An Inclusive Curriculum
We believe that all students should feel a sense of belonging to our school community and within our curriculum. Every student should be supported to overcome barriers that they encounter when studying so that they can grow to become industrious, innovative and live with integrity.
Care & guidance underpins all aspects of our inclusive provision assisting our students to enjoy their education, feel valued and develop both academically and personally. All students are supported in their learning and encouraged to engage in every aspect of school life.
Should students experience barriers to their learning be they academic, physical, emotional or social we promptly intervene to support their access to the curriculum and enjoyment of school. Our academies operate strong inclusion practices led by our Special Educational Needs, Inclusion and Deep Support teams and through our Bridge and Personalised Learning Centres. We also have several academies with additional resource provision for special educational needs for example physical disability, autism or other needs. More information on this issue is available on our website.
Our students are taught in age-appropriate classes and supported to learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of academy life. Effective learning requires the processes of forgetting and recall, we ensure regular opportunities to revisit and revise what has been learnt so that study is regularly refreshed and recalled. Our feedback and assessment practices monitor when the intended learning has not been fully secured by students and our teachers effectively intervene, adjusting their teaching to do things differently to help all students learn well.
For those students with special educational needs and disabilities who require reasonable adjustments to support their needs we ensure access arrangements are in place to support their normal way of working and, where required, deploy teaching assistants and additional adult support.Â
There is a strong focus on students’ literacy, oracy and numeracy skills. All students benefit from opportunities to read across the curriculum following our guided reading pedagogy. The texts are challenging and ambitious so that students develop a wide and academic vocabulary and gain cultural capital. This begins in Tutor Time where students will be supported to read whole texts out loud with fluency and expression and continues in lessons where teachers will use reading to get across new information. Students will develop their oracy through the Academic curriculum where they will be encouraged to answer questions accurately and in full sentences. Our STEM subjects have a coordinated and consistent approach to numeracy and ensure that students are supported to work confidently with numbers.
All students are assessed on their reading ages, numeracy, writing and speaking through Lexia, Accelerated Reader, maths assessment, teacher and SEND referral. We identify those students who have low reading ages or issues with writing and ensure that there is personalised support until students are able to read fluently. We promote a culture of reading for pleasure by promoting a love of reading, library visits and through our Hallmark Programme. Where it is deemed appropriate we will facilitate increased access to English and Maths. Small group intervention is used to target gaps in understanding in core subjects. For students who miss aspects of their learning or require extra help catch up activities and targeted support are readily available. Elective after-school intervention and access to online learning programs are provided for those students seeking extra assurance and help.