Our Curriculum is underpinned by the following drivers:

Language – The importance of vocabulary is undeniable. Research shows that there is a high correlation between vocabulary size and academic success. At St Oswald’s, we want to give all children the best opportunity to develop academically. With the context of our school in mind, language development is crucial. (Faith in Our Voice)

Diversity and Inclusion – Not only does creating greater multicultural awareness and inclusion help children with different backgrounds and needs succeed, but it encourages acceptance and helps prepare pupils to thrive in an exponentially diverse world. (Faith in Others)

Resilience – We want our children to develop the emotional and physical security needed to become resilient individuals who are able to take risks and deal with different challenges across the curriculum and the wider world by thinking positively and having the confidence to ‘have a go’. (Faith in Ourselves)

Enrichment – Enrichment activities offer opportunities for all pupils to develop their cultural capital by providing opportunities they may not have had otherwise. (Faith in Our Journey)

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Curriculum Statement

Last term we began to review our whole school curriculum and its vision as a school development; this continues to be a priority for 2023-2024.

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Curriculum Rationale

The staff and governors of St Oswald’s have a clear vision of the education we provide for our children. We believe that the curriculum should inspire and challenge all children and prepare them to be lifelong learners; we believe that the curriculum is a powerful tool that promotes equality of opportunity, develops aspirations, encourages a willingness to explore, take risks and develops a love of learning. Every child is encouraged to succeed through our broad, balanced and enriching curriculum, based upon strongly held Christian values preparing children for life in modern Britain. The Catholic ethos is central to all that we do in school and our vision for loving, learning and growing in faith is paramount to all that we do.

We are passionate in our belief that the curriculum underpins all of our provision as a school, and that through it the children should receive outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural guidance and, as a result, make excellent progress socially and academically, equipping them to become the good citizens and leaders of tomorrow. We strive to ensure that there is a broad range of enrichment opportunities including free-to-all extra-curricular activities which promote learning, personal growth and development.

The 2014 National Curriculum differs from previous versions in a number of ways. It encourages a deeper learning, the mastery of fewer objectives and through high quality teaching, children will learn and remember securely, the knowledge, understanding and skills across all curriculum areas that will equip them for the future workplace. It fosters embedded learning and allows children to demonstrate what they know, can do and understand by practising fluency, reasoning and problem solving independent from direct teaching.

Our mission in St Oswald’s is to tailor the curriculum specifically for our children, to plan and delivery to suit the needs of the learners. We work hard to continue to create and develop a curriculum that harnesses all of the statutory objectives creating school schemes of work and topics, which are relevant and stimulating to children in the locality they live and teaches them about the wider world, breaking down cultural and physical barriers.