Curriculum

Curriculum Intent

Our curriculum is designed to meet the needs of the wide range of learners that access our school. Every aspect of our curriculum is focused on “Beyond School”, preparing our learners with the relevant qualifications and experiences they require to make that positive transition to the post 16 world of education or work based learning.

Students are at the heart of our curriculum and it is their views which shape curriculum development based on their future ambitions and aspirations. (Student futures survey).

Our curriculum is relevant and reflects what the young people in this area value, preparing them for the opportunities in further education, apprenticeship and employment that this area can offer.

Our outstanding CIEAG provision ensures that students are exposed to local employers and understand the qualities that will make them desirable employees through our links with Enterprise Group, Colleges and Training providers all of whom attend our annual Career and Apprenticeship Fayre.

It is our intent that all students will have a positive onwards destination built on the strong foundations of the curriculum we provide them.

Curriculum Content

The McKee curriculum has been crafted to meet the needs of a very diverse group of learners, all of whom have different aspirations and ideas on what constitutes education.  From the academic to the vocational, our curriculum content meets the needs of all our learners.

We use our split site to give specific curriculum focus;

• College House – Full academic curriculum
• Blakiston House – Vocational training with essential education
• Breck House – KS3 SEN assessment and support

All sites offer full time provision.

College House Curriculum Offer

Students are provided with a standard curriculum in a 25 lesson week.

Options – Choose 2

The majority of students accessing this curriculum are on Medical Placement or short term placements and will be returning to mainstream settings.  It is therefore vital that we can offer a comparable curriculum to support smooth transition back to mainstream.  Many learners start with us with gaps in their education but our small class size and curriculum mapping expertise helps to quickly address gaps in knowledge with students making rapid progress.

Enrichment is built into the timetable and this time can be used to provide alternate activities for students eg support in a GCSE which is not timetabled ie IT or French.  It can also be used for trips and visits to enrich the “Cultural Capital” of out students.

Blakiston House Curriculum Offer

The curriculum consists of three parts;

1. Essential Education (2 days)
2. A Career Pathway (2 days)
3. Personal Development (1 day)

Breck House Curriculum Offer

This is our specialist provision, working with the most complex learners at KS3, most with undiagnosed and un assessed need.

Our team of highly skilled professionals work closely with school SENCO’s, SEND and EP services to identify need and meet need through our bespoke, personalised approach to each student.

Students at Breck House can expect to have a full needs assessment undertaken which will support the development of their learning support plan, a tool which can then be used by other teachers to meet that particular child’s needs.

The curriculum is underpinned by nurturing principles and much of the Literacy and Numeracy is delivered through a thematic approach.  Groups are small and students enjoy a high staff to pupil ratio.

Students will typically work with 2 teachers in the centre but will get specialist input from other teaching staff ie Geography, History, Science and PE. The model is similar to that of a primary school with one main teacher developing strong working relationship with students.

A typical day would be;

The centre is managed by an SEN specialist teacher who administers the assessments and develops the personalised plans, instructing staff on how to implement them effectively.

Students are withdrawn from sessions to undertake assessment or work in smaller groups on specific tasks eg Lexia or IDL.

Trips out of school are a large part of the programme to not only enrich “cultural capital” but to work on social skills and to promote active learning.

Curriculum Justification

It is at the heart of our curriculum that we are offering our students the curriculum they want, allowing them to make informed choices which provide the end goal they desire.

For the majority of our students the “mainstream” curriculum offer has not met need.  The additional support combined with the culture and ethos within the school enable more than 50% of students to continue with a full academic curriculum. The other 50% want something different, something tangible, something that is relevant to them.

Our students inform us as to what they think is important in a curriculum, we respond to that.

Our curriculum is referred to as “Beyond School” because it is designed to do just that, prepare students for what happens next.