Curriculum Intent

St Bartholomew’s C of E V/C Primary School is located in Armley, an inner-city area in the west of Leeds.  Our school is a large voluntary controlled school in one of the highest deprived areas in the country (top 3%).

Our school curriculum is shaped by the key challenges children from our local area may face as noted above. As a school, we follow the 2014 National Curriculum, which is adapted where appropriate to meet the needs of our school community. 

At St Bartholomew’s, our curriculum will develop both successful learners and confident, responsible citizens.  The school holds both in high regard.  Our school population is highly populated with disadvantaged pupils. We currently have 45% of our children that benefit from free school meals, which is well above national statistics. We also have 17% SEND pupils and 35% EAL, again all above national statistics. Due to this, we ensure that our curriculum matches our own context. 

Our curriculum will:

• Raise aspirations
• Develop essential skills across all curriculum areas
• Be inclusive for all learners including disadvantaged, EAL, SEND
• Promote healthy lifestyles
• Prepare pupils for their next step in education
• Teach reading as the ‘master skill’
• Provide all children with daily mathematics, reading and English
• Cover a broad range of curriculum subjects in a good level of detail

At St Bartholomew’s, we value the importance of developing basic skills in English and Maths to ensure all children can then access the wider curriculum.  Learning that is exciting, memorable and stimulating is non-negotiable.  Children will enjoy school and be immersed in their learning; having a desire to attend school.  

We ensure children have a thirst for learning through:

• Passionate teachers
• Engaging lessons
• First hand experiences
• Wide range of extra-curricular activities
• Exciting daily worship 

By the time children leave St Bartholomew’s, we not only want them to have fulfilled their academic potential but we want confident, independent British citizens who demonstrate the following attributes:

• Ambition – always aiming to better themselves.
• Courage - they will not be afraid to try new things.
• Commitment - they will work hard.
• Willpower – they will strive to be the best they can be.
• Integrity – they will tell the truth at all times.
• Drive – they want to better themselves at every opportunity.
• Patience – they will accept that some things take time.
• Resilience – they will always keep trying.
• Optimism – they know that good things will happen to them if they work hard.

If you wish to find out more about our curriculum, please refer to the weekly newsletter (Families > Newsletters & Letters), the curriculum newsletter (Curriculum > Curriculum Newsletter) or contact our phase leaders:

nursery@stbartsleeds.org.uk
reception@stbartsleeds.org.uk
year1year2@stbartsleeds.org.uk
year3year4@stbartsleeds.org.uk
year5year6@stbartsleeds.org.uk

Curriculum - Policy