Every moment matters

Staff make every effort to enrich the educational experiences of our children.

Our curriculum is planned to be not only educational, but also enjoyable for both pupils and staff. The school day is carefully planned to ensure children gain maximum benefit through an exciting curriculum and other extra curricular activities. Our staff have a wealth of experience and knowledge and lessons are alive with challenge and involvement for all. Children demonstrate an interest and a keen approach to learning and this is encouraged through the carefully planned curriculum for all. Through the School Council, pupils have a voice that is heard.

The foundation stones to a successful education lie in the acquisition of basic skills. Without these skills, children will not make the educational progress that is expected of them. At St. Martin’s C.E. Primary School, we place great emphasis on learning basic skills. We hold the Basic Skills Quality Mark award for recognition of the school’s work in Basic Skills. Children will be taught and expected to learn number bonds and times tables, as well as calculation methods for the four rules of number. In addition, children will be taught phonics, through the use of the Read Write Inc programme, basic spelling rules and reading skills. Our reading scheme is ‘Big Cat’ which provides a variety of texts to challenge the pupils. Our aim is that when pupils leave Year Six, they will be highly numerate and literate, with a real joy for learning.

ICT is also central to the curriculum and is integrated into a range of subjects. The school is well resourced with Interactive Whiteboards in all teaching rooms, which allows us to create visually stimulating lessons and greater opportunities for interactive learning. In addition the school has a computer suite and children have access to ipads and class cameras.

Embedded in our curriculum as a way of nurturing children to access basic skills through different learning styles as well as challenging themselves further in different areas, are the Arts. We value the Arts for their intrinsic quality, promoting self esteem, leadership opportunities and providing an interesting stimulus for all areas. Aside from regular PE/dance, art, technology and music lessons, many art forms, including drama are used in other areas – facilitated by our creative curriculum. In addition to this, we organise a number of themed weeks throughout the year which enable children to work alongside professional artists or organisations. One World Week, for example, encourages inclusiveness and cultural diversity in every curriculum area.

We are extremely fortunate that so many staff value the contribution made by other activities beyond the classroom. As a result a range of extra-curricular clubs and activities are offered at lunchtimes and after school all year round. These range from sports clubs, such as Football, Tennis, and Multi Sports, to Phonics, Singing and Art based clubs. In addition, a range of educational experiences also support our school curriculum. Visits are arranged for all classes and include, amongst others, trips to the zoo, museums, places of interest such as Hampton Court and a residential school journey in Year Six. Although we have limited school grounds, St Martin’s uses another local primary school field for some sporting events.

To find out more about our curriculum, please look at our Curriculum tabs which provide more detail about what each year group is learning each term. Also, if you wish to receive any further information, please feel free to contact the school office or make an appointment to speak to your child’s teacher.