Structured Curriculum Rationale

Our Structured curriculum (SC) incorporates each pupil’s EHCP outcomes and allows us to build a curriculum around what they need. This curriculum is across Key Stages 2– 4 (however this can change depending on the cohort of pupils at the school), according to their needs and levels of achievement. This models favours a developmental approach focusing on ‘core’ skills, knowledge and understanding which our pupils need. This enables ‘learning journeys’ to start from individual pupil’s current strengths and needs. Curriculum content is then used to provide a rich, coordinated and meaningful context in which pupils can practice and embed these skills. Pupils following our structured curriculum learn best when learning is related to their own experience. Pupils will learn more effectively through functional activities, and respond well to a topic-based approach. Pupils experiencing our formal curriculum access a range of National Curriculum subjects for their Key Stage, modified in the light of their developmental level and special educational needs. There is a high level of structure in this curriculum. Older pupils working at the formal level may pursue accreditation pathways (e.g. Entry Level exams, Asdan, Wjec and AQA); they follow the appropriate syllabus in each exam subject.

Ethos and Vision

Our Structured Curriculum reflects our school vision:

“At Marjorie McClure we believe that learning is an adventure, one filled with inspirational, creative opportunities and a variety of experiences to enable every individual to grow and become their best self. Learning opportunities are diverse and child centred, with an emphasis on Life Skills, communication and

developing independence, giving everyone the opportunity to achieve both academic and personal success. We work together to break down barriers and cultivate a respectful, inclusive community.

Together we are brave, together we inspire success.” Our Structured Curriculum incorporates our pupils EHCP’s whilst also offering them a more formal and structured education that draws upon the National Curriculum end of key stage outcomes. The Structured Curriculum will allow our students to flourish in a structured setting and achieve the best that they are able to, from their individual starting points. We work as a whole school alongside multi-disciplinary teams to create activities and lessons that will allow our pupils to progress academically whilst achieving their EHCP outcomes. Our vision is to provide the best education possible for our pupils and continue to adapt and evolve how we work, communicate and assess our pupils. Aims The aim of the Structured Curriculum is to provide our pupils with the tools they will need to progress through the National Curriculum End of Key Stage outcomes to the best of their ability and to take part in accredited courses. The Structured Curriculum will teach across all subject areas, including sensory, communication and physical development, whilst incorporating the pupils EHCP’s. We will continue to evolve and adapt to each pupils needs as this curriculum is a working document that will continue to change alongside our pupils.

Planning Maths and Literacy are planned using solar targets whilst incorporating the pupils EHCP’s (Appendix 1). They are planned in line with the pupil’s levels and follow the National Curriculum Framework. The literacy plan also includes a lesson on Communication as a separate focus although is embedded through all lessons and activities. The literacy plan should include a key focus for each days learning that covers speaking and listening, writing, reading and physical literacy. The physical literacy lesson allows the pupils creativity to flourish and gives them a chance to build upon their imagination and communication skills through structured play activities. Reading within the literacy lessons will vary depending on the needs and levels of the students but may include fluency for reading, whole word reading, comprehension and phonics. The maths plan includes a lesson that allows the pupils to use their maths skills in a real world setting such as solving word problems, playing maths games or working on maths investigations in teams. The week may be divided into teaching a separate skill each day, focusing on number, shape, space and measure and using and applying. However these may be split and taught across one skills a week for more in depth learning rather than as individual lessons. This will be down to the teacher’s professional judgement. For our foundation subjects we follow a 4 year rolling program in KS2, a 3 year rolling program in KS3 and a 2 year rolling program in KS4. The programs aim to cover a variety of different themes. Please see Appendix 2. All planning for our foundation subjects is taken from the theme for the half term and all activities are set around this theme using Hamilton trust to help support our planning. The text for the literacy lessons are chosen to fit into the appropriate theme. Planning for the foundation subjects (Appendix 3) is broken down into:

Culture

PSHE

Life Skills

Art

ICT

Physical development

Sensory

Planning for Science will be done by a specialist teacher and will be on a separate plan, including all

relevant Health and Safety and risk assessments. The Science plan will focus on Science key concepts,

with the main focus on working scientifically. This will include some activities linked to STEM (Science

Technology Engineering Maths) aspirations which include independent and employability skills.

Planning for the phonics lessons will be taken from Pearson’s phonic bug with phonics being taught at least 3 times a week as standalone lessons and through all other lessons discretely. Pupils will be assessed at the beginning of each half term and then put into a small teaching group determined by their ability and understanding. As a school we follow the Pearson’s Phonic Bug and Rapid Reading schemes and use their website to structure and plan all lessons whilst adapting where appropriate to the pupils needs. Before any planning can be done the EHCP’s need to be broken down for all pupils into a summary so the teacher is able to know which outcomes are similar for the pupils and which are unique (an example of this can be found in appendix 4) . These outcomes are used to help plan the sensory, physical development and communication lessons, although they are embedded throughout all lessons and help to form the framework of the pupils learning.

The in depth (Medium Term Plan) is broken down into weekly lessons. How the teacher chooses to organise the plan and how much detail they include will be down to their professional judgement as they may wish to use to write a brief description of the lesson objective and then comment on this and add to it after each lesson. We are very aware of teachers increasing workloads and pressures and therefore will leave this to the teacher to determine, in conversation with their Head of Phase, how best they should work. The in depth plan (Medium Term Plan) is a working document and can be changed, commented on and adapted as the half term progresses. Due to the nature of the pupils that attend our school, the planning will need to be a working document that is flexible and changes alongside the needs and development of the pupils. This will allow for the curriculum to evolve alongside the pupils to ensure they learn at the pace they require. All planning will be shared with the Head of the Phase and the structured teachers from the alternate key stage (Primary and Secondary) to help with creative ideas and for professional support. Planning will be done across a multi-disciplinary team to take into account the pupil’s physical development, speech and language, OT and sensory needs. This will ensure all areas of their EHCP’s are provided for and teachers are given the support from specialists where needed. Teaching The Structured Curriculum follows a formal teaching style with pupils taking part and learning through whole class teacher lead input and activities for the majority of their learning. However, it will be made up of a mixture of whole class, group and individual teaching activities where appropriate. All teaching is differentiated to the pupils needs and activities are individualized and inclusive of a pupil’s health and physical needs. The teacher is able to pace the learning for each pupil at the speed that is correct for them. The teacher and the other adults within the classroom’s role is to facilitate learning across all areas for the curriculum. Any specialist teaching such as Science, Swimming, Music, PE, Dance, Physiotherapy, Physical Development, Art (in Secondary) and Speech and Language sessions will be taught by specialist teachers. Follow up sessions can be run by supporting adults who have had specific instruction and where necessary, training from the specialist teacher. Each lesson will be supported by LSA’s who have been given the necessary training to help support the pupils. Classroom management The classroom structure and layout will allow for whole class teaching and individual activities at tables. All adults need to be aware of all the pupil’s health and bathroom needs and will have had the necessary training to facilitate this. The pupils health needs will dictate the timetable of their day and the progress of their learning. The classroom environment can vary depending on the needs of the children in each class and the learning activity. Some pupils will cope best in a busy environment and some in a quieter environment. Due to the complex nature of the students, the adults that work within the classroom will need to be consistent. This will help the pupils build trust and allow the adults to have a good understanding of how each pupil communicates and to help manage their health and physical needs. Interventions Interventions are a vital part of the pupils learning and help them to reach their end of key stage EHCP outcomes. Where possible interventions will take place within the classroom but some may need to take place in alternate rooms due to the whole class input and teaching of the curriculum. Interventions will be led, where possible, by specialist staff such as OT, Sensory Support, Speech and Language and Physiotherapists.

Assessment All targets and assessments will be taken from SOLAR and the pupils EHCP outcomes. Any progress that is made will be recorded on SOLAR, in line with the Marjorie McClure assessment policy. Progress will be recorded half termly and then added to the school tracker to help monitor progress across the school. Progress will also be recorded on the written record sheet, particularly for sensory and physical development sessions. On a daily basis learning will be recorded through:

Written records using a structured record sheet

Written records on plans

Written comments on completed work

Completed worksheets where appropriate

Completed symbolised sorting activities

EHCP outcomes records sheet

IEP’s

Spoken recordings

Videos

Pictures

Informal observations

Formal observations

Conversations with parents

Conversations with professional teams Multi-disciplinary teams will continue to aid in the assessment of the pupils through and alongside conversations with the family. The Structured Curriculum is continuing to develop and as such assessment will continue to change and evolve as we find new assessment tools that are best suited to record the progress of the pupils.

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Appendix 4 Summary of example EHCP targets