Curriculum By Subject

Curriculum By Subject Area

The curriculum offered at St. Mary's is a wide-ranging one and aimed at educating the “whole child”.  All children, starting school, work on a common curriculum that is divided into several stages, the first three stages being applicable to St. Mary's: 

All areas of the New National Curriculum subjects are taught.  The school makes every effort to keep abreast of the changes taking place in education.  As a staff we carefully monitor and assess pupils’ achievement, devise programmes of study and then implement in the light of what we know.  Details of our long term planning can be accessed below.

Religious Education is at the heart of the curriculum and underpins everything we teach.

We are blessed with very experienced, capable and forward looking staff whose expertise and leadership is outstanding in all curriculum areas but especially the “Core” subjects of Numeracy, Literacy, RE and Science.

Peripatetic Music teachers visit the school on a regular weekly basis to give small group instruction in Woodwind, Brass and Strings work.  From these children a small orchestra is formed.  The orchestra regularly play for school events; we are very proud of their achievement.  We also maintain close contact with other Local Authority Support Services whose staff visit the school as and when the need arises.  We benefit from collaborative support from our catholic Colleagues in the Walsall Catholic Primary Schools.  This is a strength - we learn much from each other in a supportive atmosphere.  The school is fortunate in the quality of its support staff who liaise and work closely with professional colleagues for the benefit of all children.  

We also offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities ranging from football, dance, drama, guitar, Chinese, netball, boxing, as well as a wide range of PE activities.

From the moment the children begin school, their individual abilities and needs are assessed and the work matched to them.  This ensures a smooth progression for the children through the school.  Subjects are taught in a variety of ways depending upon the age and ability of the children and the nature of the subject.  As the children get older they are expected to use the knowledge and skills they have already gained to solve an increasingly complex set of tasks and problems.

Homework is set, details of which are in the Homework Policy, and on occasions children are asked to complete unfinished work at home.  Regular reading at home is encouraged by the school, indeed on a regular basis in respect of younger children.  Reading books are taken home so that parents can work in conjunction with the school to develop a child’s reading ability.

Educational opportunities in the form of visits to places of interest or by visitors to school are an important part of the curriculum, in their ability to augment and enhance what is being taught at school.  Unfortunately these often cost money and parents are usually asked to make a voluntary contribution towards the cost of these visits.  An inability to make a contribution does not, of course, prevent a child from taking part in a visit, but without your support it may be necessary to cancel the visit.  Contributions though are only requested for activities not funded by the school budget.