The aim of the curriculum at Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School is to provide pupils with a rich, relevant, broad and balanced education, in line with the National Curriculum so they experience: -

‘Enjoyment, Opportunity, Learning and Achievement’

From Nursery to Year Six, the curriculum leaders consider what the children need to learn, focusing on personal development, skills, enquiry, research and knowledge, making use of a variety of approaches. This includes drama, debating, computing, real-life experiences and outdoor learning to name a few. This all contributes to providing opportunities to achieve outstanding learning, achievement and significant growth in pupils’ knowledge and skills. The school focusses on promoting excellent attitudes to learning, which is enhanced further by our Relationships and Health Education Curriculum and Growth Mind-set initiative.

We provide Early Focussed Interventions whilst still ensuring that pupils have full access to a rich, broad and ambitious curriculum.  Quality First Teaching is the biggest key to success and school invests in personalised coaching for all members of staff.

As a Catholic School, the principles of Catholic Education remain at our core. This includes the pursuit of excellence and preparing our children as world citizens of the 21st Century. We recognise that parents are the primary educators of our faith and we work closely with the local parish and community in embedding strong links and fostering an ethos of serving both individuals and society.  We also recognise that the work environment is evolving and that we need to prepare our children for a job market that does not yet exist. Therefore, our pupils are supported to develop personal attributes enabling them to navigate an increasingly changing world.

Community involvement is an essential part of our curriculum. Our children leave our school with a sense of belonging to a tight-knit community, where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.

We ensure our pupils serve others through a wide-range of charities in their local community and are also globally aware of the needs of others. We do this through a wide-range of initiatives, some led by our School Ambassadors and others initiated by pupils. 

As a Rights Respecting School (RRS), following the UNICEF charter for the rights of all children, the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Pupils show themselves to be deep thinkers. They are able to empathise with the feelings and actions of others, seeing points of views and beliefs other than their own. They show a keen interest in ethical issues and are able to apply their personal values to situations, giving reasons for their decisions and actions. They are ready to question arguments and situations.

Every child is recognised as an individual. We celebrate and welcome differences within our school community. Across our curriculum, the ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills, knowledge, concepts and values. In recognising the development of the whole child, the pastoral support given so all children can access the curriculum is strong and evident as part of the direct and discreet curriculum. We are part of the Children’s Health project which supports mental well-being, resilience and Growth Mind-set.

Sport is central to both our curriculum and extra-curricular provision. We attend a variety of sporting competitions. This, along with our PE Curriculum, facilitates an interest and love of sport for pupils to take forward into their adult life.

In our curriculum design, we recognise that children’s learning is enhanced by different experiences. Using the local area, and taking advantage of our proximity to central London, we offer children a wide range of educational visits which are used to motivate and engage learning.

A wide selection of curriculum workshops enhances the pupils’ knowledge and skills, allowing them to explore their learning at a deeper level. Visitors in school give the children another perspective on values, attitudes, learning and understanding.

Our aim is to ensure that there is a breadth to learning across all curriculum areas and that the children enjoy enrichment activities to further their understanding of the world around them. We aim to inspire and ignite a love of independent learning.

 Our curriculum vision for our pupils as they move through their stages of education is:-

• To support the children to develop their skills to become lovers of books and reading and to become lifelong learners.
• To provide a safe and nurturing environment that develops the whole child, working with families so that each individual has high self-esteem and a strong foundation for the next stage of their education.
• To inspire future leaders, professional and socially responsible citizens.
• To enable children to be confident and resilient so that they believe in themselves as individuals in a wider society.
• Through our high expectations, prepare every pupil to become adult contributors to the good of society as a whole.

Our experienced and committed teachers are passionate, ensuring that every child is an active participant in their learning journey. We understand that children are most receptive when they have the confidence and positive mind-set needed to complete a range of tasks and challenges. We stimulate curiosity; days are designed to be fun so that lessons are learned intuitively in an atmosphere of excitement and inquisitiveness.