SCHOOL CURRICULUM

As a Catholic school our curriculum refers to the varied learning experiences that are presented to each child: those planned by the staff, those from our school ethos and from our environment. Since Christ is the foundation of our whole educational mission in a Catholic school, our entire curriculum endeavours to reflect Christ’s message. When planning our curriculum we take into account the uniqueness of each child and the values which are broadly based on the Gospel message. Our main aspiration is to offer every child a broad and balanced curriculum in line with the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.

THE NORTHERN IRELAND PRIMARY CURRICULUM

In St. Patrick’s P.S. we deliver the Northern Ireland Primary Curriculum, often described as the Revised Curriculum.

This curriculum is statutory in all schools across the north of Ireland.

We welcome the Revised Curriculum for many reasons including:

The curriculum places a great deal of emphasis on the development of positive attitudes and skills for learning while at the same time retaining emphasis on the essential traditional areas of Literacy and Numeracy.

The Revised Curriculum increasingly involves children in understanding their own learning development.

The Revised Curriculum has a structure of three stages in primary schools. These are:

 Foundation Stage (Years 1 – 2)

 Key Stage 1 (Years 3 – 4) and

 Key Stage 2 (Years 5 – 7).

Statutory assessment is carried out at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 4) and Key Stage 2 (Year 7).

CURRICULUM STRUCTURE

The terminology and structure of the curriculum have changed.