St Anthony's CatholicCurriculum
At St Anthony’s we are rightly proud of our curriculum. Our vision is that we are an inspirational school, remaining true to our spiritual mission:
"Learning, Growing and Living with Jesus"
Love underpins all that we do at St. Anthony’s. We value our children, our families and our staff. Our children feel secure and supported during every step of their learning journey. We have a vision for our children that expects excellence for them to succeed in being the best version of themselves. We foster a love of learning from the first day our children arrive at school, and we strive to develop life-long learners, who challenge themselves and develop a secure understanding of the foundations of learning in the core subjects.
We believe in developing the whole child and offer opportunities to learn in a variety of ways, underpinned by our Christian Values and Catholic Ethos, which form a solid foundation for all of our learning at St. Anthony’s. We celebrate the rich diversity of modern British life and our local community through our respect for other faiths and for people with no faith, linked to our explicit teaching of British Values. Our children develop a deep-rooted morality that they take with them through life.
We strive for excellence and deliver an ambitious curriculum that is based on the children learning distinct subject areas. The thread of our curriculum is to develop competent, confident readers and to that end, we include Disciplinary Literacy as a cornerstone of our curriculum pathway. To encourage oracy skills, we encourage a dialogic model, where children develop their speaking through encouraging learning conversations.
Children access a broad and balanced curriculum that is rich in experiential learning, where children will have the opportunity to visit a number of learning attractions throughout the year, such as museums and trips in our local area, as well as having in-school visitors to deliver workshops and experiences, across the curriculum. We have a range of subject specialists that teach as part of our team. We have a dedicated PE teacher, Music teacher, Computing teacher and French teacher (for some year groups). As we have our own minibus, we are able to offer more opportunities to our children to visit different places and to attend different clubs and fixtures.
We aim to develop independence and offer two residential trips per year in Years 5 and 6. Children will have the opportunity to experience new skills, to get out of their comfort-zone and to build bonds with their peers, as they become ready for secondary school. Spiritual growth is a fundamental part of our school ethos and children have the opportunity to attend a residential retreat in Year 6, where they will gain a sense of self and confidence.
As a Rights Respecting school, we feel that it is important to create a partnership between school and parents and carers. We aim to build strong relationships with home to ensure that children feel supported in all areas of their learning. We focus on the basic skills of phonics, reading and times tables and invite parents into school regularly to support them in understanding how we teach, to encourage supporting learning from home. We link the Rights of the Child with Article 18: Both parents share a responsibility for bringing up their child and should always consider what is best for the child. Governments must support parents by giving them the help they need, especially if the child’s parents work.
We support and welcome those newly arriving to the area and country. We have highly skilled bi-lingual staff and class teachers, which ensures that our young people with English as an Additional Language (EAL) are given every opportunity to succeed and excel.
We aim to develop every child’s God-given talent, through the offering of extra-curricular opportunities. Children have a variety of clubs offered to them throughout the year, from Library Club, offered at lunchtime and after school, by our Librarian, Miss Vella, to our Sports Clubs, such as Gymnastics, Football and Basketball, offered by our PE team and external providers. We offer choir and band practice, Rock Steady, Drama and Coding Club. We also offer Wrap Around Club until 6:00pm every day.
Please click here to see our Curriculum Policy
Please click on the relevant sections below to see what we are learning in each subject area and in each year group.
Please see some useful questions that can be used to support your child's reading at home.
EYFS
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
"Children need to be able to HEAR a whole word and SAY every sound that they HEAR."
St. Anthony’s School and Nursery follows the ‘Little Wandle’ programme when teaching and learning phonics. The programme was produced by the DFE which teaches the children that sounds and letters have a relationship, concentrating on activities to promote speaking and listening skills, phonological awareness and oral blending. This starts during the Early Years Foundation Stage, with the aim of producing fluent readers by the time they leave Year 2.
Phonics is taught through six phases starting with phase one and continues through the school until each child has successfully completed all six phases, with children being assessed at the end of each phase.
For more information and free to download resources, click on the link below:
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Phase |
What Do They Learn? |
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Phase One (Nursery) |
In Phase 1, the activities are split into seven aspects which include Environmental Sounds, Instrumental Sounds, Body Sounds, Rhythm and Rhyme, Alliteration, Voice Sounds and Oral Blending and Segmenting. |
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Phase Two (Reception) |
In Phase 2, the children learn 19 letters of the alphabet with one sound (phoneme) for each letter. The children begin to blend sounds together to make words and learn to segment words into separate sounds. The children also start to read simple captions. |
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Phase Three (Reception) |
The remaining 7 letters of the alphabet are taught, one sound (phoneme) for each letter. Graphemes such as sh, ng, oi, are taught as they represent the remaining phonemes which are not covered by single letters. The children read captions, sentences and questions. |
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Phase Four (Year 1) |
There are no new phonemes or graphemes taught in this phase. Children recap prior learning and learn to blend and segment longer words with adjacent consonants e.g. swim, clap. |
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Phase Five (Year 1) |
The children now move onto the 'complex code.' Children learn that there are more graphemes for phonemes (ways to write the sounds) and that there are different ways to pronounce the phonemes they have already learnt. |
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Phase Six (Year 2) |
Phase 6 has a clear focus on spelling, including prefixes and suffixes, doubling and dropping letters. |
The Phonics Screening Test
The Phonics Screening Check is an assessment at the end of Year 1 to confirm whether individual children have learnt phonetic decoding to an appropriate standard. It enables schools to identify children who need additional help, so ensure they are given support to improve their reading skills. Children who do not 'pass' the check in Year 1 are able to retake it in Year 2.
It is a Statutory Requirement to carry out the screening check. The check is a short, simple screening check which consists of a list of 40 words and pseudo words (non-words), which the child reads one-to-one with their class teacher. For more information please click on the link below:
Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
Additional links
Intent, Implementation and Impact 2024-2025
Physical Education: "Creating Healthy and Active Young People"
At St. Anthony's Catholic Primary School, we deeply value the role of sports in shaping our young people. Through physical education, we aim to nurture not only the body but also the spirit, developing social skills and instilling lifelong values. Sports serve as a powerful vehicle to mould each child into a healthy, independent, and positive individual.
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own." — 1 Corinthians 6:19
A Positive Start to the Journey
Our PE lessons mark the beginning of each child's journey into the world of sports. We are committed to making this a positive experience for all students, striving daily to achieve this goal. By offering layered activities, we empower children to choose challenges they are ready for, ensuring a clear progression toward the lesson’s overall objectives.
"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." — Proverbs 22:6
Building Fundamental Movement Skills
Our curriculum places a strong emphasis on developing fundamental movement skills—agility, balance, and coordination. We believe these skills are the foundation of every sport we play.
- Agility: The ability to move quickly and easily.
- Balance: The even distribution of weight that enables someone or something to remain upright and steady.
- Coordination: The ability to control the movements of your body.
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." — Ecclesiastes 9:10
Developing Skills through The PE Hub
Our teachers are dedicated to enhancing the skills and abilities of our children using The PE Hub. This comprehensive resource supports our educators in delivering a well-structured, engaging, and effective physical education curriculum. The PE Hub helps us to create a focused learning environment where lessons are coherently planned and aligned with our ambitious educational goals. This ensures that our students gain the cumulative knowledge and skills they need for future learning and success.
"The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength." — Proverbs 24:5
Beyond the Classroom: Extracurricular Activities
In addition to our structured lessons, we offer a variety of sporting clubs available in the morning, after school, and during school holidays. These clubs cover a wide range of sports including football, netball, basketball, hockey, athletics, badminton, tennis, cricket, and many more, providing further opportunities for our students to develop their physical skills and foster a lifelong love of sports.
"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." — Hebrews 12:1
Useful links