At St Matthew’s our aim is to develop resilient, reflective and curious learners who have the highest aspirations for their future. Through engaging and varied experiences, St Matthew’s children will explore a challenging and inclusive curriculum; inspiring them to ‘let their light shine’: this is known as our ‘Shine Curriculum‘.
Our curriculum ensures children are challenged and supported to achieve. We have high aspirations for every child to leave St Matthew’s having achieved academic success. Reading, writing and maths are at the core of our curriculum as we know that knowledge and skills in these areas with unlock future learning.
At St Matthew’s, we understand that our responsibility as a school goes beyond teaching the National Curriculum. Knowing our children, we have five drivers which are at the heart of our curriculum and inform what is taught and how it is taught. These drivers, together with the National Curriculum and our vision and values, make up our SHINE curriculum:
At St Matthew’s, our aim is to develop resilient, reflective and curious learners with the highest aspirations for their future. Through our SHINE Curriculum, children experience a challenging and inclusive education that encourages them to ‘let their light shine’.
Our curriculum ensures that all children are supported and challenged to achieve their best. Reading, writing and mathematics are at the core, giving children the essential skills to succeed across all subjects.
We have five SHINE drivers that shape what and how we teach:
- Creativity and Expression – fostering imagination and originality.
- Community and Collaboration – encouraging teamwork and social responsibility.
- Resilience and Independence – developing perseverance and problem-solving skills.
- Curiosity and Knowledge – promoting a love of learning across subjects.
- Wellbeing and Confidence – supporting physical, emotional and mental health.
Learning is planned in topic blocks, allowing subjects to be linked where possible so that children make connections and deepen their understanding. Teachers focus on building knowledge progressively and developing subject-specific vocabulary.
We use carefully chosen schemes that align with our drivers, vision and values:
- Grammarsaurus – English (reading, writing, spelling) and also supports art, design and technology, history, geography and science.
- Oak Academy – Mathematics
- Read, Write Inc – Phonics and Early Reading
- Kapow – Music
- Complete PE – Physical Education
- Purple Mash – Computing
- Trafford locally agreed syllabus – Religious Education
- HeartSmart – PSHE and wellbeing
- Peace Mala, Belong and Rights and Respecting Schools Accreditations– Encourage our children to live out our values and understand social responsibility
Music, art and design are important parts of our curriculum, giving children opportunities to be creative and confident. All children have the opportunity to learn two instruments during their time at school through Trafford Music Services.
Our outdoor area, including The Grassroom (an outdoor learning space), our orchard, and vast green grounds, provide rich opportunities for learning beyond the classroom. Outdoor learning helps to build confidence, resilience and problem solving skills. We value these skills and the team spirit that is created when we work together outdoors.
Through our PE curriculum, we offer a broad range of sporting activities that promote physical activity, healthy lifestyles, and the development of fitness, coordination and teamwork. We also encourage children to walk or cycle to school, particularly as we are now recognised as a School Streets school, helping to support safer and healthier journeys to and from school.
Through our curriculum, children gain the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to thrive in their next stage of education and beyond.
On this page are copies of our curriculum documents. They give a summary of the curriculum that our children will be studying and when they will be studying it. However, to get a real flavour of our curriculum offer, then please take a look at the ‘News’ page on this site or our Twitter feed. They show the brilliant learning that has been taking place across the school every week. You can also contact the school and speak to your child’s class teacher to find out more about the curriculum.
What will children learn at St Matthew’s?
