THE NORTHERN IRELAND PRIMARY CURRICULUM

In St Malachy's Primary School we deliver the Northern Ireland Primary Curriculum, often described as the Revised or New Curriculum.

This curriculum is statutory in all schools across the north and we welcome the Revised Curriculum for many reasons.

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.

At the beginning of each year, teachers identify learning targets for the children. These are based on information on previous learning and attainment, Progress Reports, discussions with last year’s teachers, scores in any ‘tests’ carried out in school, including standardised scores in Reading and Mathematics, and other information

You will have become used to the terms Key Stage 1 (Years 1 – 4) and Key Stage 2 (Years 5 – 7) over the years.

The new curriculum has a structure of three stages instead of two 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 will continue to be carried out at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 4) and Key Stage 2 (Year 7).

We also, of course, have Nursery children.

Nursery is not part of the Northern Ireland Curriculum and is governed by its own curriculum guidelines. At the same time, our Nursery team works very closely with our P1/2 teams (Foundation Stage)

CURRICULUM STRUCTURE

The terminology and structure of the curriculum have changed.

The main Areas of Learning are:

Language & Literacy: Talking & Listening, Reading and Writing

Mathematics & Numeracy: Processes In Mathematics, Number, Measure, Shape & Space and Handling Data

The Arts: Art & Design, Music and Drama

The World Around Us: Geography, History, Science & Technology

Personal Development & Mutual Understanding: Personal Understanding & Health, Mutual Understanding in the Local and Wider Community

Physical Development & Movement/Physical Education: All aspects of early physical education

Very importantly there are also Whole Curriculum Skills and Capabilities which run across the whole curriculum.

These are embedded in all areas of the curriculum and are listed below.

CROSS-CURRICULAR SKILLS

• Communication

• Using Mathematics

• Using ICT (Information Technology) Using ICT is a major part of all areas of work across St Malachy's  Primary School.

THINKING SKILLS

• Thinking, Problem Solving & Decision-Making

• Self-Management

• Working with Others

• Managing Information

• Being Creative

More information on the  curriculum can be found at http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/ and www.cea.org.uk .