Curriculum Overview

The Oaklands Centre Curriculum

Intention

Our ethos and curriculum are characterised by relentless ambition for every pupil. Regardless of their starting point, we believe that every pupil can make incredible progress and we endeavour to never put a ceiling on what they can learn and achieve. 

To be successful in their future education, our pupils need:

• Self-confidence and positive mental health that enables them to engage with challenges.

• Communication and self-advocacy skills that enable them to express their needs and wants effectively.

• Independent self-regulation that enables them to participate in learning and wider opportunities.

• Social understanding and skills that enable them to develop secure, healthy relationships.

• Strong, secure foundational skills in reading, writing and maths that enable them to be successful in their next steps of learning.

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

• Enthusiasm and a love for learning.

Our purposeful, meaningful, interesting curriculum aims to give every pupil these things. We deliberately foster the interaction and independence skills that our pupils need to participate in school and community life while maintaining a strong focus on foundational skills and knowledge. We maintain high expectations of what every pupil can achieve and learn while adapting teaching to individual starting points, strengths and identified needs. The intended outcome is strong, secure progress, in both academic and personal development, for every pupil.

Implementation

We deliver our curriculum in calm, purposeful classrooms. Our learning environment is highly structured and routined so that it is easily predictable for pupils. Each class is taught by an experienced, specialist Teacher following a high-quality, bespoke curriculum with clear endpoints and goals. The curriculum is enriched with engaging activities, trips, visits and life-skills opportunities which are all well-planned and prepared for. 

Acorns Base (EYFS & KS1)

Acorns Base offers a both a pre-formal and a semi-formal class. In the pre-formal class, the Acorns Stages curriculum builds foundational communication, social interaction, physical development and early learning through structured play, practical experiences and multisensory teaching. 

In the semi-formal class, pupils access increasingly adult-led learning in small groups. They begin to secure foundational skills in reading, writing and maths using Little Wandle, Letter Join, White Rose and NCTM Ready to Progress schemes. A rolling, themed curriculum runs alongside this covering Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. 

We believe that every pupil can learn to read, and direct synthetic phonics instruction begins as soon as a pupil shows they are ready to engage with adult-led learning. Even before this, every pupil will be exposed to print, stories, rhymes and Phase 1 phonics through multisensory activities in readiness for future reading. 

Oaks Base (KS2)

In Oaks Base, pupils increasingly follow a timetable of formal subject-specific learning. Teaching develops knowledge and skills through structured delivery of maths and English and a two-year, rolling foundation subject curriculum, with Path A and Path B providing different levels of challenge.

Oaks Base Teachers identify essential knowledge and clear learning goals for their class, which are differentiated as necessary. Discrete maths and English lessons are taught daily. Phonics input continues until pupils are fluent, confident readers and then reading tuition moves into the KS2 National Curriculum with a focus on fluency and comprehension. Writing is taught through a mix of direct skill instruction and plentiful opportunities to write across the curriculum, following the Oaks Base Writing Steps. Maths is taught following the NCTM Ready to Progress criteria, supported by a range of high-quality resources. The Oaks Base foundation subject units are clearly sequenced to build on what pupils know and can do over time. Each unit has key questions and facts that identify the essential knowledge pupils should learn. Clear modelling, guided practice, visual support and communication adaptations help pupils access learning and demonstrate understanding. 

Personal development is taught as a discrete subject covering Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Development, Relationships and Sex Education, Citizenship and British Values. This curriculum also develops pupils' understanding of neurodivergence, their self-awareness and ability to self-advocate. The taught personal development curriculum is supported by a broad range of practical opportunities to access enrichment and life skills.

Assessment

In both bases, rigorous, regular 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 thoroughly 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 where possible 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.