Policy

When designing our demanding curriculum for students with SEMH needs, we knew that we needed to fill the gaps that they have from the National Curriculum due to missed learning in mainstream school.  We wanted to offer appropriate qualifications that will allow our children and young people to move forwards to their individual next step. Finally, we also wanted to inspire and stretch them with subjects that aren’t found on the National Curriculum. 

Our curriculum has been designed to maximise each student’s potential, based on whatever their path to success is. Many of our pupils want employment in mechanics, construction and bricklaying.  We support each young person to gain the Functional Skills qualifications that they need to enter college to pursue this ambition.  These are nationally recognised qualifications which are equivalent to GCSE but allow more flexibility in teaching and exams, as students can take assessments at any time of the year and do not have to complete a qualification within a set time frame. We also offer a range of other qualifications such as Skills for Employment, Training and Personal Development (SET PD) to really make a CV stand out and to keep our students moving forward.

We want our students to be making constant progress from their starting point, so we will regularly assess your child with our effective tracking system to ensure that the tutor is teaching at the appropriate level of challenge. 

As well as the broad range of subject disciplines in the National Curriculum, we place a priority on Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE), using the topics suggested by the PSHE Association, whilst also offering qualifications such as Independent Living to run alongside this where we can support pupils to grow into properly functioning adults. We actively promote respect and tolerance for other people, with particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010, with explicit teaching about discrimination of:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation 

Everything we teach and believe is underpinned by the British Values of:

• democracythe rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

The National Curriculum (planned in an age and ability appropriate way):

• English
• Maths
• Science
• Physical Education
• Relationships, Sex and Health Education
• Citizenship
• Religious Education
• Computing
• Art
• Design and Technology
• History
• Geography
• Music
• Languages

All students will cover vital topics in their Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) to support them to make informed and mature decisions in their personal lives.  Please see RSHE tab.

We support all Post-14 and Post-16 students as they move on to their next steps with our up-to-date Careers Education.  Pupils receive full guidance, including visits to Careers Fairs, in the choices that they can make regarding Further Education, apprenticeships and employment to help them expand their horizons.  Work experience is available with the support of their tutor.

We consider communication and interaction to be vital to learning and ensure that the day starts with a SODA (Start Of the Day Activity) which gets the student to settle and chat about an engaging challenge with their tutor. 

Reading is also a key part of our curriculum, and we dedicate time each day to the pleasure of enjoying books.   

Qualifications available:

• English Functional Skills
• Maths Functional Skills
• Digital Functional Skills
• Certificate in Independent Living
• Skills for Employment, Training and Personal Development (SET PD- Evolve Post-14 and Futures Post-16)
• British Values and Prevent (Evolve Post-14 and Futures Post-16)
• Digital Functional Skills (Evolve Post-14 and Futures Post-16)
• Environmental Awareness and Sustainability in Construction (Futures Post-16 only)
• Award in Financial Literacy (Futures Post-16 only)

We have chosen a number of  ‘Alternative Studies’ to further boost students’ enjoyment at our school.  These include:

• Sign language
• Driving theory
• Japanese
• Italian
• Animation
• Photography

Please also see the ‘Enrichment’ tab for further information about the ways in which we challenge and boost our students.

Finally, we encourage our young people to build a strong connection with nature through our WMES AWARD.  Similar to the DofE Award, we have designed our own challenges to experience the outdoors to the fullest.

Please see below for an example timetable for a Post-14 student.