Curriculum Overview
A ‘curriculum’ is a list of content to be taught and learnt – a course of study for schools, colleges and universities. From September 2014, schools in England follow a new National Curriculum – a course of study decided by the Department for Education.
Structure of the National Curriculum
At St Mary’s RC Primary school, there are three phases in total:
- Early Years: ages 4-5 (Reception); the National Curriculum does not cover this phase.
- Key Stage 1: ages 5-7 (Years 1-2)
- Key Stage 2: ages 7-11 (Years 3-6)
For Key Stages 1 and 2, there are three core subjects
- English (spoken language, reading, writing, including grammar and punctuation)
- Mathematics (including number and place value, calculations, fractions, measurements, geometry)
- Science (including ‘working scientifically’)
In addition, there are foundation subjects; for Key Stages 1 and 2, these are:
- art and design
- computing
- design and technology (DT)
- geography
- history
- music
- physical education (PE)
A language is also a foundation subject in Key Stage 2 – however we’ve been teaching French to all our children in class 3 to class 5 for four years now.

The National Curriculum
English
History
PSHE
Maths
DT/Art/Design
Science
Languages
Computing
Music
Geography
PE