Introduction to the Curriculum
Our curriculum reflects the vision, values & aims of our school; it is a flexible, knowledge led and skills engaged framework designed to accommodate the varying and specific learning needs of our young people through clearly designed personalised pathways planned by our teaching team. We believe that at all stages of development, learning should be structured and stimulating, enjoyable and a worthwhile experience in its own right. Our curriculum provides our learners with opportunities for enjoyment and achievement through a rich, broad, balanced, and personalised curriculum matched to ages, ability, interest, and individual need.
We provide students with an entitlement curriculum which is broadly based around a modified National Curriculum, adapted to meet the needs of the individual young people and groups. Equality of access and of opportunity underpins our provision and we offer augmented and modified learning opportunities which support personal and social skills including social communication, social interaction, social imagination, emotional understanding and self-awareness, learning and independence, and community participation. These skills are the core of the curriculum and students are encouraged to communicate through listening and expression of speech, they are given time to complete tasks, encouraged to put forward their views, problem solve and to keep safe. Throughout the school our learners engage with their own learning and develop personal and social skills transferable across lessons into wider life. We place a high emphasis upon a varied social, moral, spiritual, and cultural education which is embedded throughout the curriculum and into the ethos of the school.
The curriculum factors a clear progression route for pupils as they advance through the school. At each key stage, students are encouraged to become involved in the community by engaging in well planned and purposeful learning opportunities that take place in a variety of contexts within the community. The aim of this is to equip students with the skills necessary to achieve as much independence as possible; both within the school and moving forward into adult life, as appropriate to their individual needs. They may visit outdoor gyms, cafes, shops, leisure centres and local attractions, either on foot, using school transport or by using public transport.
The curriculum is framed within six key areas of learning, to which the subjects of the National Curriculum have been assigned. Students succeed through personalised and progressive therapeutic, academic and vocational routes.
