CURRICULUM STATEMENT POLICY
It is the policy of the Board of Governors of Our Lady’s & St Mochua’s Primary School, that in accordance with its Catholic Ethos and with the Northern Ireland Education Reform Order 1989, a balanced and broadly based curriculum which promotes their spiritual, moral, cultural, intellectual and physical development will be offered to all pupils thus ensuring their full entitlement under the Revised Northern Ireland Curriculum. It is the policy, too, of the Board of Governors that the school will go beyond that entitlement in areas where there is particular expertise among the staff. We shall ensure that the necessary resources, materials and personnel, are available to the school for the implementation of the Northern Ireland Curriculum.
It will be the aim of the school to maximise the potential of each pupil and recognising that pupils will make progress at varying rates, provision will be made for this disparity in learning rates so that the brighter pupils will be stretched to their limit and the less able pupils will be allowed to progress according to their ability.
The school has begun to implement the Revised Curriculum in accordance with the Education Reform Order.
The Curriculum areas are: R.E, Language and Literacy, Mathematics and Numeracy, World Around Us, The Arts, Physical Education and Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
EDUCATIONAL VISITS
The school values highly the contribution Educational visits make to the all round development of its pupils. Every opportunity to participate in such ‘visits’ is availed of beginning with visits to places of local interest and broadening out to places of interest in the wider community.
EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Pupils will have the opportunity to become involved in the following activities; Primary School’s Football Leagues, Swimming Galas, Camogie/Hurling Tournaments, A range of indoor sports, Drama, Quiz Competitions, Other Competitions
All pupils of the school are encouraged to attend football and camogie/hurling coaching sessions at the local club.
AFTER SCHOOLS CLUB and FRIDAY CLUBS
The school offers an After Schools Club and a Friday Afternoon Club to all children in Primary 4 – 7. Parents are asked to encourage their children to attend the After Schools Club. Activities include badminton, football, netball, table tennis and Gaelic Sports.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
What is distinctive about Catholic Education is that faith in Jesus Christ is the centre point of all the child’s personal and intellectual development. There is no separation between Faith and Life. Catholic Education for us is primarily formation in Faith. The Faith, which is handed on by being lived in the family, the community and the school, is also reflected upon and deepened through following the religious education programme. In the Catholic School, Religious Education is, therefore, much more than a subject but rather pervades the whole life of our school holding a central position in the curriculum and is accomplished in two equally important and complementary ways:
through the totality of experiences in the school
through the Religious Education Programme, The Alive O Programme, which incorporates fully the Proposed Core Syllabus for Religious Education in Grant Aided Schools in Northern Ireland
MASSES & ASSEMBLIES
Devotion to Our Lady, St Mochua, The Sacred Heart, The Saints and Church Celebrations are fostered through meaningful assemblies and the setting up of altars and shrines. Every child will be involved in these assemblies.
Each school year begins and ends with a School Mass to which you are invited to attend. There may at times be Class Masses for appropriate year groups. The school will attend Mass every First Friday. The school also devotes one day every year to Our Lady and St Mochua.
CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
Some of the children attending the school will have special educational needs. These may arise from the child’s physical incapacities or his/her learning abilities. As it is the intention of the school to maximise the potential of each of its pupils the school will endeavour, with its resources, to meet these needs.
Each class teacher will have initial responsibility for providing remedial help within the child’s own class. If this does not prove sufficient for the child the school will involve and work closely with SELB in determining a child’s Special Educational Need in accordance with the Code of Practice. This involves close co-operation between teachers, school medical authorities, educational psychologists and parents.
The SELB Special Education Needs Team will make the final decision about the appropriate form of education.
ASSESSMENT REPORTING AND RECORD KEEPING IN OUR SCHOOL
Assessment of children’s work is on going in our school. The main purpose of assessment is to establish through a variety of means what each child is able to do. Assessment also assists the teacher in planning appropriate tasks for each child.
Assessment in Primary One and Two is ongoing and informal. In Primary Three to Seven children will be tested twice yearly in core subject areas. Assessments in other curricular areas will be based on class work and teacher observations.
New arrangements regarding assessment are currently being developed by DENI. These include the completion of InCAS. By 2010 all children in Primaries 4-7 will complete the InCAS. These are a series of tests in Literacy and Numeracy. Results will be discussed with parents at the annual parent teacher meetings.
Additionally, a pupil file is kept on each child containing samples of work completed each year, which serves as a record of achievement and progress.
A report for each child is sent home to parents at the end of the school year.