The Foundations pathway curriculum is designed to meet the needs of our Early Years and Key Stage 1 children. It is based on the principles and practice of play-based learning, taking our lead from the uniquely individual interests and motivations of our children, within a high quality and well-structured environment. This then promotes the highest levels of engagement from our learners.

The Foundations curriculum is based on ‘Development Matters’ (2021). It is delivered mainly through topic-based planning which aims to offer a wide variety of themes to provoke interest throughout the year. Children accessing the Foundations pathway are aged from 2 through to 7 years old. The curriculum provides challenge for all and enables smaller steps of progression across;

• Communication and language development (Prime area)
• Personal social emotional development (Prime area)
• Physical development (Prime area)
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding of the world
• Expressive arts and design.

Within the foundations pathway there is an increased focus on strengthening the prime areas of learning, knowing that these areas form the core of early child development. The “Characteristics of Effective Learning” from the Early Years Curriculum are at the heart of our Foundations curriculum and summarise the different ways in which children learn.

These characteristics highlight the importance of;

• playing and exploring - where children investigate and experience new things.
• active learning - where children concentrate and keep on trying when they encounter difficulties.
• creating and thinking critically - where children develop their own ideas, make links between them and develop strategies.
• In Foundations, Religious Education is represented and taught in such a way as to ensure that these, the underlying principles, are embedded into the curriculum:
• Promoting positive relationships, kindness and friendships,
• Valuing and celebrating cultural diversity
• Providing opportunities for pupils to celebrate and share their own home and faith related experiences

Organisation

In our Foundations pathway children are taught individually, in small groups, in class bases and across the 2 Foundations classrooms. Through a combination of adult input and continuous provision opportunities, learning is planned to encourage children to develop independently through exploration and challenge.

Our learning environments, both inside and outside, are stimulating, exciting and relevant to the needs, age and developmental stage of our children.

In our classrooms, children’s learning is organised so that the following is evident;

•  Structured, play-based activities in indoor and outdoor provision with high levels of adult support ➢ Daily opportunities for the development of literacy, numeracy, phonics and physical development ➢ Areas of provision within each class that allow children to consolidate skills taught and explore their own play opportunities
• A range of early communication strategies in collaboration with Speech and Language Therapists including Intensive Interaction, Attention Autism, Makaton, Communication aids, such as PECS, iPads, communication books and aided language displays
• Highly individualised teaching and learning environments in each classroom to allow opportunities for progression and extension throughout their time in Foundations
• Access to rebound, larger spaces for sensory circuits and daily movement play opportunities
• Collaboratively developed medium-term plans in place which are reviewed regularly

Explorer students will typically be classed as PMLD. (Profound and multiple learning difficulties) and also have complex learning needs. In addition to very severe learning difficulties, students have other significant difficulties, such as physical disabilities, sensory impairment or a severe medical condition. They will often be wheelchair users and/or require support with mobility. 

Students require a high level of adult support, both for their learning needs and also for their personal care. They are likely to need sensory stimulation and a curriculum broken down into very small steps. Students communicate by gesture, eye pointing, symbols and switch technology. All sounds, movement, facial expressions and smiles are responded to as communication and pupils are encouraged to make themselves heard.

Communication for an Explorers learner should be structured so that students are able to interpret and make sense of the cues they are given. Cues must be planned to meet the student’s individual development needs.

Within Explorers adults will use sensory cues e.g., smells and textures, Objects of Reference, musical cues and Makaton when appropriate.

Students will be cued into transitions around school and within the local community. Explorers students need a high staff ratio for transitions and this will normally be 1:1 due to the use of wheelchairs and the high level of personal care required. Adults will offer verbal support during transitions through the use of key words and phrases and where appropriate Objects of reference.

There is a strong focus on engaging in a wide range of experiences to support ‘learning to learn’, through early receptive and expressive communication, engagement in learning through interests and motivators and sensory and physical skills.   Some of the students have complex medical needs and there is an emphasis on a wide range of specialist therapies and interventions.

Through our pathway approach we aim to offer relevant and motivating learning opportunities which maximise pupil engagement and develops a willingness to learn and develop new skills and knowledge. Learning opportunities are planned in direct response to individual pupil needs with a focus on preparing them for the next stages of their lives.’

This Explorers curriculum is a non subject specific curriculum which offers a multi-sensory experience for students.

When students are in Key stage 4 they follow WJEC Personal progress pathways to complete accreditation in appropriate areas for their interests and abilities.

Students may gain a great deal from being part of a whole class experience in a range of lessons. There needs to be a balance between lessons that provide direct learning and teaching and those which provide experiences. The breadth and balance of the underlying learning experience is what is important. It may be useful for a student on Explorers to have an individual timetable so that breadth and balance is explicit to staff and to families.

Adventurers will typically be classed as having complex learning difficulties.

This would include difficulties with:

Communication; this can include social communication, social interaction. A high number of students in adventurers will be nonverbal.

Students will have considerable sensory sensitivities.

A tendency towards preferring isolation to socialisation, or where socialisation is preferred, displaying behaviours where the learner is in control.

It is important to recognise, that adventurers learners do not have profound learning difficulties in that they have the ability to follow instructions, have a very sound understanding of cause and effect and can imitate the actions of others.

Students will continue to require a high level of adult support, both for their learning needs and also for their personal care but as a general rule, Adventurers  are ambulant and mobile.

Communication should be structured so that pupils are able to interpret and make sense of the cues they are given. Cues must be planned to meet the student’s individual development needs. Within the Adventurers pathway adults will use real objects, musical cues, symbol key rings and timetables and Makaton when appropriate. Students communicate by gesture, symbols, photographs and communications mats or communication booklets.

Students will be cued into transitions around school using photographs, symbols and key words. They will walk with an adult to their destination.

Adventurers are at the early stages of play and require support from the adults around them to learn how to play. Students participate in a range of planned activities to support building their tolerance of peers and other adults. This would include Attention Autism sessions, Theraplay activities and intensive interaction.

Within the Adventurers pathway adults will use sensory cues e.g. smells and textures, objects of reference, musical cues and Makaton when appropriate.

Students will be cued into transitions around school and within the local community. Adults will offer verbal support during transitions through the use of key words and phrases, visual support and where appropriate objects of reference.

There is a strong focus on engaging in a wide range of experiences to support ‘learning to learn’, through early receptive and expressive communication, engagement in learning through interests and motivators and sensory and physical skills.

The curriculum is intended to stimulate and nurture interactions through exploration and play.

The curriculum is non subject specific and is a play based.

Adventurers are building up tolerance and acceptance to a range of areas of need and development. This includes building up acceptance and tolerance to being with others, sharing experiences, following routine’s and understanding boundaries.

An adventurer’s classroom can be and look busy and face paced. This is because the learners may need something individual at the same time their learning needs as well as sensory needs, and green areas. Adventurers also have short attention and concentration too and will move quickly from one activity to another.  As the curriculum focuses on play, including messy play, the students are encouraged to explore the resources in their own way using their own play skills meaning resources do not stay in the tray or how they have been presented.

Discoverers students are those who experience difficulties in understanding abstract concepts, maintaining concentration and attention, retrieving both short term and long term memory, utilising sequential memory, exercising working memory, processing information, retrieving general knowledge, thinking, problem solving, and generalising previously learned skills.   These students may have a global learning delay or specific learning difficulties or could have Severe Learning Difficulty identified on their EHC.

They may have difficulties with expressive and receptive language and their poor memory skills can often lead to difficulties with communication or processing information. 

It is important to recognise that within the Discoverers pathway  there is a great breadth between classes and curriculum offers.  Discoverer students still require a great deal of adult support to access any learning and work best in a thematic and topic based approach with lots of opportunities for practical applications.  They may use manipulatives and concrete resources to structure their learning.

They will still need significant amounts of communication support for example visuals using a mixture of symbols and words.

Discoverers Curriculum

Through our trust and school values, the intent of our curriculum is to meet our students at their point of need using their education, health care plan as the starting point of their offer. We focus on the 4 areas of need; cognition and learning, communication and interaction, sensory and physical and social, emotional and mental health using these to support our long-term frameworks and medium term, planning.

The discoverers curriculum follows a non-subject specific focus.  Science, History, Geography, RE are taught through the world about me.  Their curriculum also includes focused work on world of work, preparation for adulthood, keeping safe and healthy body, healthy mind.  As well as planned opportunities there is an emphasis on ‘ongoing and in context’ learning.  Skills and knowledge are planned through the year in a sequential curriculum but we recognise there are many opportunities to embed and use skills and knowledge if different contexts. For example use of money, personal hygiene or British values linked to a particular event in time. The curriculum is intended to stimulate and develop curiosity through exploration, experience and play.

Pioneer students are those who have developed more readiness for learning skills.  They may be academically at or just below age related expectations.  

Their language skills and ability to process receptive language is present and will develop but at a slower rate than those of a similar age in mainstream settings.

They made need support Organising information or their resources

There is a delay in their ability to put thoughts into words and sentences and their use of facial expressions, body language, gesture and intonation

Vocabulary and use of grammar may be delayed

Students may have delayed development of co-operative skills with peers.

Students in the pioneer pathway may still need significant amounts of communication support for example visuals using a mixture of symbols and words, lists, timetables to support communication and organisation.

Pathway 3 Curriculum

Through our school and trust values, the intent of our curriculum is to meet our students at their point of need using their education, health care plan as the starting point of their offer. We focus on the 4 areas of need; cognition and learning, communication and interaction, sensory and physical and social, emotional and mental health using these to support our long-term frameworks and medium term, planning.

The pathway 3 curriculum follows a subject specific focus which begins at key 2.  Science, History, Geography, RE are all taught as discreet subjects.  Their curriculum also includes focused work on world of work, preparation for adulthood, keeping safe and healthy body, healthy mind.  As well as planned opportunities there is an emphasis on ‘ongoing and in context’ learning.  Skills and knowledge are planned through the year in a sequential curriculum but we recognise there are many opportunities to embed and use skills and knowledge if different contexts. For example use of money, personal hygiene or British values linked to a particular event in time.