Curriculum Access and Inclusion Vision Statement

At St Francis of Assisi, “Inclusion and Curriculum Access” means ensuring and protecting the right of every single child in our care to have full participation in stimulating learning opportunities, access to a rich, broad curriculum which inspires, interests and motivates them, and to benefit from respectful, caring friendships and relationships throughout their school community.

Our school thrives on celebrating the unique contributions of children from diverse backgrounds, and this is deeply reflected across our curriculum. We believe that a sense of belonging is crucial to effective learning, and that our children should see and celebrate themselves and each other in their classrooms, lessons, and throughout their school life and wider community. This is done through careful consideration of the needs and interests of our children at every stage from planning through to lesson delivery and assessment, through research-informed training and practice, and through excellent professional relationships between staff and pupils.

Our carefully planned and managed curriculum is designed to be engaging and to build knowledge over time, through carefully spaced revisiting of key knowledge and timely introduction of new learning. Learning contexts and tasks are adapted to manage children’s working memory, and are sufficiently challenging to hold their curiosity, but not overwhelm them. This means that children at all stages on their learning journey are going to encounter important and carefully planned knowledge at multiple points, and that teachers are able to adapt their learning at every stage, within the classroom. Where interventions outside the classroom do take place, they are delivered with rigor and precision, carefully assessed for impact, and support our wider view of inclusion by quickly narrowing gaps and building children’s confidence in class.

 “Inclusion” at St Francis of Assisi means that no one is left behind, or left out, and lessons are adapted to ensure this. Teachers work closely with pupils, families and carers, school leaders and other professionals to ensure that where barriers to access to learning come up, whatever they are, that they are identified early and addressed swiftly with effective solutions that have the individual child at the centre.