St James the Great R.C (V.A) Primary & Nursery School

AGM 2000

CURRICULUM NEWS

The school has continued to review curriculum issues in the light of implementation of the Literacy and Numeracy strategies. Central government have also put in place a revision of the National Curriculum under the heading "Curriculum 2000". The decision to undertake National ICT training for all teachers was consciously linked to National Curriculum revisions and a need to incorporate ICT into all subject areas. Training in this area is now to be offered to classroom support staff as part of the development of wider access to in-service provision. Participation in the training has enabled the school to undertake a simultaneous revision of all curriculum areas and their respective schemes of work. It is anticipated that by the end of this calendar year all of the school’s schemes of work will have been fully revised and brought up to date. There will then be a process by which respective Curriculum Co-ordinators will present the new Schemes of Work to the Governors Curriculum Committee for consideration and approval by the Governors. It is intended that parents will be involved with this process through a program of curriculum evenings starting with an Autumn Term session to provide information with regard to Literacy, Numeracy and PSHE teaching. This links well with both Inspection Action Plans and the Whole School Development Plan. The Governors are pleased to report that the Inspection Action Plans are on target and that once a formal review of the Whole School Development Plan is completed these plans will be fully synchronised. The school is currently very active in developing improved assessment procedures that will provide clearer means of tracking individual pupils from their point of admission to their point of transfer from the school. The Governors Curriculum Committee has already looked at these and will be monitoring the implementation of the new processes. Their work is central to the work of the Governing Body and much of which is due to the excellent Chairmanship of this committee by Mrs. Ann Scowcroft.

The Governors are firm in their resolve to maintain the school’s already identified well-balanced curriculum within National Curriculum requirements. The school has always been able to accommodate all changes with minimal disruption. Priority clearly lies with the core subjects of Religious Education, Mathematics, Literacy and ICT. Foundation subject teaching will be linked wherever possible to the core subjects and a limited amount of topic work will be maintained to meet the requirements that cannot be accommodated within core subject areas.

The next academic year will see the introduction of a revised version of the Diocesan approved school’s Religious Education Scheme "Here I Am". Funding has been provided to facilitate the purchase of the necessary new resources.

A substantial amount of staff in-service training is directed to curriculum development although wherever possible the staff is supported with provision for their own professional development and preferences. The Governors commend the staff for their willingness to undertake, often in their own time, a wide range of training in order to maintain what are very high professional standards.

The Governors continue to be appreciative of the support given to the school by Mrs Janet Miles our attached LEA Inspector. It is intended that she support the school in the development of the Performance Management requirements currently being introduced as a Government initiative. She will also be supporting the school in its work towards achieving the nationally recognised Basic Skills Award. The school is also keeping under review the seeking of the Investors in People Award, for which provisional work has already been undertaken.