of their development and it recognises, encourages and celebrates all types of talent.

We believe that a healthy, safe and caring environment is a precursor to raising achievement and attainment. We are committed to promoting good lifestyle choices such as healthy eating and physical activity. We support not only the children’s academic achievement, but also their physical, emotional and social development.

We provide a highly inclusive environment where learners enjoy their education and pupils at all levels are helped to achieve their potential. Those who are most able are challenged and encouraged to expand their skills and knowledge through varied curriculum opportunities.  Those who find learning more difficult are given targeted support to embed skills, to develop at their own pace and to learn in a style that best suits their individual needs

At St Germans Primary School, we aim to:

• Provide a broad, engaging and relevant curriculum.
• Provide a caring and supportive environment in which children will flourish
• Promote positivity, happiness and self-esteem amongst the children we teach
• Meet the needs of every child.
• Provide the children with the skills to face challenges successfully and to become resilient and resourceful learners.

Curriculum Implementation

Alongside the core subjects of English, Mathematics & Science, we highly value our wider curriculum, covering all other aspects of the National Curriculum. This wider curriculum is organised into topic based units of learning with cross-curricular learning where meaningful links can be made with other subjects. Wherever possible, reading, writing and Maths activities are linked across lessons and reading is used continuously to discover and explore. The same quality of work is expected across all subjects, leading to higher standards and outcomes.

All units of learning will have an entry based launch or hook to excite and engage the children and to give a purpose for study so that learning is meaningful and relevant. Pupils have the opportunity to contribute their own ideas and knowledge to topics. Where possible, learning will be supported and enriched by field study, visits, workshops, artefact boxes, role-play and practical resources. Opportunities for links with outdoor learning are utilised when possible.

Progression of knowledge, skills and understanding is carefully planned, reviewed and adapted annually to ensure that children’s learning builds effectively over time and ensuring that children are ready to meet the expectations of secondary school.

Pupil progress is measured through ongoing assessment and through three key assessment points during the year. Work is planned to address misconceptions and gaps in learning identified through assessments to ensure that the curriculum effectively meets the needs of all pupils.

In implementing our curriculum, we are committed to the following key statements:

• Planning is sequential with lessons built through a series of steps that build upon prior knowledge
• Progression statements for each subject ensure that pupils are able to build upon prior knowledge and skills
• Children develop vocabulary and knowledge in the subjects they learn
• Lessons reflect the needs of all pupils with appropriate levels of challenge including the more-able and those with SEND
• Children ‘s memory skills are improved so that they can recall key facts in a topic
• Assessment is used effectively to check understanding and to help children embed and use knowledge fluently
• The broad curriculum offers extra activities that inspire and motivate children

Curriculum Impact

The impact of the school’s curriculum can be seen through the outcomes of all groups of pupils and the work they produce.

We expect that:

• All children will make good progress from their individual starting points academically, emotionally, creatively, socially and physically.
• Children will take pride in all that they do, motivated to do their best and with confidence in their own abilities and their work across the curriculum is of high quality
• Knowledge, understanding and skills will be secured and embedded so that children attain highly and are fully prepared for secondary school.
• Children have good communication skills, both written and verbal
• Children listen respectfully and with tolerance to the views of others.
• Children demonstrate emotional resilience and the ability to persevere when they meet challenge.
• Children with SEND achieve the best possible outcomes
• Children demonstrate inclusive attitudes and have a sense of their role in wider society
• Children are ready for the next phase of their education

The Reading Spine

Pie Corbett’s Reading Spine is a core of books that create a living library inside a child’s mind. It is a store of classics and essential reads that help children engage at a deeper level and enter the world of the story.

At St Germans, we want our school to be a place where children are read to, enjoy, discuss and work with high quality books. In each class we have a collection of specially selected high quality books that all children will have the opportunity to read. These books are part of Pie Corbett’s ‘Reading Spine’. 

 Mathletics

The children have access both in school and at home to Mathletics. This is an online learning platform that helps the children to enjoy maths and to improve their results.