Curriculum Overview

The Oaklands Centre Curriculum

Intention

Our intention for our pupils is that they leave The Oaklands Centre ready to be successful learners in the next phase of their education.

To meet this goal, our pupils need:

• Independent self-regulation and social awareness that will enable them to successfully engage in learning and social relationships in their next learning environment.

• Secure foundational skills in reading, writing and maths at a level which will enable them to access the next steps in their curriculum journey.

• Broad and balanced knowledge and skills across the National Curriculum subjects.

• Self-advocacy skills that will enable them to effectively express their needs and wants to others in a new context.

Our purposeful, meaningful curriculum aims to give every pupil the knowledge, communication skills and independence they need to participate in school and community life and prepare for their next stage of education. We maintain high expectations of every pupil while adapting teaching to individual starting points, strengths and identified needs. The intended outcome is sustained, secure learning, increasing independence and readiness for future education and wider life.

Implementation

Our pre-formal, semi-formal and formal pathways connect early developmental learning with the National Curriculum. We prioritise communication, regulation, reading, writing and mathematics alongside a broad, balanced curriculum, personal development and enrichment. Our ambition is for pupils to secure key academic skills, develop confidence, experience a sense of belonging and increasingly have access to learning with mainstream peers, where appropriate to their needs.

In Acorns Base, the curriculum builds foundational communication, social interaction, physical development and early learning through structured play, practical experiences and multisensory teaching. In Oaks Base, increasingly formal subject-specific teaching develops knowledge and skills through structured maths and English teaching and a two-year, rolling foundation curriculum, with Path A and Path B providing different levels of challenge.

Teachers identify essential knowledge and clear learning goals. Oaks Base foundation units use key questions to focus explicit teaching, regular retrieval and assessment. Modelling, guided practice, visual support and communication adaptations help pupils access learning and demonstrate understanding. Personal development and support for regulation underpin participation and growing independence.

Rigorous assessment identifies gaps in learning and informs teaching. In half-termly pupil progress meetings between the Class Teacher and Inclusion Base Lead, each pupil’s progress is reviewed, gaps identified and rapid intervention or further support planned. No gap in learning is left unaddressed, ensuring pupils secure key foundational knowledge and skills and make good progress from their starting points.

Impact

We evaluate impact through analysis of what pupils know, remember and can use, alongside their developing communication, independence, wellbeing and participation. Progress is considered from individual starting points and against curriculum goals and EHCP outcomes, recognising that meaningful progress may involve small steps and may not be linear.

Our assessment arrangements bring together personal developmental tracking, reading, writing and mathematics assessments and foundation curriculum assessments. These inform reviews with families and decisions about teaching, support and next steps. 

We know that our curriculum is effective because:

• At the end of KS2 all pupils securely meet the outcomes in their EHCP. This is tracked using ShowProgress and evaluated during the Annual Review cycle.

• All pupils make strong progress from their starting points and meet their ambitious academic targets across the curriculum. This is evidenced using our rigorous formative and summative assessment and in statutory testing where appropriate.

• All pupils experience a strong sense of wellbeing, belonging and engagement in their school community. Pupils report this through termly wellbeing monitoring and inclusion surveys.

• All pupils make successful transitions to appropriate KS3 settings. Pupils’ progress in their new setting is monitored through our professional links.

Class and Curriculum Structure:

Acorns Base Topic Sequence:

TBC

Oaks Base Foundation Curriculum Sequence:

Oaks Base Key Questions

Each foundation curriculum unit is built around 5 'key questions'; the information needed to answer these questions is taught explicitly. Assessment is based on how accurately and fully pupils can answer these questions. Pupils may be given support for their communication to demonstrate their understanding and knowledge in response to a question. Pupils regularly practise retrieving the knowledge needed to answer these questions until it is committed to long term memory.