Subjects

English

Click on the link to see our full English Site.

Intent

We aim to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment.

English is taught to a very high standard here at St Winefride’s, as may be seen by the outstanding SATs results achieved by the children over many consecutive years.

We use a variety of different ways to engage the children and bring Reading, Writing and the spoken word to life.

For example the stairs in the Literacy corridor have been transformed into a colourful list of the children’s favourite books. All pupils voted in an online poll and the most popular titles were chosen by the children for display.

We also have interactive displays showing the fun of previous World Book Days celebrated at St Winefride’s. Wherever possible the curriculum is designed to make connections with other areas of learning, these two examples clearly show links with art and D&T.

 

Useful links

Mathematics

Click on the link to see our full Mathematics Site.

Intent

Numeracy skills are vital for success in work and life. Our intent is to ensure children are fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, are able to reason mathematically and solve problems through applying their mathematical knowledge.

Mathematics is taught to a very high standard here at St Winefride’s, as may be seen by the outstanding SATs results achieved by the children over many consecutive years.

We use a variety of different ways to engage the children and bring maths to life and have real meaning in their world.

For example, the Numeracy corridor has displays made by the children showing how Mondrian used maths to influence his painting.

We also have interactive displays showing items such as World Time, to introduce children to the idea of both differing time zones and the scientific concept of the Earth spinning on its axis. Wherever possible the curriculum is designed to cross boundaries, as these two examples clearly show but also to be specific and rigorously examine the children’s mathematical knowledge.

For more information on how we teach Mathematics at St Winefride’s please follow this link to our Mathematics Site.

Useful links

Religious Education (RE)

Click on the link to see our full Religious Education Site.

At St Winefride’s we follow the ‘Come and See’ programme for Foundation and Key Stages 1 and 2, which is endorsed by the Diocese of Brentwood. 10% of the teaching timetable is provided for Religious Education. This means, 2 hours 15 minutes at Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, and 2 hours 30 minutes at Key Stage 2. This time does not include collective worship (other than the Rejoice section), hymn practice, assemblies etc. This time allocation is distributed appropriately across the timetable to ensure quality time is given for effective teaching and learning throughout the week. Allocation of teaching time to other faiths is 5 hours (2 weeks RE time). The school leadership and management take responsibility for this.

Within each lesson there is a balance between input, discussion and activity.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the human search for meaning, God’s initiative in Revelation who comes to meet us and our response of faith. This pattern guides the structure of the programme and informs the process of each topic, opened up through; Explore, Reveal and Respond.

Explore

The teacher helps the children to begin to look at and focus on the experience within their own lives – concerning themselves, their relationships and their world. In this way the children are led to a deeper understanding, clearer vision and the discovery of significance and value of the experiential events of everyday life.

Reveal

Reveal is the heart of the process. The teacher and the children together discover the Christian understanding of the mystery of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They explore the mystery of human life as revealed in the person, life and gospel of Jesus Christ. It will involve learning about Scripture, the teaching of the Church, prayers, rites, psalms, hymns and other expressions of Christian faith and the lives of outstanding Christians

Respond

‘Remember’ is the first part of this section. The children will respond by remembering and celebrating all that they have learnt. This new understanding will enable them to make a personal response in their daily lives. This part begins by reflecting on what the children wonder about. This is followed by providing the opportunity for the children to remember what they have understood and learnt.

For an overview of the RE Curriculum please click the link below:

Overview of the RE curriculum

Other ways we spread the good news of Jesus throughout the school.

Every class has their own prayer table, which the children help to keep clean and tidy, the cloths covering the tables are changed to reflect the time of the church year.

The Gospel is central to our lives at St Winefride’s and the scripture is displayed every week along with a prayer for the children to read. This prayer is included in the newsletter every week.

Our yearly Cafod fundraising events during Lent are one of the highlights of the school year.

Our Mini Vinnies carry out lots of good work for both charity and the school. They have made, packaged and sold cookies, run stalls and organise the ‘Reverse Advent calendar’, they are a marvellous asset for the school.

The RE Team plays a vital role in the school, monitoring classroom setups, talking to the children and helping to teach them class prayers, helping to set the Intention of the Week and setting a good example by raising the Catholic profile of the school.

 

Catholic Life

All pupils are at the centre of shaping the school’s ethos. Pupil Responsibilities and participation in the Catholic life of the school are of an exceptionally high standard. For example the children take pride in singing their mission statement daily and applying it to everyday life. All staff and governors are committed to living the Gospel Values to be outstanding role models to the pupils.

Religious Education

All pupils, regardless of starting points, make good progress throughout the school and standards in RE are high. Teachers have secure subject knowledge supported by dedicated topic launch sessions for each new topic and have, and communicate, high expectations to the children.

Governors monitor the effectiveness of how Religious Education is taught in the school and use this information to inform future developments in the school’s provision.

Collective Worship

Collective worship is central to the life of the school and children behave responsibly and with reverence during school and class Masses and other liturgical celebrations. There is a daily 15 minute collective worship session on every class timetable in addition to class prayers and assemblies. The children are very keen to participate in these sessions and be part of collective worship groups – there is currently a waiting list of children who would like to join the Mini Vinnies group. All of our staff participate in collective worship.

Useful links

Here are some websites that you may find interesting.

 

Science

Click on the link to see our full Science Site.

Art

Click on the link to see our full Art Site.

Design Technology

Click on the link to see our full Design & Technology Site.

Computing

Click on the link to see our full Computing Site.

Intent

A high-quality computing education enables children to understand and change the world through the use of computational thinking and creativity. Computings strong cross curricular links provides insights to natural and artificial systems.

Pupils are taught the principles of information and computation, how digital systems work and how to put this knowledge to use through programming. Computing ensures pupils are digitally literate and at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world.

Technology is changing the way we live, learn and work and here at St Winefride’s we move with the times. Children are given access to a range of technology which enables them to engage in lessons like never before.

These experiences not only enhance their learning environment but it helps them on their journey as digital citizens.

With Chromebooks available in every class, children always have access to the digital world. By using Google Classroom, the learning doesn’t just stop at the end of the school day. VR headsets allow the children to immerse themselves in any given environment and Augmented Reality enables them to see and “feel” 3D objects.

Children also get the chance to experience life in front of and behind the camera with the use of green screen technology.

Technology is the future and we are preparing our children for that future.

Useful links

Geography

Click on the link to see our full Geography Site.

History

Click on the link to see our full History Site.

Modern Foreign Language

Click on the link to see our full Modern Foreign Language Site.

Music

Click the link to see our full Music site.

Physical Education (PE)

PE, Sport and physical activity play a vital role in the lives of the children at St Winefride’s. All the children from Year 1 and up, have two, one-hour-long sessions of P.E. set into the timetable by the Headteacher who is fully behind the delivery of a fully resourced and closely assessed PE curriculum and closely assessed PE Curriculum. Please click this link to see our dedicated PE Webpage.

We do not focus simply on competitive team sports, although we are very proud of our achievements in these areas, but on finding a variety of different activities for the children to engage in.

Here at St Winefride’s we believe that, given opportunities to take part in a range of high quality PE activities, children will develop the life skills of team-work, resilience, meeting challenges and setting high aspirations for themselves.

We are continuing to develop our links with other schools through inter-schools sports competitions, especially by organising multi-school competitions across all year groups with local schools within the Manor Park area.

Furthermore each year we run a number of school competitions, organised and run by the children in sports and activities such as table tennis, basketball, chess, skipping and fencing.

Added to this we have Cycle Training every year run by Cycle Confident, where the children are trained in how to ride their bicycles safely and receive certificates and badges for their efforts. Our staff are also getting in the spirit with many of them engaging in sport every week outside of school, in activities as diverse as football, rugby, running and fencing to name but a few.

We are also in the process of setting up a running club for the staff with a view to entering a 10k races in the future, as many of our staff already participate in the Park Run events every Saturday.

We are also active in improving the PE experience for our children by employing specialist coaches to run tennis lessons, Dance after school clubs and by entering the children for events at the Olympic Park including the Tata Triathlon and the Ineos Go Run For Fun event, where a whole phase group run a 2k race. In addition to this, we have changed the way swimming lessons are delivered by switching to the Olympic Aquatic Centre and having an intense two week course rather than spreading the sessions out over an entire term with significantly improved results.

If you would like to see how our sports funding is utilised please see the ‘PE and Sports Premium Report’.

Useful links

Here are some websites and links you may find useful in supporting physical activity and healthy eating at home and also clubs that your children may like to join as an out of school activity.