5.1 – The Curriculum
Our Lady and St. Joseph’s Primary
and Nursery
North Lanarkshire
Core Business in classes
• Good quality learning and teaching throughout
the school and nursery.
• CPD and PRD – up to date training.
• Effective quality assurance procedures in place
to check there is consistency and good practice
leading to positive impact for learners.
• Effective planning for what is being taught and
assessed.
• Evaluative language to describe progress.
• Meaningful tracking which ensures that there is
continuity and progression for all learners
across all areas of the curriculum.
Core business as the Leader
• Be clear about how you want the curriculum to
look in your school…..the totality of the
experiences on offer - a joined up approach.
• Monitoring and incidental monitoring.
• Model how you want things to run eg daily class
drop in – 2 key questions…..
• Tell me something you learned today in…..?
• Why do you think it is important to know that in
real life?
• HT’s need to have credibility as lead learner
and lead by example. Show staff what you
want.
Theme 1 – The Rationale and
Design of the Curriculum
• Vision and Values
 Development of a three year strategic plan with
staff and stakeholders.
• Design Principles
 Development of a curriculum where there is
sufficient opportunities for real depth of learning
and application of skills. Key implications for
planning and challenging staff…..where are you
planning for personalisation and choice etc?
• An Inclusive Curriculum
 Sufficient flexibility to meet the needs of
individuals, including those with additional
support needs. ASN tracking / Additional Support
Plans / appropriate target setting.
5.1
• Promote Pupil Entitlements
 Life and ethos of the School and Nursery.
 Curriculum areas and subjects.
 IDL.
 Planned opportunities for wider and personal
achievement.
• Develop the Four Capacities
 Curriculum for Excellence awards.
 Tea with Mrs. T!
 PLP/ Learning Log - target setting and review.
Does the curriculum leave scope
for well considered innovations?
• Focus Fridays
• Philosophy for Children
• Friday Focus Groups – Enterprise, Fairtrade,
Eco and Website
• Thinking Circles
• Intergenerational Learning
• Re – structured Golden time
• Forest Kindergarten
• Nursery Home-link Activity Bags – Early Years
Collaborative
Theme 2 – The Development of
the Curriculum
Refreshing our Curriculum to incorporate
change and innovation.
 Three year strategic plan created with all staff
and stakeholders. SWOT and PESTLE Analysis
 Improvement Priorities identified in School
Improvement Plan – tied in to 3 year plan.
 Ongoing self evaluation to inform next steps and
areas for focused attention.
 Opportunities for Distributed Leadership, working
parties and collegiate working.
 Being pro-active to access opportunities for
enhancing the curriculum for children.
Numeracy Focus
• Feedback from Stakeholders
• Analysis of GL Assessment results and other
assessment data
• Aim to be E’s and O’s led – less textbook
• Ensure children have opportunities to use
skills in unfamiliar situations – contextualised
assessments.
• Has there been retention of learning? Can
they use what they have learned to problem
solve? Has there been real depth to the
learning that has been going on over the block
of work?
Theme 3 – Programmes and
Courses
• All areas have a programme of study in place.
• Some areas have not been addressed yet
through school improvement but a planned,
progressive programme is in place to plug gaps
until the area can be looked at in depth.
• Three year rolling programme of Science and
IDL topics to ensure continuity and progression.
• Skills development at the core of the
programmes e.g a local authority produced art
pack
• Clear guidance on the basics – Timetabled
lessons weekly for discrete subjects eg Art /
Science.
Theme 4 - Transitions
• Pastoral Transitions
• Induction days for P1 and for new nursery
pupils.
• Buddy programmes / P1 Chums
• Induction days P7 – S1
• Half day visit for P6 to high school
• Pupil and group information passed on from
teacher to teacher.
• Handover information at the end of the year.
Curricular Transitions
• How are we ensuring that there is continuation
of learning at Early Level and taking cognisance
of the work covered already?
• PT / P1 teacher – covers the Nursery teacher
McCrone session. Alternating between
morning and afternoon sessions to get to know
all the children and the work being covered.
• How are we checking security at a level before
moving to First? Second? – Variety of evidence
(Make / Say / Do / Write) over time. Pupil
tracking and Pupil progress meetings as well as
weekly planning evaluations.
What next for OLSJ?
• Continue to review and develop curricular areas
on a rolling programme. IDL / Art / RE next!
• Include Numeracy as a Year three priority in the
school improvement plan. Focus now on
problem solving and planned opportunities for
numeracy across the curriculum.
• Continue and expand the Friday Focus Work.
• Further develop links with the community to
enhance opportunities we offer the children.