Curriculum

The Primary Curriculum Framework

The curriculum aims to provide a strong foundation for every child to thrive and flourish, supporting them in realising their full potential as individuals and as members of communities and society during childhood, as they progress through primary and special education and into post-primary education. Building on their previous experiences, the curriculum views children as unique, competent, and caring individuals. It supports high-quality learning, teaching, and assessment that is inclusive and evidence-based, recognising the right of all children to make progress in all areas of their learning and development.

The curriculum in Scoil Phádraig is presented in five broad curriculum areas:

1. Language.
2. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education.
3. Wellbeing.
4. Arts Education.
5. Social and Environmental Education.

Language

At Scoil Phádraig, we take a comprehensive approach to literacy that aligns with the Primary Language Curriculum (2019). Our literacy program focuses on developing skills across the three strands: Oral Language, Reading, and Writing.

We employ the Building Bridges of Understanding initiative to enhance our students’ comprehension skills. This whole-school approach teaches strategies such as prediction, visualising, making connections, questioning, clarifying, inferring, and synthesising. These strategies help our boys become active, engaged readers who can think critically about texts.

To support writing development, we utilise the First Steps Writing program. This approach complements the Primary Language Curriculum’s emphasis on exploring and using language creatively.

We also implement Accelerated Reader to foster a strong reading culture. This online program allows students to read books at their instructional level and take comprehension quizzes, providing valuable data to inform our teaching. It motivates our boys through personalised targets and visual progress tracking.

By integrating these initiatives, we create a rich literacy environment that supports our students in becoming confident, independent readers and writers, aligning with the curriculum’s aims of developing children’s language learning and communication skills.

Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam.

A country without a language is a country without a soul.

 

– Pádraig Pearse

Irish is a minority language, and its survival depends on public attitudes, use of the language and the quantity and quality of input and exposure, both at home and in school. Here in Scoil Phádraig we are firm believers in “Is fearr Gaeilge bhriste, ná no Gaeilge at all!” Efforts to bí ag caint as Gaeilge are valued and encouraged and “Gaeilgeoir na Seachtaine” is a feature of weekly assemblies.

In our school, your child is learning Irish as part of the Primary Language Curriculum/Curaclam Teanga na Bunscoile. Introduced in 2016, its approach is more modern and playful, with a greater emphasis on the transfer of skills. This, simply put, means teachers transfer the skills taught in L1 (English) to L2(Geailge). We are working hard to use Irish informally around the school and throughout the day, outside the Irish language lesson. To foster a positive disposition to Irish, the children must feel that Irish is a teanga bheo láidir chumarsáideach.

Beatha teanga í a labhairt!

These four tip sheets have been developed to help parents support their children as they learn Irish. Each tip sheet describes a range of activities which parents can do with children at home ‘as Gaeilge’. These materials are designed to be fun and engaging for both parents and children.

STEM

In Scoil Phádraig, we are committed to fostering a love for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics from an early age. STEM learning is accessed in our classrooms at all levels with class teachers providing learning experiences based on curricular outcomes and objectives. Teachers endeavor to provide ‘hands on’ learning experiences to spark the children’s interest in STEM and to lay a foundation for essential future skills such as critical thinking and problem solving as well. We hold our STEM week in January, placing a focus on activities that make learning fun and engaging while giving the boys an opportunity to learn about STEM in the wider world around us.

Physical Education & Wellbeing

The physical education curriculum Physical education is distinguished from other curricular areas by its primary focus on the body and on physical experience and is an integral part of the educational process, without which the education of the child is incomplete. Through a diverse range of experiences providing regular, challenging physical activity, the balanced and harmonious development and general well-being of the child is fostered. Physical education meets the physical needs of the child and the need for movement experiences, challenges and play.To fulfil these needs, physical education is built on the principles of variety and diversity, not of specialisation. It provides a wide variety of movement activities appropriate to the level of development of the child. Through physical education the child can experience the joy of physical exertion and the satisfaction of achievement while developing skills and positive attitudes that enhance self-esteem. Physical education provides opportunities to develop desirable personal and social attributes: the concept of fair play, the acceptance of success and failure, and the ability to co-operate in group situations. These opportunities contribute to the understanding and promotion of a healthy life-style. Physical education, as an integral part of the total curriculum, provides vital opportunities for the physical, social, emotional and intellectual development of the child.

The content of the physical education curriculum. The curriculum is divided into six strands:

• Athletics
• Dance
• Gymnastics
• Games
• Outdoor and adventure activities
• Aquatics

Social and Environmental Education

Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE) consists of three subjects: Science, Geography and History. SESE enables children to explore, investigate and develop an understanding of local and wider environments.

History is for all children from junior infants to sixth class. The curriculum supports children to develop basic skills as an historian through a knowledge and understanding of people, events and developments in the past.

The curriculum is presented in two sections:

1. Skills
2. Content:
   • Myself and my family
   • Story
   • Early people and ancient stories
   • Life, society, work and culture in the past
   • Eras of change and conflict
   • Politics, conflict and society
   • Continuity and change over time

Geography is for children from junior infants to sixth class. The curriculum enables children to make sense of their surroundings and the wider world. They do so by developing a range of geographical skills as they explore the natural and human elements of local and wider environments.

The curriculum is presented in two sections:

1. Skills and concepts
2. Content:
   • Human environments
   • Natural environments
   • Environmental awareness and care

Science is for children from junior infants to sixth class. The curriculum supports children to develop basic scientific skills through a knowledge and understanding of science.

The curriculum is presented in two sections:

1. Skills
2. Content:
   • Living things
   • Energy and forces
   • Materials
   • Environmental awareness and care

Visual Arts

The Arts Education curriculum consists of three subjects: Music, Drama and Visual arts. The curriculum enables children to explore and express ideas, feelings and experiences through music, drama and the visual arts.

The Visual arts curriculum is for children from junior infants to sixth class. The curriculum consists of six strands:

1. Drawing
2. Paint and colour
3. Print
4. Clay
5. Construction
6. Fabric and fibre

Music

The Arts Education curriculum consists of three subjects: Music, Drama and Visual arts. The curriculum enables children to creatively express ideas, feelings and experiences through music, drama and the visual arts.

Music is for children from junior infants to sixth class. Children are introduced to music reading and writing, to song singing and to playing classroom instruments.

The Music curriculum has three interrelated strands:

1. Listening and Responding
2. Performing
3. Composing

Chromebooks

We in Scoil Phádraig recognise that in using ICT in our school we can affect the achievement in all subject areas in a very positive way and that using ICT for instruction can positively influence pupils’ attitudes towards learning and towards school life.

We are aware that ICT has the potential to improve not only basic educational skills but also higher order cognitive skills. Computers can increase the opportunity for all students to achieve where they may have previously failed. Interactive technology motivates and stimulates learning and engages the attention of those with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Technology offers students the opportunity to take risks, become more analytical and work effectively in groups. In this way, technology encourages children to become more involved in their own learning and this has the potential to directly impact upon the quality of such learning.

Currently we have a strong ICT culture within our school. Pupils have the opportunity to increase their learning experience by using our student laptops and our integrated computer syllabus.

We at Scoil Phádraig hope that ICT will help with the implementation of the general aims of the Primary School Curriculum, namely:

• To enable the child to live a full life, and to realise his potential as a unique individual.
• To enable the child to develop as a social being through living and cooperating with others and so contribute to the good of society.
• To prepare the child for further education and lifelong learning.