Our Curriculum

 
 

Our Curriculum is child led. It has been designed around the belief that our students are able to learn and are capable over time to be happy and successful.  We know that our pupils come to us with severe, complex or profound needs and as such have a range of different starting points and our main aim is to remove all learning barriers (social, communication and learning difficulties) in order to fill gaps in their knowledge, supporting each pupil to be as independent as possible. 

Students usually come to us with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and we recognise the importance of providing a curriculum that embeds Communication, Language and Literacy, Cognition and Learning, Physical and Sensory, Health and Social, Emotional and/or Mental Health. Working with pupils, parents, carers and the team around a child, we identify the most important individual next steps with our curriculum providing the context in which progression can be seen.

From their EHCP, a pupil’s Personal Learning Plan is created (PLP) and implemented via individual or small group activities. Our creative approach encourages pupils to learn through play, exploration, sensory and first hand experiences. 

 

We always take into account any interests which motivate our pupils; ensuring that areas of study are engaging and broad. Staff have room for exploration through cross curricular linking during the school day and after school through home learning tasks with care staff and 24/7 learning (focusing on life skills). 

Classes are grouped depending on individual learning needs and so are not restricted to year groups. Pupils will follow either a:

  • Formal Pathway (based at Banks House) 

  • Semi-Formal Pathway (based at Bright House)

  • Informal Pathway (based at Bright House)

The Equals Curriculum is used across the 3 pathways. Our pupils also complete ASDAN awards mapped to the preparing for adulthood pathways (PfA) with the main programme being ‘My Independence’. AQA Unit Awards are also used.  

 

At Banks House School, we work with the staff at Banks House and Charlton House to ensure a smooth transition between home and school with learning continuing after the school day has ended. For example, staff at Banks House and Charlton House are trained in RWI. They are familiar with how to use EfL and help to capture progress made against individual outcomes.  Pupils have access to a selection of after school clubs such as: swimming, yoga, makaton, football, sensory baking, gardening and these changes termly and the homes help to embed these interests.

Planning and assessment

 
 
 

British Values

At Banks House School we don't plan specific lessons to teach children's British Values ,they promote everything we do. We develop British Values through a specific curriculum focus on The World Around Me, Independence, Communication, Thinking and Problem Solving, Physical Wellbeing, Play and Leisure, Art, Drama, Relationships and Sex Education and Outdoor Learning. Britain has undergone rapid economic and social change in the last few decades and we live in an increasingly diverse society. We teach our children it is possible to live together peacefully, each of them a valuable part of our multicultural world. British Values are embedded across all aspects of the school in a number of ways that are evident throughout the school day. ​

  • We teach children to be kind, helpful and respectful of others ​

  • We teach children to be part of their local community by taking learning outside of the classroom. ​

  • We celebrate festivals and mark special days from the world around us​

  • We support children to work and play together, developing shared values and working together towards a common goal​

  • We teach or give our pupil experiences that involve the wider world in which they live: their immediate environment, locally, regional and the wider world ​

  • Where appropriate we provide learning opportunities for the children to learn about the different cultures within our country through the school's curriculum connectors that become experientially broader as pupils move through key-stages

Phonics and Communication

At Banks House School, pupils are offered a bespoke, child led personalised curriculum. All children are given the opportunity to communicate in a variety of ways and to read/decode in order to communicate. Because of the complex needs of our pupils, our reading and approach to reading may look a little different. We believe that everyone of our pupils have the ability to communicate if this is tailored correctly. We like to keep things simple at Banks House School and so we have organised out pupils into:

  • Pre Readers

  • Readers

Pre Readers use objects of reference, symbols, PECS, sensory stories, shared stories and action rhymes to communicate their wants and needs. We will be developing their visual and auditory skills in order to achieve and sustain this.

Readers are able to identify set 1 sounds and above and use this knowledge to blend sounds to make words. They use phonics to decode words, have the opportunity to read words in a variety of learning contexts e.g. menus, timetables, instructions, can follow functional lists to communicate e.g. entering an office, talking on the phone

Only pupils on the semi formal and formal pathways (Readers) will receive Read Write Inc (RWI) phonic sessions. Pupils who are ‘pre readers’ do not receive RWI sessions because they have been identified as cognitively unable to access it. This decision is made by a body of professionals and stakeholders during a mapping/pathway meeting which is led by an Educational Psychologist. 


As mentioned earlier, our curriculum is child led. This means that pupils can choose not to participate in phonics even if they are cognitively able. Staff use their professional knowledge and understanding of each pupils complex needs to decide when this is appropriate. Staff use a variety of methods and strategies to deliver the RWI programme to pupils. Sometimes these sessions will look broadly similar to the conventional RWI session and sometimes they will not. This is to enable the staff to meet the young people where they are at emotionally at any moment of the school day. Sessions may include: child/teacher, adults modelling, interactive and highly intensive games modelled by adults. This also means that phonics sessions can be long or short, frequent or longer in length depending on the needs of the pupil at any moment on any given day. For Readers, phonics is incorporated into the school day in a variety of functional ways (as detailed above) in order to prepare pupils for adulthood with the aim of pupil leading as independent a life as possible. 

 

Resources

We follow the RWI programme. We use the same resources that RWI offers. Pupils who are able to read and blend words will be given a book which matches their current phonics knowledge. These resources are adapted to meet the needs of pupils e.g. enlarged to A3 for visually impaired pupils.  Each pupil participating in a phonics session receives a set of sounds cards to take home to practise.

Training

Staff have observed RWI taking place at a local school. They have joined in with other local schools’ RWI CPD day. Our RWI lead assesses the ability of all members of staff with regards to their recall of phonics. She notes the gaps in staff's knowledge and then works alongside the member of staff to fill this gap. Videos of key modelled learning are sent to staff so that they can upskill themselves and improve the progress of pupils. This monitoring/coaching takes place every 2 weeks. This is recorded using a tracker. Our Phonics Lead meets with a RWI consultant twice a year. Our carers also recieve RWI training.