Our school motto is ‘Bright Futures Built On Firm Foundations’. We strongly believe that Art contributes to the quality of life both within and beyond school. It encourages children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement and self-reflection. It enables pupils to develop a natural sense of wonder and curiosity about the world around them

Art helps to develop imagination, self-expression and creativity

Art helps to develop self-confidence, self-discipline and resilience

Art helps to develop critical thinking

Art aids relaxation and well-being

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design and technology is a practical subject that allows children to think imaginatively and creatively and to become more autonomous and effective problem solvers, both as individuals and as part of a team. Our aim is to provide children with a rich and enjoyable experience of design and technology, in which they can acquire and develop their own designing and making skills.

 

 

At St Merryn we aim for a high-quality geography curriculum which inspire pupils' curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Geography is about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, combined with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. We use our curriculum drivers of ‘Resilience, Reach and Reflectiveness’ as a priority for planning. Pupils consider both the contextual and locational knowledge of globally significant places, including defining their physical and human characteristics. As they do this, children develop a geographical context of both terrestrial and marine environments. The geography curriculum at St Merryn equips pupils with knowledge to collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data, gain experience of fieldwork, interpret maps, diagrams, globes and aerial photos and learn about specific countries/continents in greater depth.  

 

 

At St Merryn School, we aim for a high-quality history curriculum which inspire pupils curiosity and fascination about Britain's past and that of the wider world. We use our curriculum drivers of 'Resilience, Reach and Reflectiveness’at the upmost priority when planning for history. The history curriculum at St. Merryn equips pupils with knowledge about the history of Britain, know and understand about significant aspects of the history of the wider world such as ancient civilisations. They will also learn about changes in living memory and beyond living memory, study the lives of significant people in the past, understand about historical enquiry and be able to ask and answer questions about the past. Pupils are given the opportunities to ask questions about people and events in the past and they consider how the past influences the present. As they do this, children develop a chronological framework for their knowledge of significant events and people. Our history curriculum also encourages children to gain a sense of their own identity by looking at history within our locality. We encourage our children to build on previous knowledge that they have been taught before and develop a historical understanding of events over time.

 

At St Merryn we deliver our Mathematics curriculum to ensure it follows the key aims of the National Curriculum. We aim to ensure that all pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics and in number so that they develop solid conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately. Children at St Merryn are taught to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, finding connections and establishing relationships whilst using mathematical language. Our mathematics curriculum carefully sequences knowledge, concepts and procedures to build mathematical knowledge and skills systematically over time. Children are taught to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

 

At St Merryn School, we believe that the learning of a Modern Foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for our pupils. It helps them to develop communication skills, including key skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing, as well as extending the children’s knowledge of how languages work. The linguistic skills gained also assist and lay foundations for further language learning. Studying another language gives children a new and broader perspective on the world, encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others

 

 

At St Merryn we believe music education should give all children the opportunity to develop their skills, appreciate a wide variety of musical forms and begin to make judgements on the quality of music as well as playing and performing music. Music education enables children, whatever their circumstances or ability, to have a vehicle for personal expression, success and creativity.

The wider benefits of music include the development of collaboration, risk taking, perseverance creation and innovation as well as promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  

The intent of the music curriculum at St. Merryn is to focus on key areas of learning; Listening and Responding, Singing, Performing, Composing and Innovating.

 

PE in Kernow Learning schools is all about developing physical literacy and a love of movement at primary level, with a focus on leadership skills, health and wellbeing. This puts Physical Education at the heart of our educational agenda– ensuring young people are well enough to learn and have developed a range of personal competencies that will help them in the classroom and beyond.  

Kernow Learning Trust is keen to address the negative stereotype of PE being all about prowess in sport and rather reposition it to enhance lifelong skills.   

 

 

Reading is at the heart of all areas of the curriculum at St Merryn, from EYFS to upper KS2, and all teachers provide continued opportunities for the children to develop their love of reading. Each curriculum subject is based on our school vision statement, Bright Futures Built on Firm Foundations. The intent of the curriculum at St Merryn is that pupils are driven by the 3 Curriculum Drivers of:

- Resilience (Independent learners who thrive on a challenge)

- Reach (Happy inspired learners who love learning)

- Reflectiveness (Developing a sense of self and of the world beyond their own)

All teachers are experts in the teaching of reading with a focus on the accurate and consistent use of phonics. Reading in all classes is exciting, curriculum focused and set with an appropriate level of challenge to ensure that all children develop quickly into fluent, enthusiastic readers.

The wider benefits of reading are positively recognised across St Merryn school from using story time to develop interest in the world around them and practise the important concentration skills in our youngest children, to the value of increasing the cultural capital of all children through their continued exposure to a rich and varied vocabulary and range of genre types.

At St Merryn we actively promote the continued development of children’s speaking and listening skills, we recognise the importance of these skills as a precursor to all aspects of literacy. Children are encouraged to take turns to talk, clearly explaining their views whilst actively listening and questioning the opinions of others. Our commitment to ‘Talk for Writing’ provides opportunities for these skills to be embedded in literacy lessons throughout the school.

We believe that being able to express ideas in a clear and concise manner and being able to actively listen to those around you are fundamental skills for the future of the children at St Merryn enabling them to become sensitive, confident citizens who are able to fully participate within our community.

We are committed to improving writing standards across the school, through the use of engaging high quality texts teachers provide a variety of opportunities to write. The children are encouraged to write for real purposes, to take ownership of their personal continued progression through editing and evaluating their own work. We use a mixed approach to teaching integrating ‘Talk for Writing’ units with visual literacy, novel based studies and SPAG focussed activities. These units cover all genres of writing from non-fiction to poetry.

The promotion of writing for real purposes enhances the importance of writing for different audiences in the real world. We endeavour to invite a range of authors to our school to inspire and encourage our children.

The intent of the reading curriculum at St. Merryn is to continue to maintain the high standards of reading across both KS1 and KS2 with a strong focus on comprehension in particular inference and vocabulary. In writing we continue to focus on raising the standard of writing across the school with a focus on developing our greater depth writers.

 

At St Merryn School, we use the ‘Read Write Inc’ phonics programme designed by Ruth Miskin to teach early reading. The structured programme helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. At the core of the programme is the lively and vigorous teaching of synthetic phonics. Children learn the 44 common sounds in the English language and how to sound-blend words for reading (decoding) at the same time as developing handwriting skills and spelling (encoding).

We have found that by using the Read Write Inc. programme, children experience success from the very beginning of their reading journey. Lively phonic books are then closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and as children re-read stories their fluency increases. The stories include prompts to support thinking out loud and discussions, helping children develop the skills they need to be successful storytellers.

Read Write Inc. lessons are fun and engaging and all staff who deliver the reading sessions are fully trained. The lessons are taught daily and pupils are regularly assessed and grouped to enable appropriate challenge and pace throughout the programme.

 

 

 

 

 

At St Merryn we are unashamedly passionate about all scientific matters and believe that this is evident in our day-to-day delivery of scientific content. We understand that our pupils are naturally curious, and we encourage this inquisitive nature by helping them to frame questions within topics so they can test and evaluate ideas. Our curriculum drivers of ‘Resilience, Reach and Reflectiveness’ are consistently embedded in our weekly science lessons. Pupils are given the opportunities through topics and investigation to progressively deepen their knowledge of scientific concepts and build up the skills to access that knowledge. We believe Science should excite pupils’ interests, build on their prior knowledge, and build their confidence, enabling them to take risks, work out problems and raise further questions. It should encourage positive attitudes and shape articulate learners who are able to explain what has been learnt and how. We encourage both disciplinary and substantive knowledge through ‘talking and thinking like a scientist’. Because science links direct practical experience with ideas, it can engage learners at many levels. Scientific method is about developing and evaluating explanations through experimental evidence and modelling. This is a spur to critical and creative thought. Through science, pupils understand how major scientific ideas contribute to technological change – impacting on industry, business and medicine and improving the quality of life. Pupils recognise the cultural significance of science and trace its world-wide development. Our links with The Ogden Trust further encourage the links between ‘school science’ and science in the real world. Children build their cultural capital through visits, workshops, weekly science activities and having two science ambassadors in each class. It develops transferable skills including problemsolving, reasoning and enquiry.

 

 

The religious education curriculum at St Merryn School is designed to reflect the diversity of the school and of Cornwall. Our curriculum drivers of ‘Resilience, Reach and Reflectiveness’ are constantly embedded in our learning. Through learning about major religious and philosophies, children are able to develop a critical and respectful understanding of important religious and moral issues. Learning activities provide fully for the needs of all learners. Pupils will be inspired by the subject and develop a wide range of skills such as enquiry, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and reflection, to deepen their understanding of the impact of religion and beliefs on the world. We teach a range of religious and non - religious world views encouraging children to see these beliefs as living and diverse faiths. Religious Education encourages pupils to learn from different religions, beliefs, values and traditions while creating a safe space for them to explore their own beliefs and questions of meaning. Children build their cultural capital through visits, workshops and weekly RE lessons.