At St James’ CE First school, our broad and balanced curriculum is the driver for achieving our core vision: ‘Make Great Choices, Be Our Best.’ We believe that an exceptional education empowers children to make positive, informed choices about their learning, their behaviour, and their future role in society, striving always for personal excellence. Our topic-based, creative curriculum is deliberately designed to build knowledge, skills, and a social and moral framework needed for children to consistently choose to be their best selves.

Every child has equal access to the full breadth of the National Curriculum and beyond. We aim to spark curiosity and nurture diverse talents, ensuring that every child can find their passion and succeed. In particular, through ways in which we celebrate the wider curriculum to ensure the holistic flourishing of all our children.

To make learning meaningful and engaging, our curriculum is delivered through topic-based themes. These cross-curricular units connect disciplines, allowing children to see the context of their learning and understand how the world links together. By anchoring knowledge in exciting, real-world topics and building in visits and trips to immerse children, we make learning memorable, stimulate critical thinking, and foster a lifelong love for discovery.

Learning is a journey of cumulative growth. Our trust-wide curriculum is meticulously mapped to ensure a clear, sequential progression of both substantive knowledge (the facts and concepts) and disciplinary skills (how to apply them) from Early Years through to Year 4. As a trust with a full primary age range and in collaboration with feeder middle schools, consideration has been thoughtfully given to ensuring children are suitably ready to meet the next stages of their learning.

 Prior learning is systematically revisited and built upon, ensuring that new knowledge embeds firmly into long-term     memory.

 Skills are progressively sharpened year-on-year, allowing children to move from supported exploration to independent mastery.

To find our more about our Curriculum please have a look through the tabs below and look at some of the exciting topics we have been working on so far.... If you would like to know more, contact the school and we'll happily talk you through and show you round!