Curriculum Intent & Implementation
Context
At Courtlands we offer a broad and balanced curriculum which builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills, of all children, whatever their starting point, as they progress through the primary phase. The curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Primary National Curriculum. In all years and at all stages of learning we provide a rich variety of other experiences that best meet the learning and developmental needs of the pupils in our school. Our philosophy is to provide a holistic, personalised approach designed to support pupils in fulfilling their potential.
We have a shared vision to embed a trauma informed approach throughout the school as we know that effective learning will take place when relationships are high quality, staff are confident practitioners and pupils feel safe in their environments. The spiritual moral and cultural development of our pupils and their understanding of the core values of our society, including British Values, are woven through the curriculum. We aim to do this by:
• Creating a robust curriculum that empowers staff to be consistently excellent practitioners and ensures exceptional pupil progress in all areas of their development.
• Meet the outcomes and provision and outlined in pupils EHCP within the context of a group education setting.
• Empower students through high nurture and high structure to develop effective personal social and emotional skills.
• Ensuring reading, writing and functional maths skills are at the heart of the curriculum through carefully mapping of texts and core vocabulary
• Deliver highly personalised engaging learning experiences that equip our pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding of the wider world so that they are empowered to be curious lifelong learners and active citizens in our 21st century global community.
Our school population is diverse with a broader range of communication, learning and social needs, we have had to adapt and evolve our curriculum to meet these complex needs. We have therefore created 3 pathways, which we believe reflect the diverse range of our cohorts. These are Roots, Seedlings and Flowers, and are explained in further detail below.
The aim of our curriculum is for Courtlands pupils to have access to outstanding specialist provision, where we enable all members of our school community to continually learn more, do more and celebrate every success. National curriculum requirements and school requirements are mapped out by subject leaders and then each teacher plans the curriculum for their pupils accordingly. The curriculum is consistently reinforced by our Courtlands essentials and our visions and values.
Assess, do, plan and review cycle.
Our curriculum is based upon the ADPR framework, this enables us to align student’s needs as determined in their Education, Healthy and Care Plan to their future aspirations and goals. Overall, preparing our students to be productive, strong, and independent adults is the primary goal of our curriculum. By achieving this, we will equip students to be successful, productive, and valued members of their future personal, social, learning and employment communities.
We have a commitment to ensuring the children starting in our EYFS classes quickly build connections with safe, kind, and caring adults and that families are welcomed and well supported in our school community. All learning in our EYFS classes is underpinned by the Characteristics of Effective learning as detailed in Birth to 5 Matters and learning is taught through a balance of adult-led focus tasks and child-led play opportunities within our enabling environments. All learning opportunities strive to be exciting, engaging, and irresistible to encourage children to engage meaningfully resulting in end of term celebration showcases with families, ensuring learning is connected to maximise pupils’ potential.
Communication and connection are at the heart of our Pathway 1 classes and learning is centred around supporting children to develop the skills to ensure their voice is heard. Children will be supported to access a range of communication styles through a Total Communication approach. All learning in our Pathway 1 classes is underpinned by the Characteristics of Effective learning as detailed in Birth to 5 Matters and learning is taught through a balance of adult-led focus tasks and child-led play opportunities within our enabling environments. We believe that for those who are likely to remain within developmentally early intellectual parameters for the whole of their school lives the National Curriculum will not be appropriate and is of limited benefit. However, we accept the absolute necessity of imposing a broad and balanced curriculum which is wholly appropriate to the needs of the child with the pupil at the centre of the educational process. All learning opportunities strive to be exciting, engaging, and irresistible to encourage children to engage meaningfully resulting in end of term celebration showcases with families, ensuring learning is connected to maximise pupils’ potential.
Children in this pathway start from chronological age year 2 and upwards, however, if pathway one or three is more appropriate for their needs, they can move to a class within this provision. The intent of this pathway is to develop children’s resilience for extended learning whilst still providing opportunities for children to engage in appropriate play-based learning approaches to develop their personal, social, and emotional skills. We also aim to develop children’s social interaction skills, build on their functional communication skills, support children to develop a love of learning. Learning will be broken down into component skills and opportunities to revisit and consolidate learning are prioritised alongside being aspirational about what pupils can achieve. All learning opportunities strive to be exciting, engaging, and irresistible to encourage children to engage meaningfully resulting in end of term celebration showcases with families, ensuring learning is connected to maximise pupils’ potential.
Pupils experiencing our pathway 3 curriculum access a range of National Curriculum subjects modified in the light of their developmental level and individual need. Life skills, independence skills and social communication skills form an integral part of the curriculum. Life-long learning is the core of our curriculum and is guided by a learner’s chronological age, to ensure pupils are as independent as possible and are ready for their future. English and Maths content is taught discretely, but then embedded across the curriculum, all learning opportunities strive to be exciting, engaging, and irresistible to encourage children to engage meaningfully resulting in end of term celebration showcases with families, ensuring learning is connected to maximise pupils’ potential.
