Curriculum

Curriculum Statement – Blue Sky Learning is an independent alternative provision in Calne, Wiltshire. We provide quality pupil led, thematic and innovative education for students aged 5 to 13. Students who attend our provision present a wide range of needs including S.E.M.H., Autism, A.D.H.D. The curriculum at our provision consists of all the learning experiences needed in order to maximise learning potential and to ensure that students work towards achieving the outcomes as defined in their Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans and accomplishing our goals of ensuring our students are ready for their next steps in education.

Intent

Our curriculum intent outlines why the curriculum has been constructed in this way.  It incorporates our curriculum rationale and our key aims, and it has been developed in response to THREE key questions. 

  • What do we want a Blue Sky Learning student to ‘look like’ when they complete their journey with us? 
  • What do our students need to succeed? 
  • Is our curriculum sufficiently flexible and individualised to ensure that each child has a rich and equitable end goal, that enables them to reach their full potential?   

To meet the future needs of our students, the curriculum has been developed around THREE strands. 

Wellbeing; communications and interactions; cognition and learning. 

Furthermore, for our students to be successful and achieve our aims, we must ensure that learning is underpinned by the teaching of the key skills of the core curriculum. 

Wellbeing

Wellbeing combines both physical and mental wellbeing.  All students need regular focussed support to develop their awareness and understanding of how to lead healthy lives.   All our students need access to specific therapeutic interventions as part of the provision that is the offered to them. 

The wellbeing of each young person within the school has been placed at risk and therefore this element is key to them making progress and moving forwards. 

To do this we will; 

  • Support our students to be active and contributing members of the community both at school and beyond 
  • Guide our students to become individuals who can live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives 
  • Provide the best therapeutic provision to support and protect the mental wellbeing of our students 
  • Offer high quality professional support for students who demonstrate a range of mental health concerns. 
  • Offer high quality professional support for students who demonstrate a range of behavioural concerns 
  • Support our students to develop a good understanding of their emotional wellbeing and regulation 
  • Ensure our curriculum reflects the importance of the balance between academic and the wellbeing of our students. 
  • Support students to recognise the physiological symptoms of their emotions within themselves as well as an awareness to perceive emotions, control reactions and express their feelings. 

Communications and Interactions

The students who attend Blue Sky Learning are vulnerable with communications and interaction challenges.  Our curriculum will equip each young person with the skills and knowledge that will allow them to successfully communicate their feelings, thoughts and actions both in and out of the school community. 

To do this we will; 

  • Language opportunities modelled from adults led activities. 
  • Provide language opportunities through schemas (connections) from practical activities and real life and contextualised experiences 
  • Support students to develop self-awareness and social, life and independence skills. 
  • Provide safe and trusting environments for students to develop relationships with peers and adults. 
  • Empower our students to find and use their voice to communicate and be heard 
  • Support our students to be able to successfully communicate and interact with others using both verbal and nonverbal communications.  
  • Provide social stories to reduce social and communication anxiety 
  • Provide outdoor learning through forest schools which enables problem solving, team building and further linguistic benefits 

Cognition and learning.

With a transient and small provision population, our students need regular experiences of life learning opportunities. Our curriculum coverage enables us to provide a stimulating and meaningful context for our students to develop fundamental skills, knowledge and understanding. We aim to equip our students with the confidence and the ability to learn for oneself to cope within our ever- changing technological world.  

 To do this we will; 

  • Ensure that we are meeting the needs of all our learners, enhancing their social and academic development. 
  • Ensure that our curriculum in ‘contextualised and ‘hands on’ linking real life to learning. 
  • Support our learners to make connections across the curriculum whilst maintaining the integrity of the key element of each subject 
  • Ensure our students recognise, celebrate and encourage diversity 
  • Raise awareness of global issues and their impact on the future so that our students can contribute to society 
  • Develop each young person’s self-awareness by increasing their knowledge of their strengths so they can see themselves positively, identify their areas of interest and understand how they relate to others 
  • Promote a culture of ‘It’s ok to make mistakes and let’s try this again…’ in a SEN space, where many of our children suffer from performance anxiety 

The students who attend Blue Sky Learning are vulnerable with communications and interaction challenges.  Our curriculum will equip each young person with the skills and knowledge that will allow them to successfully communicate their feelings, thoughts and actions both in and out of the school community. 

Implementation 

The curriculum needs to be clearly set out to show how the intent will be implemented.  Wellbeing; communications and interactions; cognition and learning along with the national curriculum core areas of learning through all aspects of the therapeutic offer and curriculum to ensure that our students are prepared for life after Blue Sky Learning. We use evidence-based practice to identify the unique needs, difficulties and learning skills of each pupil, then provide personalised learning experiences and plans. 

Our team work together to ensure the learning is relevant and purposeful, ongoing and progressive and that all children are fully engaged and curious in their learning. All staff members, differentiate appropriately considering the child’s EHCP needs, past educational experiences and plan according to the child’s starting and emotional point. Staff implement curriculum ensuring that no child is left behind. 

How is ‘wellbeing; communications and interactions; and cognition and learning‘ implemented throughout the provision? 

Nurture Base and KS1 

  • Supporting students to develop an understanding of their strengths 
  • Growing knowledge of different industry and career paths irrespective of gender, visits, speakers, imaginative play, home corner 
  • Developing our forest school space and enhancing our outdoor learning opportunities 
  • Developing an understanding of world issues and different cultures through PSHE, other school links, trips and visits 
  • Healthy eating, food/cooking, enrichment activities, mindfulness, relationship and sex education 
  • Therapeutic offers such as art therapy 
  • Animal care and management in the school 
  • Therapeutic approach to positive behaviour management 
  • Support children to think about their own learning (metacognition) 

KS2 and KS3 

  • Developing good decision making through a range of scenarios where students are expected to make decisions and then explain them 
  • With support, students take ownership of their EHCP plans, actions and targets 
  • Explicitly show them the knowledge and skills they have gained 
  • Support children to think about their own learning (metacognition) 
  • Help students to know their strengths and weaknesses and not be frightened to make decisions 
  • Growing understanding of world issues and different cultures through PSHE, pupil forums, trips and visits 
  • Healthy eating, food/cooking, enrichment activities, mindfulness, relationship and sex education,  
  • Group Therapeutic offers such as art therapy 
  • Understand themselves and taking responsibilities in making the right choices 
  • Understand the notion of interdependence in an increasing complex society 

Impact

This is how we measure the success of our curriculum intent and implementation, and it is based around a variety of criteria including; 

  • Pupil voice 
  • EHCP outcomes progress 
  • Academic progress 
  • Qualitative Data (confidence) 
  • Attendance 
  • Engagement 
  • Progress data 
  • What parents/carers say about us 
  • Appropriate and sustained pathways for students to integrate into mainstream school or a new provision 
  • Students are engaged, happy and confident