Curriculum

The St Mary’s Curriculum: Learning, Transforming, Growing

We recognise that every child’s learning journey begins in the Early Years Foundation Stage and develops progressively through Key Stages 1 and 2. Our curriculum builds securely on this foundation, enabling children to make meaningful connections between subjects and develop the knowledge and skills needed to work independently by Year 6, preparing them well for secondary school.

Guided by our vision Learning, Transforming, Growing, our curriculum broadens children’s understanding of the world through meaningful use of our local community and enriching experiences beyond the classroom. Represented as interconnected cogs, our subject hubs show how knowledge and skills work together to develop confident, independent and ambitious learners—click each hub to learn more.

English

English is an essential tool for communication and we prioritise vocabulary acquisition throughout the school curriculum. Reading is a golden thread in our curriculum that supports and enables children to make sense of the world around them.

Religion and World Views

We understand the importance of enabling children to develop an understanding of different religions and world views. This fosters empathy and encourages them to consider their own thoughts, feelings and viewpoints of the world they live in.

STEM

This hub incorporates maths, science, computing and DT. Through these subjects we encourage children to become curious learners who think critically to help them develop solutions to complex problems.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

The hub includes history, geography and languages. These subjects help children to understand and get to know about other people, the place where they live and about all aspects of the environment.

Expressive Arts

This hub incorporates music and art and design. These subjects play a central role in shaping our sense of personal, social and cultural identity.

Health and Wellbeing

This hub connects PSHE, PE character education and OPAL play. These subjects ensure that children develop the knowledge and understanding of their own health and wellbeing.

Continuous Provision

At St Mary’s, play and continuous provision are central to learning in Nursery, EYFS and KS1, supporting independent, curious and motivated learners. Carefully planned and flexible, this approach meets all children’s needs, encourages responsibility and challenge, and helps develop lifelong skills such as perseverance and problem-solving, whatever their starting point.

Curriculum Planning and Documentation

Annual Curriculum Design

Our curriculum is reviewed annually through collaboration between staff and pupils, with pupil voice gathered through surveys and discussion. Teaching teams use this feedback, alongside evaluations, subject expertise and community knowledge, to create a whole-school Curriculum Overview.

Curriculum Overviews

These documents map out the year for each cohort, identifying subjects taught, WOW experiences, trips, visitors and EXPO opportunities. They are monitored by SLT and reviewed by hub teams to ensure subject coverage. Overviews are archived to track each cohort’s journey through school.

Long-Term Plans

The Curriculum Overview informs the Long-Term Plan, a parent and child-friendly document outlining the year’s learning. It is sent home and published on our website.

Projects and Project Planners

Once the overview is set, teachers plan each project in detail. Project Planners identify:

Subject-specific objectives
Key vocabulary
Core enquiry questions
Intended outcomes for different groups of learners

These working documents are updated through ongoing evaluation and inform future curriculum adjustments.

Medium-Term Organisers

A week-by-week outline of intended teaching, ensuring clear progression and coverage.

Assessment

Our assessment approach focuses on understanding what children know and what they need next:

Pre-teaching tasks (e.g., KWL grids, vocabulary assessments) to identify prior knowledge
Effective questioning, guided by questions in project planners
Marking to identify next steps for individuals and groups
Floorbooks to capture and document children's thinking, questions, and learning experiences
Cog documents, shared with parents and pupils, outlining the subjects covered within each project

Curriculum Monitoring

To ensure the quality and consistency of our curriculum, we use:

Pupil voice
Book scrutiny
Lesson observations
Floorbook monitoring

Enrichment Opportunities

WOW Days

WOW experiences launch projects in an exciting, memorable way. They may involve trips, visitors, collaborative challenges or creative activities that give children a taste of the learning to come.

Trips and Visitors

Trips provide meaningful starting points for learning and are selected to deepen understanding of curriculum objectives. We work closely with venues to maximise the educational value of each visit. Visitors add real-life expertise and bring topics to life.

Expos

Expos are opportunities for children to share their learning through performances, pop-up museums, galleries, teaching others or observed lessons. Some Expos involve parents or the wider community, while others take place within school. They help children gain confidence in presenting to an audience and celebrate learning outcomes.

Homework

Children in Years 1–6 receive a weekly homework task linked to their project learning. These are sent home on a Thursday to be returned by the following Tuesday. You will find this week's homework on your child's class page.

If you have any questions about our curriculum, please contact:
office@banburystmarysschool.co.uk or 01295 263026