An ambitious curriculum
An ambitious curriculum for every child
At St Mary’s, we believe that where a child starts should never determine where they are able to finish.
Our curriculum is deliberately ambitious. It gives children access to powerful knowledge, rich language, exceptional experiences and the opportunity to discover subjects, places and ideas that may sit far beyond their everyday lives.
We want our pupils to know more, understand more, communicate with confidence and see more possibilities for their future.
For some children, school opens a door to experiences they might otherwise never encounter. We take that responsibility seriously.
What drives our curriculum?
Our curriculum is built around three fundamental commitments.
Ambition without exception
Every child is entitled to an excellent curriculum.
We do not lower the intellectual ambition of what children learn because they have SEND, are learning English, have gaps in prior knowledge or have experienced disadvantage.
Instead, we consider what teaching, language, modelling, scaffolding and additional practice will enable them to access it successfully.
The destination remains ambitious. The route may be different.
Knowledge that connects
Learning at St Mary’s is carefully sequenced.
Children do not encounter a collection of disconnected activities or interesting facts. New knowledge is deliberately connected to what they have previously learned so that increasingly sophisticated understanding can develop over time.
We want children to build strong mental models of the world.
That means returning to important ideas, making connections across subjects and ensuring that essential knowledge moves into long-term memory.
Experiences that make learning matter
Children should encounter the world rather than simply read about it.
Our curriculum therefore extends beyond the classroom.
Visits, visitors, performances, fieldwork, cultural experiences, practical activity and opportunities across Southampton and beyond help children connect abstract knowledge with real places, people and experiences.
These experiences are not rewards or additions to the curriculum.
They are part of the curriculum.
It begins in Nursery
Our curriculum begins from the moment children enter St Mary’s.
Nursery and Reception are not preparation for the curriculum. They are the beginning of it.
During the Early Years, children develop the language, knowledge, physical development, relationships, curiosity and understanding of the world that later learning will build upon.
Our subject pathways therefore begin in EYFS and continue deliberately through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
What children encounter when they are three, four and five matters.
Language unlocks learning
St Mary’s is an exceptionally linguistically diverse school.
Children arrive with different languages, different experiences of English and different levels of prior knowledge. Some pupils join us having had very little experience of the English education system.
We see multilingualism as an asset.
At the same time, we recognise that academic English gives children access to the wider curriculum. Developing language is therefore everybody's responsibility.
Across the curriculum, teachers deliberately develop:
Oracy
Children learn to listen, explain, discuss, question, reason and articulate ideas with increasing precision.
Vocabulary
Teachers explicitly teach the Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary children need to understand increasingly complex ideas.
Reading
Reading is fundamental to accessing knowledge. Children encounter carefully selected texts that extend vocabulary, knowledge, imagination and understanding.
Writing
Children learn to communicate their thinking with increasing fluency, control and sophistication.
We want every child to develop a powerful voice.
How we teach
An ambitious curriculum requires excellent teaching.
Teachers make learning explicit, responsive and intellectually demanding.
Across St Mary’s, teaching is underpinned by a shared approach:
- Retrieve → Connect → Model → Practise together → Practise independently → Check → Respond
- Teachers activate prior knowledge before introducing something new.
- They explicitly model difficult thinking through our I do, We do, You do approach.
- They check understanding rather than assuming it.
- They identify misconceptions quickly.
- They provide feedback and further practice until important learning becomes increasingly secure.
- Children are expected to think hard.
- They are also given the teaching and support necessary to succeed.
Learning that lasts
Completing a lesson is not the same as learning something.
Our curriculum is designed so that important knowledge is encountered, practised, retrieved and connected repeatedly.
Teachers use assessment to identify what pupils have understood, what has been forgotten and what requires further teaching.
Deliberate practice is an important part of this.
Children learn that improvement requires attention, feedback, repetition and effort. We want them to experience the satisfaction that comes from becoming genuinely knowledgeable and proficient.
A curriculum rooted in Southampton and connected to the world
Our children should understand the community in which they live while developing knowledge of a world far beyond it.
Southampton becomes part of our classroom.
Children study its history, geography, communities, environment, culture and changing identity.
They also encounter civilisations, landscapes, scientific ideas, artistic traditions, literature and human experiences from across Britain and the wider world.
Our curriculum helps children answer two important questions:
Where do I belong?
and
What exists beyond what I already know?
Experiences beyond the classroom
Every year group has planned opportunities to experience learning beyond ordinary classroom teaching.
These may include:
- museums and galleries
- theatre and live performance
- historical sites
- fieldwork
- scientific experiences
- workshops and visiting specialists
- significant locations across Southampton
- visits beyond the city
These experiences are deliberately connected to curriculum learning.
Children should return to the classroom knowing and understanding something they could not have understood quite as deeply before.
Every child belongs in our curriculum
Equality does not mean giving every child exactly the same thing.
It means ensuring every child can participate in ambitious learning.
Teachers adapt teaching for pupils with SEND, children learning English and pupils with gaps in prior knowledge without unnecessarily narrowing the curriculum they experience.
This might include:
- explicit vocabulary instruction
- carefully chosen visual support
- modelling and worked examples
- additional guided practice
- adapted resources
- pre-teaching
- retrieval of prerequisite knowledge
- additional opportunities to speak, read and rehearse
- specialist support where appropriate
We begin with the child, but we keep our expectations high.
An ethic of excellence
We believe children are capable of producing work they can be genuinely proud of.
Excellence does not mean perfection.
It means taking care, responding to feedback, practising, improving and refusing to settle for something when we know we can make it better.
Our classrooms should be places where children see beautiful work, hear sophisticated language, encounter challenging ideas and experience adults who believe strongly in what they can become.
Our job is not simply to help children complete primary school.
It is to expand what they believe is possible.
