Intent
At Saint Augustine Webster Catholic Voluntary Academy, our intention is that our curriculum will build on the school mission and values. We believe in providing a knowledge-based curriculum which is in line with National Curriculum expectations, but has a strong focus on skills progression to drive questioning, investigation and challenges. Our curriculum is ambitious and content-rich.
At its heart we have 8 virtues which permeate through all areas of school life: faith, hope, love, justice, solidarity, temperance, courage and practical wisdom
Our mission statement explains how our academy exists to provide a broad and balances curriculum in a Catholic atmosphere where we focus on Jesus Christ as the Way, the truth and the Life. As a Catholic school we aim to be a community where the spiritual, cultural and personal worlds within which we live are harmonised to form the roots from which grow our values, motivation, aspirations and the moral imperatives that inform our choices and actions.
Our curriculum is built upon principles of instruction and cognitive load. We are distinctly aware that children’s working memory can be easily overloaded therefore we aim to provide children with a curriculum that alleviates this issue and aids understanding. Subject coverage is planned sequentially and with a clear rationale for making connections with prior learning. The curriculum connects previous learning, revisits and builds on foundational knowledge using spaced retrieval practice. We tailor the learning to pupil’s existing knowledge, using worked examples, removing unnecessary information and simplifying complex information.
Our curriculum is heavily vocabulary based and we believe that the development of children’s vocabulary is a vital tool in learning and understanding the full curriculum. We believe that a vocabulary curriculum should not be seen as additional to a knowledge-rich curriculum, but as part of best practice on how to achieve one. We have a high percentage of children with EAL (English as an additional language), and we feel this is a vital tool in assisting all children with their learning.
We strive to develop their confidence in their ability to learn independently, to persevere when learning is difficult, be resilient in the face of challenge, to work collaboratively and think critically. We seek to provide opportunities for development, not only through academic subjects and religious instruction but through all aspects of the school day, including breaks and lunchtimes, collective worship and extra-curricular activities. With high expectations for all, we promote support for each child to enable them to develop into responsible, resilient and reflective young people ready for life in modern Britain.