Our Curriculum 

The Federation of Holy Trinity Church of England Schools is set over two sites (infant and junior). Our schools are located on the outskirts of the cathedral city of Ripon. Ripon is a cathedral city steeped in history and home to magnificent historical buildings and long-observed traditions. The city is proud of its ecclesiastical heritage, which is entwined with the church, both due to the cathedral in the city centre and its proximity to the nearby Fountains Abbey. Ripon has a rich military history; many pupils who attend the school are from service families. 

The Federation is representative of the emerging diversity within the city. We are a welcoming community of faith. Our theological vision draws inspiration from the Bible narrative, ‘The Good Samaritan’ which is found in the gospel of Luke 10:25-37 in the New Testament. The Good Samaritan parable demonstrates to our children that regardless of a person’s background or belief, each person is valued and needs our love. Jesus tells us to, 'Love your neighbour as yourself’. (Luke 10:27). The Samaritan is embraced for his love of others, providing the model for our behaviour and actions. In our city and school, there is a transient population. The parable reinforces our welcoming community of faith; pupils and their families experience hope as they join and leave our schools. Across the schools we have twenty-three different languages represented in our school.  Every child is recognised as a unique individual at Holy Trinity. We celebrate and welcome the differences within our school community.

Rationale 

The Federation of Holy Trinity Church of England Schools is committed to creating a welcoming community of faith where we learn and flourish together. Our curriculum encompasses the planned activities that we as a school organise learning, personal growth and development. Our curriculum is designed to celebrate our local heritage whilst also opening up horizons to the global community our pupils will live and work within. 

Our curriculum meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum, with clear progression and sequencing of key skills and knowledge. Our curriculum also includes the ‘hidden curriculum’, or what pupils learn from the way they are treated and expected to behave.  As part of our community of faith pupils grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others.  We offer all our pupils an inclusive learning environment, designed to support the way in which all members of the school can learn and flourish together. Each day opens up new opportunities, a fresh start bringing horizons of hope, aspiration and joy! 

Intent

At Holy Trinity, we have designed and implemented an aspirational curriculum that is both immersive and progressive. We use a carefully planned model, with both breadth and depth, that is highly relevant and purposeful, and that truly broadens pupils’ outlook and views by promoting global perspectives. Our intent is to raise standards across all subjects, so our pupils engage with learning enabling them to flourish as confident, aspirational learners. 

We aim to offer hands-on, cohesive and challenging learning, highlighting human creativity and achievement. We provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning and believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge.  We strive to help our pupils realise the full potential they have to achieve and succeed, not just at school, but as educated citizens within their own community and on a wider global scale. 

We aim to provide all our pupils with a rich curriculum that is exciting for both staff and pupils, and is aligned to our unique locality and all it has to offer. Providing our pupils with opportunities for learning which lead to maximum growth and development is a key priority, including designing and implementing a curriculum that is best suited to their specific needs. As we develop our curriculum, we offer a wide range of inspiring, engaging and exploratory learning experiences, which contextualise our pupils’ learning and broaden classroom-based learning. Our curriculum is designed to build multilayered cultural capital and take advantage of all that our city has to offer. We overcome the challenging economic climate by exploiting the rich heritage in our city and the expertise within our local and extended community through trips to local museums, walks around the city to compare buildings, fieldwork in and around our rivers, and deepening understanding of our military links through visits to the Spa Gardens. Pupils benefit from carefully sourced visitors who volunteer to visit school (e.g. authors and local nurses, police officers, sports coaches, musicians and vets).