Thomas Ashton School

Curriculum Approaches

 Our aim is to create a curriculum that is meaningful, personalised, appropriate and inclusive that adequately prepares our pupils for the next stages in their education. Our school vision is Try, Achieve, Succeed, Thrive.

Many pupils who come to Thomas Ashton struggle with their emotional and social wellbeing. Some may also have ASC and Social Communication difficulties too. We provide a curriculum that will develop the skills and strategies to support them so they are able to access the curriculum and remove any barriers they may have to learning.

We do this through developing:

• Positive relationships
• Honesty
• Joy
• Enquiring minds
• Tolerance and consideration for all
• Resilience

We recognise that all our pupils need consistent and supportive people in their life in order for them to feel safe and happy in their environment, therefore our focus is on building secure relationships to help them succeed and access a curriculum that will prepare them for life after Thomas Ashton School.

Our Ethos that runs throughout the curriculum is:

• Inclusion for all
• Treat everyone equally and respect differences
• Commitment to building healthy relationships
• A sense that things can change
• A sense of perseverance

Implementation

Our main priority for all our pupils is to access Quality First Teaching. This is achieved through a variety of ways:

• A learning environment based on nurturing positive relationships
• Opportunities to embed concepts
• Accurate assessment to inform planning
• Excellent subject knowledge
• High expectations
• Provide rich opportunities
• Clear modelling of key concepts
• In the moment feedback and purposeful marking

For this to be successful and in recognition of the growing diversity of our pupils we have 3 Pathways: Exploration, Horizon and Inspiration.

Exploration Pathway: This Pathway is for pupils who have Bespoke SEMH needs and are not ready to access small class learning. The curriculum is designed for pupils who require lots of 1:1 support through a bespoke intervention based approach designed to meet their needs and interests.

Horizon Pathway: This Pathway is for pupils who have Universal SEMH needs and are ready to begin some small class learning. The curriculum is designed to cater for those pupils who still require some 1:1 support but are starting to develop skills to work in a small group setting.

Inspiration Pathway: This Pathway is for pupils who have Social and Communication needs. They are able to access small class learning in a classroom environment following the 2014 National Curriculum.

Curriculum

We know that every child’s progress looks different so we ensure the curriculum is tailored appropriately. All children access English, Maths and PSHE discreetly on a daily basis. The following subjects: Science, History, Geography, RE, IT, D&T, Art, Food Technology, PE and Music use a thematic approach. These lessons work on the Basic Skills where gaps may occur in a pupils learning as well as the National Curriculum 2014 objectives. The curriculum offer varies in each Pathway and is bespoke to meet the needs of individual pupils.

All pupils in our school access a Primary Model which is nurture based. They access all learning and interventions from a classroom base by the same staff to ensure consistency and care building on positive relationships.

In the Exploration Pathway the pupil’s access 1:1 lessons with a teacher or TA and it is planned and delivered to meet their needs and interests. A bespoke curriculum is designed for each individual.

In the Horizon Pathway the pupils access 1:1 and small group lessons. There is a heavy emphasis on Basic Skills to fill learning gaps and some bespoke plans focussing on the pupils’ needs and interests. There is also support for pupils to begin to access some small class teaching following a Topic Based Approach.

In the Inspiration Pathway the pupils access whole class lessons, following the 2014 National Curriculum Objectives, which is differentiated to meet need. Teachers use a Topic Based approach so pupils can draw upon their knowledge from different subjects.

Across all Pathways a variety of learning resources and methods are used to teach the content including ICT and, wherever possible, real life experiences to help the pupils engage in their learning.

EHCPs

We know that the pupil’s EHCP lies at the heart of their development so this is used to inform the pathway and curriculum they then access. To ensure the outcomes from their EHCP are met, Teachers timetable bespoke interventions into the day.

Some of the interventions pupils may access are:

Impact

We measure the impact through:

• School Self Evaluation
• Summative and formative assessment data
• Thrive Approach Data
• EHCP reviews
• Pupil Progress Meetings
• Improvement in engagement
• Development of positive relationships
• Arts Awards
• Classroom Observations
• Attendance Data
• Pupil Voice

By setting SMART targets and reviewing these on a termly basis the pupils start to make progress in their EHCP outcomes. This helps improve their emotional regulation and therefore impacts positively on their academic progress. This boosts their self-esteem and confidence to achieve across all aspects of their life, so when the time comes to leave Thomas Ashton they are happy, confident individuals ready to Try, Achieve, Succeed and Thrive into their next stage of their education.

To find out more about the School Curriculum, please contact Emma Stewart, Deputy Head on 0161 368 6208

Curriculum Policy September 2024

See below for Curriculum and Assessment Rationale 

 Curriculum Rationale Assessment Rationale