St Eugene de Mazenod Catholic School Curriculum
Our school curriculum is founded on four basic principles which underline what we
teach and the way we teach at St Eugene’s. They are:
Broad
It introduces pupils to a wide range of knowledge, understanding and skills.
Balanced
Each part of our curriculum is allocated sufficient time relevant to the children’s age
and experience.
Relevant
Subjects are taught in a way that relates to the children’s lives and experience, now
and in the future.
Differentiated
What and how the subjects are taught matches pupils’ individual needs, abilities and
aptitudes.
Children may be taught as a whole class, in smaller groups or on an individual basis.
To see the specifics of your child’s learning this term, click on the link to the
curriculum overviews, which outline what your child will be learning this term. Follow
this pathway on the website.
INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
What is your child learning this term?
English
English is a core curriculum subject and is taught every day. We use a variety of
teaching and learning strategies to teach English skills. We aim to develop children’s
ability to listen, speak, read and write for a wide range of purposes, including the
communication of their ideas, views and feelings. We do this through daily English
lessons in which children experience whole-class reading or writing activities, guided
group or independent activities, and whole-class sessions to review and assess
progress and learning.
Reading
See the separate information on reading…Follow this pathway on the website.
INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
Learning to read at St Eugene’s.
Writing
Children complete a complex extended piece of writing each week. In order to do
this they plan, write, edit and rewrite during the week. We want every child to leave
school as effective and confident communicators who love writing. We choose and
read high quality texts as models for the children’s own writing. Where appropriate,
writing is linked to topics. For example Year 4 children write their own non-fiction
texts about Tutankhamen while learning about The Ancient Egyptians. Children also
take part in drama and other speaking and listening activities to help them think
carefully before they write. We teach the children to plan out their ideas: thinking
about the task, structure, audience and purpose.
Children are taught to write in a variety of genres in context such as narrative (story),
persuasive, journalistic, recounts and reports. Children learn how to vary sentences,
make interesting and ambitious word choices, and use grammar and punctuation
correctly. We share the success criteria each time we teach writing. This contains
the steps needed in order to write well e.g. I can use 3 powerful adjectives. Each
piece of written work is then marked by highlighting in yellow where the child has
written particularly well (yellow for sunshine) and areas for improvement or
corrections are marked in green (green for growth). We value clear, neat
handwriting and expect a high standard of presentation in written work.
Children are taught explicit grammar skills. These grammar skills are then practised
during the weekly writing lessons. Children also have weekly spelling lessons, where
they are taught spelling rules and conventions. The children are then given spellings
to learn for homework which they are tested on the following week.
Poetry recitation
Each half-term, every class from Reception to Year 6 reads, discusses and learns by
heart a poem, or part of a poem, that they perform in an assembly to the rest of the
school. We choose classic, high-quality poetry, from nursery rhymes in Reception to
Shakespeare in Year 6. In learning a poem by heart, the language of that poem will
stay with your child into adulthood. It is only in learning by heart that a poem can be
really understood and hopefully enjoyed and appreciated. The children also love to
show off their acting and presentation skills when they perform.
Mathematics
Mathematics is one of the core subjects and is taught every day from Reception to
Year 6. The children are taught the most efficient methods of calculation: addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division. They are also taught the other areas of
mathematics: number, fractions, geometry, measures and data in a structured and
systematic way. There is a daily mathematics lesson and a dedicated part of this
lesson is given to mental maths where children are taught number factssuch
asnumber bonds and times tables. The children practise how to recall the number
facts quickly. There is a strong focus on children being fluent in maths and being
able to problem solve and reason so that children are able to apply the maths they
have learnt to a variety of real life scenarios.
Science
Science is part of the cross curricular work on “Understanding the World” which
takes place in Reception and is taught through exploring real objects and
experiments e.g. looking at which of a series of objects might float or sink.
Science is taught for one term a year from Year 1-6 in depth. The children work
through topic based lessons, where they learn the theory of the science and the
practical application too. The internet is used for research and also to look at virtual
experiments or give access to learning which can’t take place in school, such as
watching experiments in the NASA space station. In each topic the children plan
and carry out a scientific experiment. They record their results and are encouraged
to learn through these experiments and their observations of them. They also study
the life of one famous and noteworthy scientist linked to their topic e.g. when
studying the topic “Evolution” the children will learn about the life and work of
Charles Darwin.
Religious Education
As a Catholic school, our main emphasis is on Religious Education as part of our
curriculum. St Eugene’s is a multi-cultural school with the Catholic faith
underpinning everything that we teach. 10% of curriculum time is devoted to the
teaching of RE. We teach the children through stories, drama, looking at the Bible
and discussion in class about: the life of Jesus; Christian ideas about God; the role
of the church and also about other world faiths. We visit the Church of the Sacred
Heart during the school year and send a groups of children to represent the school to
Westminster Cathedral for the Good Shepherd Mass.
Collective Worship
We celebrate a daily act of collective worship in classrooms, in key stage groups or
as a whole school in the hall or the Sacred Heart Church. We say a morning,
lunchtime and evening prayer together daily in order to talk to God. We hold a
Christian Meditation session daily for one or two minutes where we listen to God. We
celebrate Mass in classes and collectively to celebrate important events in the school
and the Church calendar, e.g. Advent. Every week from Year 1 upwards, we have an
act of worship which is planned and led by children. We hold assemblies to reflect on
the Gospel stories, share songs and reflect on spiritual, moral and social issues.
PE and Swimming
Children take part in two hours of Physical Education each week. This is covered
through lessons on gymnastics, dance, athletics, indoor and outdoor games. The
lessons are taught by a skilled and qualified PE coach. The children in Year 2 are
taught to swim at a local pool by qualified instructors. We have a Sports Day
annually, which is held at Grange Park. We run Sports Clubs after school which are
open to all children. We also have boys’ and girls’ squads who compete in interschool competitive sports events e.g. cricket and football. We also hold a “Healthy
Heart Day” annually where the children take part in activities designed to boost their
heart-rate as well as learning about how to keep healthy. Some examples of Healthy
Heart Day activities are: having a zumba lesson, circuit training, a lesson on how
your heart pumps your blood and making a healthy fruit salad.
Cross Curricular Topics
We teach the subjects of Art, Design Technology, History and Geography through
Cross Curricular Topic lessons. These lessons also teach children the skills linked
to each subject e.g. in a historical topic the children are taught the chronological
skills needed to understand time-lines. The children explore and learn through one
topic a term and the work is planned to link together, to make the learning relevant
and meaningful. The children take part in out of school visits to places of interest
linked to their topic e.g. Year 2 studying Hidden Treasure visit the ship HMS Belfast
to learn about life on board or the London Aquarium. We also book visitors to come
into school to share their expertise and give the children a fun, real and memorable
learning experience e.g. Building a Viking longboat, or hosting a Tudor banquet. By
the end of their topic, children become “experts” and we invite parents from every
year group to a “Presentation” where the children can showcase their learning.
Personal, Social & Health Education
We teach PSHE through weekly circle time sessions in class. The sessions involve
circle time games and teacher led discussions. The children discuss issues such as
peer pressure or how to be a good friend, and all sessions are guided by their
teacher. All of the children have the chance to contribute their ideas, and all ideas
are listened to. Some issues are also dealt with through the Cross Curricular Topics
taught.
Computing
Computing is taught in two separate ways. A specialist computing teacher takes the
children for coding lessons and they also have the opportunity to use computers
(iPads and laptops) within other subjects in the curriculum e.g. Year 2 design posters
about pirates in their cross curricular topic “Hidden treasure”, and Year 4 consolidate
their times tables learning by playing online times tables games.
We further help pupils develop their computing skills at home by setting homework
which involves them accessing Bug Club, an online reading and comprehension
resource and also Maths Whizz, an online maths resource.
Music
We have a specialist music teacher who teaches each class once a week. He also
teaches the school choir. Through the Wider Opportunities scheme the year 4 class
is taught to play the guitar and recorder by two specialist music teachers. This
scheme runs throughout the year and the children perform the pieces they have
learned in music concerts, to which parents are invited. We also offer individual
instrumental lessons to pupils wishing to learn. These lessons are taught by skilled
music tutors. We currently teach pupils: guitar, violin, flute, recorder and piano.
There is a cost for these individual lessons, with concessions for pupils who have
free school meals. We showcase children’s music at three school concerts a year.
We also take part in other events e.g. the Camden Music Festival bi-annually at the
Royal Albert hall, and choir cluster festivals.
Spanish
Children from year 1 to year 6 are taught Spanish weekly by a specialist Spanish
teacher. The children learn Spanish through mostly oral work and through fun
interactive games that they play in pairs and in small groups. Where necessary some
written work is done to consolidate their learning. Children learn the common
everyday language and key vocabulary used in Spain e.g. numbers, greetings and
emotion words.
Extra-Curricular Clubs
We offer a range of extra-curricular clubs at St Eugene’s. Breakfast club is open to
all children and starts at 8:00 am. The after school clubs vary from term to term.
Some are offered to all children e.g. Arts and Crafts & Sports. Others, Maths Club,
for example, are offered to children who the school decides would most benefit from
them. Parents are sent a letter with all of the details of clubs in the term before they
start, so that they can decide which clubs they would like their children to attend. If
there are more children applying, than there are places available, names are
randomly drawn to fill the places. The remaining names go onto a waiting list and
these children are offered the first places in that club for the next term.