At St Joseph’s Catholic Academy Matlock, we have developed a broad, creative and progressive curriculum. We aim to give our children the knowledge, skills and understanding of our local area, our wider community and how history has shaped the world we live in today.
We aspire to motivate the children to gain a love of learning and develop their independence through inspirational topics that are relevant to our children.
The importance of reading is emphasised at St Joseph’s from the very first day and is reflected in our ‘Talk for Writing’ approach across the school. Prioritising reading allows for all pupils to access the full curriculum offer.
However, being a very proud, Catholic school, what makes St Joseph’s Catholic Academy particularly unique is the way in which the Gospel Values underpin each element of our curriculum offer. Our school motto “To Live Like Jesus” is at the very heart of our school.
The Intent of our Curriculum
- St Joseph’s curriculum is extremely inclusive and ambitious, ensuring all children, regardless of ability etc are provided with the opportunity to fulfil their individual potential.
- Our curriculum is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before and towards its clearly defined end points
- Our curriculum reflects our local context.
The National Curriculum defines Cultural Capital as:
“It is the essential knowledge that pupils need to be educated citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said and helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.’
- The curriculum at St Joseph’s Catholic Academy, aims equips pupils with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.
The Implementation of our Curriculum
Teachers ensure that pupils embed key concepts in their long-term memory and apply them fluently. This is achieved through effective, age-appropriate assessment, which helps pupils to embed knowledge and use it fluently and assists teachers in producing clear next steps for pupils.
The Impact of our Curriculum
Our ultimate aim is to have provided a rich, broad and creative curriculum, based upon the Catholic ethos of the school, with all children being ready for the next stage of education.
