ASPIRE
Our Curriculum
At Belvue School we have a broad and balanced curriculum offering our students access to the Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum but modified by school staff to meet the needs of students with moderate to severe learning difficulties. There is an additional focus on communication skills, emotional regulation, personal, social and mental well-being across all areas of the curriculum.
We promote access to the curriculum by applying inclusive teaching strategies, providing flexible learning opportunities and offering individualised support. Significant emphasis is placed on the use of practical and functional activities to promote life skills, independence and community learning.
Our aim is for students who attend Belvue to develop transferable skills that will prepare them for adulthood. We want them to become confident, happy young adults who can access the wider community when they leave us and, where possible, enter the world of work.
Students at Belvue spend their time with us in 4 different phases:
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Year 7 - Our Y7 curriculum is adapted to support the transition from primary school. We aim to provide opportunities for students to develop positive self awareness, social skills to form positive relationships and an interest in learning.
Key Stage 3 - Students in Year 8 and Year 9 are placed in classes to support their academic progress as well as to ensure their sensory and social needs are met. The curriculum is broad and includes a range of lessons taught by subject specialists to help promote a life-long love of learning.
Key Stage 4 - There is adjustment in the curriculum offered at KS4 to support preparation for Adulthood. Students can start to access Entry level Functional Skills qualifications in English & Maths (if appropriate), and are given the opportunity to engage in Enrichment activities that support social development and promote creativity and lifelong interests.
Post-16 - It is important to us that we are able to continue to support those students Post-16 who will benefit from continuing their education with us at Belvue. For some of our students this is an opportunity to continue their Entry level Functional Skills, for some it is the social benefits of remaining in a familiar and supportive environment whilst they continue their preparation for adulthood.
Subject specific Curriculum Overviews ensure the sequencing and progression are in place to support the planning for teaching and learning. Medium Term planning then provides a framework for staff to create a personalised curriculum offer appropriate to the needs of each student, identifying appropriate outcomes for the students, whilst also allowing us to assess and plan for next steps. Instead of assessing board age-related expectations, we use a small steps progress model that divides the curriculum into specific, achievable steps. Each subject has a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) against which staff use a 7-step taxonomy to record student progress in each subject area. The taxonomy ensures that we can record contextual progress for students against their own starting point, not against their typically developing peers.
All pupils have outcomes from their Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs) which relate to: Cognition & Learning; Communication & Interaction; Social, Emotional & Mental Health; Sensory & Physical Needs and Preparation for Adulthood. Teachers collaborate closely with a range of multi-disciplinary professionals to identify priorities for development and specific strategies to achieve these targets. All work is adapted to meet the needs of individual pupils and classes are staffed to support delivery of learning within lessons in small groups, pairs or individually as required.
Core skills are a key component of preparation for adulthood, and it is often taken for granted that children and young people will develop these skills independently. Studies have shown that students with SEND can be significantly disadvantaged in the development of these skills and it can have an adverse affect on their learning and their ability to enter employment in the future.
To support the development of core skills for all of our students, we are in the process of embedding the Skills Builder Framework across our curriculum through direct instruction, integration into subject specific content and opportunities for practice in various contexts. Establishing a shared language for skills helps both teachers and students to talk about and focus on skill development.