Our Curriculum Rationale at Catterline School

When a school has a rationale for its curriculum, it means that everyone involved with the school can answer the question, “What do we want for our children and how will we work together to achieve this?” 

Our curriculum rationale has evolved in response to this question and developed to outline our goals, aspirations and vision for the future. We want to get it right for every child in our care by improving outcomes for all, through establishing trusting relationships, ensuring all children feel they belong, raising attainment and achievement and providing our pupils with every chance to be the best they can be. This sentiment is echoed in our School Vision, “Be the best you can be – explore, dream, discover, shine! 

Our curriculum rationale’s design has the four Capacities, as well as the seven principles of curriculum design at its heart. It effectively enables children’s development of skills and knowledge across all areas, takes account of the school’s local circumstances and of local and national advice.  It is both a flexible framework and a working document which leaves scope for teams and individual teachers to introduce well-considered innovations to meet the needs of all learners and for the school to keep it under review to ensure it is fit for purpose. 

We want our children to develop across the four capacities and all aspects of the SHANARRI Wellbeing Wheel to become successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. Our curriculum rationale is also built around the four contexts for learning from the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence; all curricular and subject areas - with a key focus on literacy, numeracy and health & wellbeing, inter-disciplinary learning, opportunities for personal achievement and the ethos & life of the school.  

Integral to our commitment to, ‘Getting it Right for Every Child’, are our refreshed school aims and core school values, (our SHINE Values), which have been created in consultation with all stakeholders.  Our school’s SHINE Nurture Values have a focus on the need to be smiling, healthy, inclusive, nurturing, enthusiastic, whilst our SHINE Learning Values focus on us all believing in the power of self-evaluation, high expectations, inquiring minds, no fear and everyone learning. These values are integral to the work of the school and at the heart of celebrating our shared successes and achievements together.  

Our curriculum rationale ensures the whole school community has a shared understanding of what we are trying to achieve. As the school moves forward, it recognises the importance of taking quality time to evaluate and review curriculum innovation and learn from evolving best practice. Actively sourcing good practice and continuing to have staff involved in strategic development at school, cluster and authority level allows for true reflection and the opportunity to refine and further develop a curriculum which meets the ever-changing challenges of the 21st century. Central to the work of our school community are our pupils and families - our most important partners. Together, we work together to evaluate our developments and successes as well as to identify our areas for further growth. We enjoy close links with the wider community and partner agencies and also welcome their feedback in all we do. 

At Catterline School, leadership opportunities are encouraged and developed for both pupils and staff. We have high expectations and aspirations for all; we want everyone to succeed. We make best use of opportunities for outdoor learning, and we use digital technologies to enhance learning opportunities for all. We take an inclusive, nurturing and “Rights Respecting” approach and are fully committed to ensuring everyone within our community is working together, supported and challenged to achieve their potential. 

Across all learning experiences we continue to ensure we are meeting the design principles of Curriculum for Excellence and plan to meet the entitlements.  Within our school improvement planning we also ensure consideration is given to the National Improvement Framework and the key drivers for improvement. 

For all children, our aims for daily learning experiences include: 

• A positive ethos where all are valued, respected, nurtured, included and treated fairly by all. 

• Active learning where we encourage our pupils to think for themselves, solve problems and work collaboratively with others 

• Motivating contexts for learning where all are inspired to learn with appropriate levels of challenge and/or support 

• Effective questioning where higher order thinking skills are promoted and learning extended and deepened 

• Effective feedback where all are encouraged to be leaders of their learning who know where they are in their learning, who understand their next steps and who know how they are going to achieve them. 

Within our school we want all children to become assessment capable learners. We do this through a range of  assessment approaches, including; self and peer assessment opportunities, pre-unit unit assessments, post-unit assessments, formative assessments, periodic assessments, standardised assessments and high-quality assessments. We continue to develop our moderation practices to ensure high-quality assessments demonstrate application of learning, as well as ensuring valid and robust professional judgements made by staff.  Assessment information informs our planning of lessons and the use of child- friendly, succinct and co-written learning intentions and success criteria are integral.  

Our curriculum rationale is underpinned by our desire to secure, “excellence and equity” for all at Catterline School. It is our goal to motivate and inspire all children to achieve and be the very best they can be and to aim high. We strive to ensure all pupils are nurtured and supported so that they continually develop and progress. In doing so, this impacts positively on our core business of improving and raising attainment and achievement for all.