Accessible, engaging, holistic

Our students learn from a broad and balanced curriculum. It's based on the National Curriculum's programme of study, but we plan and tailor it to meet our students' individual needs. 

The curriculum consists of three fundamental principles: 

1. It links to current issues in our students' immediate and broader worlds to help them gain an understanding of local, national, and global contexts.
    
2. It's planned and sequenced in a way that makes it accessible for all students, regardless of when they joined the school and their individual starting points. 
    
3. It provides a holistic approach to our students' development. Academic outcomes are only part of the journey, so we plan our curriculum in a way that helps students meet the national Preparing for Adulthood outcomes to help them lead a fulfilled and independent life.

Preparing for Adulthood

We use the Preparing for Adulthood outcomes in many ways across all subjects within our curriculum. We link education around healthy eating to preparing nutritious recipes in food lessons. We expose students to a range of leisure activities in the local community as part of their PE (Physical Education) lessons to encourage lifelong participation in exercise and sports. And we use maths lessons to help students interpret and understand things like bank statements, bills, and interest rates. 

When students first join our school, they complete a baseline assessment as part of their transition. They're then assigned a pathway which they're assessed against. This informs whether they're working towards Entry Level, Level 1, or Level 2 outcomes at key stage 4. 

In Year 9, our Career Leads conduct transition interviews to establish which subjects the students are interested in. We then develop a bespoke curriculum offer for that year group, allowing students to select up to three option subjects. 

Key stage 5 is where we look at a student's options beyond Year 11. Our Career Leads conduct a second transition interview before their Year 11 EHCP (Education, Health, and Care Plan) review. This helps us formulate a plan with the student regarding their next steps, whether that be moving on to a college or continuing into Year 12 at school. If they continue with us, we can help them access extra studies while giving them targeted support for their transition into further education.

Key stage 2/ Nurture curriculum

Provision for pupils of Key Stage 2 age, alongside some Key Stage 3 pupils who are not able to access a formal education offer, is via our standalone Nurture base. Based on Nurture principles, the curriculum is provided in a low demand, semi formal environment where the focus is on developing a sense of psychological safety in pupils, and therefore encouraging engagement in learning. Alongside standalone Literacy, Numeracy and PSHE lessons the curriculum is delivered via topic based, active learning. The curriculum design ensures provision covers the same subjects as the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum.

Key stage 3 curriculum:

Core curriculum

• English
• Maths
• Science

Personal Development Curriculum

• PSHE
• RE
• Clinical
• PE
• Learning Outside the Classroom
   

Extended Curriculum
 

• Food & cookery
• ICT
• Geography
• History
• Art

Key stage 4 curriculum:

Core curriculum

• English
• Maths
• Science
   

Personal Development Curriculum
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• PSHE
• PE
• Kings Trust
• Clinical

Options Curriculum (example subjects)

• Food & Cookery
• ICT
• Art
• Childcare
• Textiles
• Media Studies

Additionally, students can choose up to 3 option subjects including:

• Art
• ICT (Information and communications technology)
• Enterprise
• Food
• Humanities
• Music production
• Personal finance

Key stage 5:

Our Key Stage 5 provision exists to support pupils not yet ready to transition to college or other specialist providers. As such, curriculum provision is an extended Key Stage 4 offer (via a combination of re-sits where applicable, additional options subjects and the ASDAN Independence qualification) supplemented by additional therapeutic and pastoral support to develop a clear, supported transition into college.