1. St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in the Borough
A Voluntary Aided Catholic Primary School
Little Dorrit Court
Redcross Way
London SE1 1NJ
Mr. Luiz Bento – Year 3 Teacher
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - Borough

2. What is special about our school?
Saint Joseph’s is a Catholic Primary School for Catholic children between the ages of 3 and 11 years. There are 8 classes of mixed ability children from a wide range of cultural and social backgrounds. The school serves the parishes of The Precious Blood and Our Lady of La Salette, but also takes children from other parishes in SE London.
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - Borough

3. What do pupils learn about?
We aim to provide a broad and balanced curriculum which offers the best education for our children. And since ultimately everything relates to God, every part of the curriculum has a spiritual dimension.
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - Borough

4. Personal, Social and Emotional development
In the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception), the curriculum is organized into six areas of learning:
Personal, Social and Emotional development
Communication, Language and Literacy
Mathematical development
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Creative development
Physical development
The learning in Key Stages 1 and 2 follows the National Curriculum. Teachers plan an exciting and stimulating curriculum in order to promote active learning. A variety of learning styles are used to encourage independent and group learning and to developing thinking skills.
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - Borough

5. Weekly Timetable

6. Literacy - English
All children have a daily English lesson and the basic skills of speaking and listening, reading and writing are given a high focus in all curriculum areas.
Reading
Each classroom has a wide selection of books to encourage the children to want to read and to stimulate their interest in reading. We also have a large well stocked school library.
Writing
From the moment the children come to school, they are eager to share their ideas and to put them down on paper. In the early years the children’s own “writing” plays a vital role in their language development. They will be encouraged to write for a wide variety of purposes.
Spelling
As the child develops, he/she will want to spell more and more words correctly and the teacher will work individually with each child to develop spelling and literacy, as well as punctuation.
Speaking and Listening
The children are provided with a variety of situations and stimuli e.g. class and group discussion and drama activities to encourage both these skills.

8. Mathematics
Key Stages 1 and 2 follow the National Numeracy Strategy, which is taught throughout the school. This means that approximately an hour a day is set aside for the teaching of Numeracy. The curriculum is broken down into the teaching of number concepts with a daily session on mental maths and the teaching of topics such as length, weight, capacity, time, money and shape.

10. RE
As a Catholic school, Saint Joseph’s has a special role to play in the education of young Christians. Our approach to religion does not seek to ‘compartmentalise’ but rather tries to develop children’s ability to see God at work within the context of everyday lives. Our RE teaching (approx 10% of teaching time) focuses mainly on the  Learning and Growing as the people of God programme which is topic based and taught from nursery to Year 6.
Years 1 to 6 also learn about two other faiths – Judaism and Islam. This is to help the children understand the importance of different beliefs and to know that there are similarities between faiths.

12. Background Information
At Saint Joseph’s, our teachers plan, teach and assess to a high standard and ensure that all children make progress commensurate with their ability.
Children with additional learning needs are well supported and each class has a full-time, highly trained Teaching Assistant or Nursery Nurse who works with the Classteacher to support the children’s learning across the curriculum.
Each term we monitor the progress of each child and target additional support where necessary.

13. Extra Curricular Activities
Children in KS2 have the opportunity to join:
Football Club
Breakfast Club
Maths Club
Book Club
Art Club
Gymnastics sessions
Choir (during lunch-time)
School Council
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - Borough

14. Local area attractions
Borough market
The Shard
Tower of London
Tower Bridge
Tate Modern
The Globe Theatre
Foundation Stage Curriculum
Six areas of learning:
Personal, social and emotional development
Communication skills
Mathematic Development
Knowledge and understanding of the world
Creative Development
Physical Development
Foundation Stage Profile
This is a booklet that we used to complete throughout the year to assess your child’s progress in the six areas of learning. Now RDS
Literacy and Numeracy
Litercay – reading, writing, spelling and listening
Numeracy – mathematics encompassing number, shape, space and measure
Initially these covered through weekly tasks and are phased in
We introduce the children to 1 letter and then 2 letters each week using the Jolly Phonics scheme. The children learn each letter sound, practise writing the letter and learn an action to remember the sound.
Handwriting
Cursive style is introduced straight away (see handout) All letters start on the line and have a leading stroke into the letter and end with a flick. Children adapt easily unless you are using capitals at home. Only use capitals at the start of names.
Helping at home
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School - Borough