What is the purpose of Art and Design at St Paul’s Cray?

At St Paul’s Cray CE Primary School, we believe that Art helps to stimulate creativity, imagination and inventiveness. We believe that Art gives our pupils the skills, concepts and knowledge necessary for them to express responses to ideas and experiences: it fires their imagination. We aim to inspire and excite our children, ensuring that children are engaged and challenged throughout each topic. The Art curriculum at St Paul’s enables children to communicate what they see, feel and think. Additionally, we want children to learn about a range of artists and styles therefore explore Art from different cultures to give the children an experience rich in diversity and different skills. Children experiment with their ideas and processes therefore enabling them to continue to develop and secure their skill base and become proficient in art and design techniques. We understand that Art is a form of self-expression and celebrate children’s achievements with this in mind. We encourage self-evaluation and children are taught how to be resilient to achieve their goals.

Art is unique at St Paul’s Cray because children are given the opportunity to build on their skills throughout their school life and express themselves through an artistic outlet.

What does Art and Design look like at St Paul’s Cray?

At St Paul’s Cray, we use CUSP's online scheme to plan and deliver all aspects of our Art curriculum. It demonstrates clear planning and progression through the year groups and ensures that children a revisiting previous skills to build on them. The artwork produced is often inspired by our topic work and cross-curricular links are planned, to enrich the pupils’ learning in other subject areas. Children also explore ideas and meanings through the work of artists and designers. We give children the opportunities to visit museums and galleries, developing their skills of observation and evaluation.

“I like using different things like chalk, paint and watercolours.”

“I like mixing different textures together to make something different and unique.”

“I enjoy learning about lots of different artists and recreating their work. 

What is the purpose of Computing at St Paul’s Cray?

At St Pauls Cray, we believe that IT, computer science and digital literacy are essential life skills necessary to fully participate in the modern digital world. We aim to deliver a curriculum that allows children to become creators of digital content rather than simply consumers of it. We do this by providing access to a rich and varied source of information and content, especially for those children who may not readily have access to such devices and content at home. We help children to communicate and present information in new ways, which helps pupils understand, access and use it more readily. We believe that a good Computing curriculum can motivate and enthuse pupils and has the flexibility to meet the individual needs and abilities of each pupil.

Computing is unique at St Paul’s Cray because we give children a Computing Curriculum which enables them to explore how IT is an integral part of our lives and also provides opportunities children may not already have access to.

What does Computing look like at St Paul’s Cray CofE Primary School?

The curriculum is designed to ensure all children have access to different areas of Computing knowledge and application. This knowledge will be built upon year after year using hardware and software that is age-appropriate. Where possible, Computing is linked to the wider school curriculum to ensure children have the ability to regularly access these skills and make cross-curricular links. We have access to iPads and Chromebooks throughout the school to enable the children to use these skills in subjects such as English, Science and Maths. Through Safer Internet Day and other children, IT linked events, children are able to see how Computing feeds into all other curriculum topics and are able to share what they learn with their community.

“I think it’s important to learn about Internet Safety so I can be safe at school and at home.”

“I love learning how to create characters, make them move and create games. It’s fun to learn coding and see how games are made."

What is the purpose of Geography at St Paul's Cray?

At St Paul’s Cray CE Primary School, we believe that Geography helps to provide answers to questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. Children are encouraged to develop a greater understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as their place in it. The Geography curriculum at St Paul’s enables children to develop knowledge and skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas and which can and are used to promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Geography is, by nature, an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives; to promote the children’s interest and understanding of diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.

Geography is unique at St Paul’s Cray because children are given the opportunity to make links between social and natural science and make connections between human activity and natural systems.

What does Geography look like at St Paul’s Cray?

We have recently begun to use CUSP's online scheme to plan, resource and deliver our Geography curriculum. The scheme is sequenced to support children’s progress over time and ensure they are revisiting skills and knowledge taught in previous year groups. Larger concepts, subject aspects and key skills and knowledge are built upon, providing rich coverage and the links between Geography and other subjects are clear. In addition to this, Geography is planned closely alongside Reading and Writing to ensure children are developing their subject-specific vocabulary and applying what they have learned in different aspects of the curriculum.

“I like finding out about things like volcanoes and how they affect people’s lives.”

“I like looking in the Atlas and on Google Maps to see where we are and where other countries are.”

“It’s good to find out about how we can save the Rainforest and stop pollution.”

What is the purpose of History at St Paul’s Cray?

History intends to prepare each student for their next phase of education whilst at the same time giving all students a broad and balanced view of the past and how this has shaped their present. In this, students will develop a well-rounded knowledge of the past and its events, with the intention to improve every students’ cultural capital, understanding of the world around them and their own heritage. History at St Paul’s Cray aims to be ambitious and motivating. Ambitious in our coverage of History and thorough teaching of historical skills. Motivating, through engaging activities, trips and visitors that give all students an opportunity to question the past.

History is unique at St Paul’s Cray because we inspire curiosity, critical thinking and reasoned questioning of evidence sources. Through studying the past and learning about societal changes, our pupils become more accepting and well-rounded citizens.

“I love learning about History to find out what has come before us and happened in our area.”

“I really enjoy finding out how things have changed over time.”

What does History look like at St Paul’s Cray?

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in history, we here at St Paul’s Cray, implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. History is taught as part of a termly topic, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum. We have recently begun to use CUSP's online scheme to plan, resource and deliver our Geography curriculum. The scheme is sequenced to support children’s progress over time and ensure they are revisiting skills and knowledge taught in previous year groups. At St Paul's Cray, we provide a variety of opportunities for history learning inside and outside the classroom, including visitors and educational visits off-site: the children will visit local museums, experience hands-on learning through special visitors and educational companies on-site. In addition to this, History is planned closely alongside Reading and Writing to ensure children are developing their subject-specific vocabulary and applying what they have learned in different aspects of the curriculum.

What is the purpose of maths at St Paul's Cray?

We aim to inspire children to strive for greatness and encourage ambition to ensure our pupils understand that their Maths learning has no limits. The expectation at St Paul’s Cray is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. This ensures they build resilience to make them self-motivated independent learners who are well equipped to apply their key learning to other subjects such as science as well as into aspects of their everyday life as they move forward into adulthood. At St Paul's Cray, we also have an increased emphasis on the key need for financial education (through the LifeSavers programme & other community links) in our ever-changing world with its increasing challenges.

Maths is unique at St Paul’s Cray we tailor the learning to the needs of individuals as well as providing opportunities for children to apply their learning to real-life scenarios.

“I enjoy Maths because the teachers are supportive and it will help me with my career in the future.”

What does maths look like at St Paul’s Cray?

At St Paul’s Cray, we follow the national curriculum and use White Rose Schemes of Work as a guide to support teachers with their planning. White Rose Mathematics is designed to develop fluency, build conceptual understanding and embed reasoning through an enquiry-based approach. It provides a comprehensive structure that allows teaching staff to retain the control to adapt the timing and teaching activities to meet the needs of their own class. The White Rose calculation policy is used within school to ensure a consistent approach to teaching the four operations over time. At the start of each new topic, key vocabulary is introduced and revisited regularly to develop language acquisition, embedding as the topic progresses. Reasoning and problem-solving are integral to the activities children are given to develop their mathematical thinking. Concrete resources are readily available to assist demonstration of securing a conceptual understanding of the different skills appropriate for each year group. Children are encouraged to explore, apply and evaluate their mathematical approach during investigations to develop a deeper understanding when solving different problems/puzzles. A love of maths is encouraged throughout the school via links with other subjects, applying an ever-growing range of skills with growing independence. Children with additional needs are included in whole class lessons and teachers provide scaffolding and relevant support as necessary. For those children who are working outside of the year group curriculum, individual learning activities are provided to ensure their progress.

“I love Maths because it’s challenging and fun!”

Below are some useful websites to help with Maths:

• APAT Math Teaching videos available to view on our Amadeus YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCArtBh1Wkb09ilK-crlSw4g
• https://www.mathschase.com/
• Oxford Owl - How to practice times tables
• Maths at home - Guide for parents & carers
• www.timestables.co.uk
• www.multiplication.com
• www.mathszone.co.uk
• www.ictgames.co.uk
• Sum Dog
• Top Marks

What is the purpose of MFL at St Paul's Cray?

The school’s MFL curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced to ensure that children build on both phonics and vocabulary knowledge from prior topics and support each other to develop their learning of the French-speaking world. Our MFL curriculum aims to provide the children with an opening to other cultures and make them curious about the world around them. The MFL teaching across KS2 will enable the children to express their thoughts and ideas in French, and give them
the tools to understand and respond to French-speakers, both orally and in writing. 
The MFL curriculum allows the children to develop their skills individually, and also to build positive relationships by working together with their peers to develop their spoken skills. They are able to take risks in a safe environment, thus continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation. At St Paul’s Cray, we aim to equip every child with a firm foundation, on which they can build as they
progress through their secondary education with French and/or any additional languages that they may choose to pursue.

MFL is unique at St Paul’s Cray because
children are given the chance to investigate and develop a new skill in a way that is enjoyable and fun, as well as rewarding.

What does MFL look like at St Paul’s Cray?

We have recently begun using LanguageNuts to support the teaching of MfL at St Paul's Cray. The curriculum is designed to enable the children to be able to understand and respond to spoken and written language. This is achieved by using a variety of authentic material for each topic studied – for example videos and familiar texts in French. Topics will be revisited throughout KS2 and developed allowing the children to build confidence with each of the four language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing. Most topics will build on prior learning to ensure that new vocabulary and structures are integrated and links can be made easily by the children. In addition, children learn through engaging games and interactive activities which challenge their understanding of French. Links are established to show the children how they can use their vocabulary in the world around them, in order to communicate in a wide range of situations.

For more information about LanguageNuts, take a look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpE-Z_naofA

“I love learning a different language.”

“I want to practise my French skills when I visit France soon.”

What is the purpose of PE at St Paul’s Cray?

The purpose of PE is to provide a high-quality education curriculum which inspires all pupils to enjoy, succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically demanding activities. PE enables children to work as part of a team in order to develop their ideas and skills together. It provides opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness.

PE is unique at St Paul’s Cray because children are able to participate through both indoor and outdoor learning opportunities which enables them to develop skills, knowledge and enjoyment for an active and healthy lifestyle.

‘I enjoy playing sports with my friends and developing my skills.’

‘I enjoy going to competitions to play against other schools. I hope we win!’

What does PE look like at St Paul’s Cray?

We currently use PE Hub which gives teacher comprehensive plans to implement a broad and progressive curriculum. We have three external coaches in Basketball, Cricket and Gymnastics. The PE curriculum is designed to build on prior learning to ensure that new skills and knowledge is developed in a variety of sports, whilst teaching about the importance of a healthy lifestyle both for now and the future. All children have an opportunity to participate in inter and intra sporting competitions in a variety of activities, these have included Hi-5 Netball, Basketball and Cross Country. This enables us to celebrate children’s skills and build relationships with other schools in our community. Through these competitions, children are able to set their own personal goals, strive for greatness and celebrate their successes. As a whole school, we have participated in national events such as Sports Relief and Mini London Marathon.

‘I think PE is good for us because it gives us fitness and it is really good fun.’

What is the purpose of Phonics at St Pauls Cray?

Reading is central to all learning and knowledge. Learning to read effectively will support children's learning across the curriculum, their ability to be independent and their future life choices. At St Paul’s Cray, we use a systematic approach to phonics to support the development of early reading. We teach phonics through the “Read Write Inc. (RWI)” scheme; this supports our discrete, daily teaching of phonics beginning in Nursery and continuing to children beyond the age of 7 if they still need support.

Phonics is unique at St Paul’s Cray because it is fun and meets the needs of every child. It is one piece of a big tapestry within the school; home reading, writing and spelling strategies throughout the school are woven tightly within it. Through this, we are developing motivated and confident readers.

“I love learning within our group. I work with a partner and help her when she gets stuck on a word.” (Year Two reader)

“My mum is so proud of me. I have taught her about Fred talk and how I can read a word. She didn’t know about alien words but I have helped her read them.” (Year One reader)

What does Reading look like at St Paul’s Cray CE Primary?

Reading is at the heart of all learning in our school and from Nursery through to year 6 teachers demonstrate and encourage a love of reading. Classrooms are set up with inviting reading areas where children can explore exciting, beautiful books. Skills are taught daily in Phonics and Guided Reading where children are taught an awareness of the different skills needed to understand a text at a deeper level. Pupils from year 1 to year 6 take part in daily whole class AIR reading sessions, where texts have been carefully matched to the ages and interests of the children. Pupils work with challenging vocabulary, discussing root words, prefixes and suffixes and discuss daily a ‘Word of the Day’ where they can clarify and visualise new vocabulary. Reading feeds all curriculum areas and teachers embed reading as a skill for life. We engage and encourage reading within our school community through workshops, book swap events, book clubs and through links with our local library. National events such as World Book Day are celebrated. Pupils also take part in live author/reading events.

‘Reading helps me learn about other people’s lives as I can picture in my mind lots of things. I can imagine what someone looks like, where they live and if they are happy or sad’. – Year 5 student

“I really like AIR because I get to discuss the new vocabulary and ideas with my friends.” – Year 3 student

What is the purpose of PSHE at St Pauls Cray?

PSHE Education is a planned programme of learning through which children and young people acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to successfully manage their lives – now and in the future. As part of a whole-school approach, PSHE Education develops the qualities and attributes pupils need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society. Through PSHE, we are able to nurture supportive and happy relationships throughout the school and ensure that the children celebrate the differences between them and value each other as individuals.

PSHE is unique at St Paul’s Cray because we help children to develop skills and understanding in order for them to lead happy and healthy lifestyles.

“We like PSHEC because it lets me think about all the things that make me feel happy and safe”

“I Like PSHEC because it gives me time to learn about myself and my feelings.”

What does PSHE look like at St Paul’s Cray?

PSHEC is a whole-school approach which embodies a positive philosophy to nurture children’s development as compassionate and well-rounded human beings as well as building their capacity to learn. PSHEC teaches and develops Relationships and Health Education, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. It is designed as a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme at the same time at their own level. Each year group is taught one lesson per week. All lessons are delivered in an age- and stage-appropriate way so that they meet children’s needs. We teach these skills through a cross-curricular approach. The curriculum includes weekly circle time sessions and themed days both of which are based on SEAL. It also includes visits (such as to the life bus) and visitors (such as the school nurse, the dietician and Police and Fire services), special weeks such as Friendship Week and it underpins the daily interactions across the whole school at all times.

“PSHE is interesting because it lets me think about ideas and issues in lots of different ways”

What is the purpose of Reading at St Paul’s Cray?

Over the past 3 years, we have developed a reading curriculum that provides teachers and pupils with topic linked texts. Books have been carefully selected with pupils’ interests as a central focus; but challenging enough to encourage debate and develop an understanding of people’s lives who are very different from their own. Books have been chosen to encourage empathy and respect for diverse communities and to celebrate the richness of both our history and our school’s intercultural standpoint. We are ambitious in wanting our pupils to be articulate about their opinions but to be open to changing view-points. Through phonics in KS1 and then into book bands in KS2, pupils meet in guided reading and for home reading, books that are tailored to meet their learning stage. Alongside content, pupils develop a knowledge of a wider range of authors and their curiosity for discovering new books is encouraged.

Reading is unique at St Paul’s Cray CE Primary because through reading we are giving pupils from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and opportunities to enable them to grow into confident, caring and articulate young people. Reading is their gateway to knowledge and experiencing the wider world.

What does Reading look like at St Paul’s Cray CofE Primary School?

Reading is at the heart of all learning in our school and from Nursery through to year 6 teachers demonstrate and encourage a love of reading. Classrooms are set up with inviting reading areas where children can explore exciting, beautiful books. Skills are taught daily in Phonics and Guided Reading where children are taught an awareness of the different skills needed to understand a text at a deeper level. Pupils from year 1 to year 6 take part in daily whole class AIR reading sessions, where texts have been carefully matched to the ages and interests of the children. Pupils work with challenging vocabulary, discussing root words, prefixes and suffixes and discuss daily a ‘Word of the Day’ where they can clarify and visualise new vocabulary. Reading feeds all curriculum areas and teachers embed reading as a skill for life. We engage and encourage reading within our school community through workshops, book swap events, book clubs and through links with our local library. National events such as World Book Day are celebrated. Pupils also take part in live author/reading events.

‘Reading helps me learn about other people’s lives as I can picture in my mind lots of things. I can imagine what someone looks like, where they live and if they are happy or sad’. – Year 5 student

“I really like AIR because I get to discuss the new vocabulary and ideas with my friends.” – Year 3 student

What is the purpose of R.E at St Paul’s Cray?

At St Paul’s Cray, pupils and their families can expect a high-quality religious education (RE) curriculum that is rich and varied, enabling learners to acquire a thorough knowledge and understanding of a range of faiths and world views. As a church school, the teaching of Christianity is at the heart of our RE curriculum. Through the Understanding Christianity resource, the use of an enquiry approach engages with significant theological concepts and the pupils’ own understanding of the world as part of their wider religious literacy. Using the Bromley Locally Agreed Syllabus, we learn about other religions and world views, fostering respect for them. Links with our Christian values and vision, and support for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development are intrinsic to our RE curriculum and have a significant impact on learners.

R.E. is unique at St Paul’s Cray because we study and explore theological ideas, the philosophy around religion and the social science that forms relationships in our community.

“I enjoy learning about the different people in our community.”

What does R.E. look like at St Paul’s Cray?

The curriculum is designed to build on prior learning to ensure that new knowledge is integrated into larger concepts and links can be made easily between these by the children. St Paul’s Cray C of E Primary is a Voluntary Controlled Primary School. The Governors have adopted the Bromley Agreed Syllabus underpinned by Understanding Christianity. This is taught by class teachers from Reception to Year 6. We provide a wide range of opportunities for learners to understand and to make links between the beliefs, practices and value systems of a range of faiths and world views studied. Our aim is to enable pupils to know about and understand Christianity as a living faith that influences the lives of people worldwide and is the religion that has helped shape British culture and heritage. Our aim is to enable pupils to know and understand about other major world religions and world views; their impact on society, culture and the wider world, enabling pupils to express ideas and insights. At St Paul’s our aim is to contribute to the development of pupils’ own spiritual/philosophical convictions by exploring and enriching their own beliefs and values to equip them for their journey through life.

“R.E helps me to understand the different ways we live and right from wrong.”

What is the purpose of Science at St Paul's Cray?

The school’s Science curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced to ensure that children build on knowledge from prior topics and support each other to learn about the world around them. Our Science curriculum links to key topical issues in the world around us to ensure that children are open-minded and are interested in addressing current dilemmas in their own lives and community. The Science Curriculum enables children to explore their surroundings, build positive relationships by working together with their peers and develop their scientific skills to analyse their environment. We aim to inspire and excite our children and foster a thirst for knowledge. They are able to make enquiries, investigate things which they don’t originally understand and challenge each other’s ideas to ensure they are critical thinkers. Through learning about a range of Scientists and Scientific discoveries, the children will develop high aspirations for themselves and recognise that there are endless possibilities for their future.

Science is unique at St Paul’s Cray because children are able to investigate through both indoor and outdoor learning opportunities which enables them to explore and discover the world around them.

What does Science look like at St Paul’s Cray?

The curriculum is designed to build on prior learning to ensure that new knowledge is integrated into larger concepts and links can be made easily by the children. In addition, wherever possible, Science is linked to half-termly topics to enable the children to enjoy a curriculum which is intertwined to ensure they are able to make clear links in their learning. With this in mind, Science can then be taught cross-curricular through English and Guided Reading. This ensures that children understand the importance of making links in their own learning so they are able to do this independently in the future. Through Science week, children are able to see how Science feeds into all other curriculum topics and are able to celebrate what they learn with their community.

“I love doing investigations because it helps me understand the world around me.”

“I like doing experiments because I can then see Science for myself. I get to test things and see how they work in my surroundings.”

What is the purpose of writing at St Pauls Cray?

Teachers have high expectations for children as writers and from a young age pupils are provided with stimulating contexts for writing. Younger pupils write for real life and imagined experiences and older pupils build on their capabilities, writing from different viewpoints and perspectives. This often links to their curriculum topic so that children are able to develop their understanding of other people’s way of life and encourages empathy by writing from different viewpoints. Pupils write across a range of genres and pupils have opportunities to revisit writing genres to embed their understanding. This enables them to strive for greatness within their writing as they are given opportunities to build on skills and improve their work. Phonics and spelling rules are taught daily, where pupils explore linked words and patterns. Pupils are given the chance to apply grammar, punctuation and spelling rules in daily writing tasks and are encouraged to be self-challenging and have high expectations for themselves. Work is differentiated to nurture the well-being of pupils so that they feel proud of their daily, small-step achievements.

Writing is unique at St Paul’s Cray CE Primary because pupils are encouraged to write creatively, inspired by carefully crafted topic links to enable pupils to write with greater confidence and empathy. Pupils are used to editing work and are resilient in developing and improving their ideas and masterpieces.

What does writing look like at St Paul’s Cray CE Primary?

Writing has been developed with a dual focus on Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling and on understanding the features of the different text types. Pupils write, inspired by their current topic learning to give a context for their work. They begin by exploring the key features of a text type and work to improve and edit specific features, allowing them to build into independent, extended writing pieces. Grammar and punctuation rules and usages are explored daily through specific, explicit teaching and pupils practice the grammar skills needed in focused sessions before applying their learning in their writing. Each year, pupils acquire and build on previous learning through rich, cross-curricular themes. They have a chance to apply challenging vocabulary they have learnt through their reading. Pupils write from the viewpoints of others and are encouraged to be creative and through peer work pupils learn to value and respect their own work and that of their peers.

“I get to read and write every day and this helps me to learn about the world around me. I get to express who I am and show my ideas and my understanding about different topics. I'm able to explore my thoughts and feelings in my work.” Year 6 (Writing an Explanation Text about Glacier Formation).

“I like my writing to look good and want my letters go the right way. I like writing about what is good like my horses and when things are bad in the world it helps me too.” Year 2