We have a fantastic curriculum, that reaches the hearts and minds of children, developing their character and appreciation of the world as well as developing their knowledge and skills and being great fun! Please follow the links (left) to see curriculum by year group and subject.

Introduction

St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School is located in the small market town of Hythe on the Kent coast in the South of England. It is an area steeped in geographical beauty and historical interest, which along with the surrounding countryside and the beach, provides a wealth of outdoor learning opportunities. Although many generations of some of our families have attended the school, the current ‘award-winning’ building is modern and spacious and each class from Reception to Year 6 has decking overlooking the English Channel. The pupils are encouraged to be the best version of themselves and inspired by the Catholic life of the school including the virtues of service, compassion, forgiveness and thankfulness.

Intent

At St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School, we aim to offer high-quality teaching and learning for all our pupils that are relevant and highlight the importance of human creativity, resilience and achievement leading to the development of educated citizens. At the heart of this, we also aim to inspire our pupils to be ‘the best version of ourselves’, to be more outward-looking, raise their aspirations, and develop pupils’ interests in new and exciting ways. We seek to be innovative and forward-thinking, enabling our pupils to be proactive and take responsibility for their learning.

As a school, we seek to ensure our pupils are inspired to learn within a successful learning community accessing the enriching curriculum and facilitating the experiences they deserve. Through these experiences, our pupils will be able to participate in activities with their peers and with adults, using the appropriate social skills to equip them with the life skills they will need in the future.

With this in mind, we have implemented a relevant, cohesive, sequential curriculum model built around human flourishing and the wealth of resources within our location.

Implementation

We use Dimensions ‘Learning Means the World’ Curriculum as the main vehicle for achieving our outlined intent.

This curriculum is underpinned by four highly relevant world issues, known as the four Cs:-

Communication

Conflict

Conservation

Culture

Our curriculum narrative begins with Communication, as this underpins and links to the other three focus areas. Next, explore Conflict which affects the present as well as having a focus on the past, specifically learning from mistakes. Our next theme is Conservation which turns to the future and a better, sustainable world. Finally, the theme of Culture because we believe that understanding diversity and identity is essential for our pupils to fully embrace society.

We also encourage our pupils to have high aspirations by teaching them about human creativity and achievement through additional Competency Units about famous figures that focus on Creativity, Commitment, Courage and Community.

Communication

At St Augustine’s, we believe that communication is central to all learning. It is the key to understanding what we are learning, why we our learning, our relationships and the wider world. We believe that it is important that our pupils understand how to communicate appropriately using a variety of means including reading, writing, speaking and listening and the safe and effective use of technology. We want them to be confident when using these skills to reach a variety of audiences. We want them to be able to explain how they are feeling as confident, articulate communicators and to be respectful, receptive and empathetic to the feelings, ideas and opinions of others.

Conflict

We are proud of the way our pupils strive to resolve issues in an environment where they are actively encouraged to risk assess, negotiate and collaborate. We encourage our pupils to work together to resolve conflict in the spirit of our Catholic social teaching. We believe that this experience can be enhanced by providing a broader range of scenarios and opportunities to learn about conflicts in society both in the past and the present.

We also want them to also understand the impact of conflict globally, developing a deeper appreciation of others’ opinions and perspectives. We want them to understand that their actions, however small, can have a positive impact on the lives of others who are experiencing hardships due to conflict and poverty.

Conservation

Having respect for our environment, belongings and community is valued at St Augustine’s Primary School. Through our Catholic Social Teaching, we provide experiences for our pupils to develop a deeper understanding of conservation and sustainability by promoting positive ‘everyday actions’. We encourage the children to think "How do I choose to act, even when no-one’s looking?”. Through our ‘Turnaround Shop’ we model recycling and sustainability as an example of positive actions. Additionally, by raising the profile of recycling and fair trade, we want to help our pupils make positive daily lifestyle choices and develop a deeper understanding of stewardship. We believe our curriculum provides a platform for our pupils to gain this deeper and more meaningful understanding of conservation and the role they can play in taking care of our world both now and in the future, locally and globally.

Culture

At St Augustine’s, we believe all people should be accepted, respected and treated equally. We want our children to understand that all people are different, all are equal, and all are precious. Within our local community, many of our children can have very limited personal experience of other cultures. We want to break down preconceived barriers, develop outward-looking attitudes and ensure our pupils fully appreciate and embrace the rich cultural diversity beyond their immediate location. We believe by developing a climate of openness and acceptance, they will learn to value humanity, understand and challenge racism and stereotypes.  We want them to understand the importance of cultural heritage, including their own, and behave in a respectful and tolerant way towards others, regardless of faith, ethnicity, or background.

Impact

The impact we intend to achieve will be that our pupils will have a better understanding of the world. Pupils will have the confidence, self-esteem and greater awareness of the opportunities that are available for them.

Our learners will have fully rounded characters with a clear understanding of complex values like equality, friendship and trust.  Only by really learning what these mean will our learners be able to develop a character that prepares them for living in the community, demonstrating tolerance and equality. We measure this not just by the work our children produce, but in the behaviours we see each and every day in all learners on the playground, in corridors, and in years to come when they come back to visit us.

Our learners will be motivated by a strong personal sense of morality. They will make decisions for the right reasons and in the best interests of their community. They will be able to decide what is right and what is wrong, and will be resilient to the influence of others. They will go out into the world and make a difference in their own life and to others. Our learners will be the owners of their own destinies.

We strive to ensure that our children’s attainment in core and foundation subjects is in line with or exceeding their potential when we consider the varied starting points of children. We measure this carefully using a range of materials, but always considering Age Related Expectations. We intend that the impact is that children will be academically and physically prepared for life in high school and in modern Britain and the world beyond.