Our Curriculum
At St Thomas à Becket Primary School we want every part of our school community – pupils, parents and staff – to cherish their time here and to develop a love for learning.
We offer a broad, balanced and supportive curriculum which provides breadth, depth and challenge for all. Our curriculum is underpinned by four key drivers that ensure our children have the opportunities and experiences to grow and flourish academically, physically, socially and emotionally from their starting point in rural Wiltshire.
Curriculum Intent Overview
Curriculum Drivers
Be Ambitious
Our children are encouraged to be the best they can be by aiming high and having aspirational goals. We motivate each child to believe in themselves and to strive to meet their own potential. We want every child to leave us with broad horizons and the wisdom, knowledge and skills to thrive at secondary school.
Be Curious
Our curriculum is planned around the distinctive needs of our children and promotes curiosity and interest. Within each topic, we present open-ended questions to investigate, which encourage children to reason, think and reflect on their learning. Pupils feel safe to express their views without being made fun of in a culture of mutual respect.
Be Creative
We recognise that each child is a unique individual. We offer our children opportunities to be imaginative and to be able to express their ideas in different ways. We want our pupils to try new things and to experience the world in new ways. Wherever possible we link our topics to real-life experiences such as sketching on Westbury White Horse or creating a restaurant for members of the local community.
Be Resilient
Our children develop the emotional and physical security needed to become resilient individuals who can take risks and deal with different challenges across the curriculum and in the wider world by thinking positively and having the confidence to ‘have a go’. Weekly Forest School sessions in our local woods enable pupils to develop confidence and self-esteem through learner inspired, hands-on experiences in a natural setting.
The Curriculum and our Christian Values
Our six core Christian values of friendship, respect, truth, forgiveness, perseverance and thankfulness are the foundations to our curriculum. We use our values to promote positive attitudes to learning throughout the curriculum. The following document shows how our values relate to each area of our curriculum. This reflects the values and skills needed to promote responsibility for learning and future success so all can flourish.
Cultural Capital
Cultural Capital is defined as the essential knowledge that children need to be educated citizens. Our children benefit from a curriculum that builds on what they understand and know already. This means our children have a deep and connected knowledge and understanding of where they came from, who they are and what they might become. We believe that exposure, not only to culture but also to situations in which the children might not have previous experiences is of paramount importance to their ongoing successes.
Entitlements
We believe that school trips and educational visits and visitors should be viewed as powerful, positive teaching tools that help enhance the social, personal and emotional development of all learners. Extra stimulation in new environments can be particularly beneficial to pupils and can help teach life skills, build on social skills and improve independence and self- confidence.
A wide range of enrichment and enjoyment activities, including residential opportunities, are embedded in the curriculum and these are used effectively to engage pupils, develop social skills and provide much needed life experiences.
- Kayaking on the Kennet and Avon Canal
- Residential at Braeside Education Centre
- Sketching on Westbury White Horse
- Devizes Museum
- Visits to Stonehenge and Avebury
- SS Great Britain in Bristol Docks
- Bovington Tank Museum
- Salisbury Cathedral
- Dauntsey’s School Outreach
- Marwell Zoo
- River Bourne Community Farm