Towards Independence

In FE at The Pioneer School, the intention of our curriculum is to provide excellent opportunities and enriching experiences for all students that enable them to develop the life skills they will need to prepare them for adulthood and to become as independent as possible.

Our curriculum's overarching aim is to bring learning to life and is implemented using our Towards Independence pillar. The four core subjects we study are Numeracy, Literacy, ICT and PSH and follow the Equals Moving on 14 + Subject-specific Curriculum. Although we feel it is important to study these core subjects, it is vital that our students get the opportunity to transfer these skills into real life situations when out in the community as this is where a high proportion of our life skills are learnt and learning takes place. Alongside this, our students get the opportunity to study the ASDAN Towards Independence programme where units are chosen to map across to our core units to ensure that they gain the accreditation they deserve for the work they do. 

Our curriculum has been developed by staff using a framework approach and planning will take into consideration the skills to be learned as well as the contexts in which they will be learned. This is because we fully recognise the importance of our pupils being able to transfer these skills and that they should be developed in many different contexts across the curriculum. Only then will they gain mastery and the skill be generalised.

Working within these themes we are able to adapt the curriculum to the needs and interests of all learners, medium term plans are tailored to the needs of all our students, adapting the learning areas and opportunities to their interests, needs and level of learning. Daily planning supports the appropriate learning of individual pupils and is very adaptable to changes to support pupil’s changing needs and experiences.

We also provide a vocational element to our curriculum that includes, careers, enterprise and work experience, Community Project visits and Physical (Grangewater/ Landbourne end and Swimming). Sometimes, when learning requires a specialist teaching space, for example Food Technology or horticulture, these will be taught as discrete subjects but the focus will remain on the development of key skills.