Learning

Curriculum

Our young people are at the heart of everything we do. We recognise each young person is unique. We want them to learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships. We want each young person to have a sense of belonging and active participation in their life and education. We want to provide exceptional education and care through enabling environments so that each young person can make progress towards fulfilment.  

We still believe that there are no standard or uniform teaching techniques which meet all of these learners’ needs or support them to overcome all of these barriers. There is not a single menu of interventions and approaches, and there is no one curriculum which could possibly fit all our pupils. 

Everything we do, and everything each learner experiences, must be meaningful.

We see it as our fundamental job, to find the very best interventions and teaching techniques for each learner, through researching what is best practice in the wonderful SEND community, but even more importantly, through knowing our learners as best as we can. 

We have developed our very own approach, building a learning handbook for each learner, directly from a deep and thorough assessment and understanding of each child and how they might be helped to make progress. The child, their family/carers, educators and therapists are all involved in the assessing of needs and the devising of the ‘next steps’ fundamental to our individual learning frameworks. It is a truly integrated approach, which works. 

We seek to nurture life-long learners who, rather than just being recipients of support, are motivated, inquisitive and active participants in their unique curriculum. 

We do recognise the need for a ‘broad and balanced curriculum’, and this will mean different things for different pupils. We do take ideas and methodologies. However, whatever we take must be relevant and appropriate to the developmental needs of each pupil, in order for meaningful learning to occur. There is no single curriculum that suits all our learners, no ‘set’ of subject areas, no bank of targets to be chosen from. Every “Next Step” must be part of a functional and meaningful path for that child, not part of a pre-programmed or linear route. 

We always follow the child, and we always expect to be surprised. 

Please see below for curriculum handbooks

Assessment

School assessment systems link to ‘The Rochford Report’ which recommends tracking literacy, numeracy and engagement in learning. 

Teaching and learning focuses on:

The development of effective functional literacy and numeracy skills 

Improving engagement through appropriate assessment tools

EHCP targets

Personal progress