Curriculum Statement

The Fountaindale Curriculum is carefully designed to address the needs of every pupil. We believe that we have created a curriculum that puts meeting and developing communication, well-being, independence, sensory and physical needs at its heart. Our curriculum encompasses preparation for adulthood outcomes that includes opportunities for; Employment, Independent Living, Community Inclusion and Health.

Our learning is driven through Rosenshine’s Principles, which allow a structure to lessons that builds, reflects, revisits and reinforces knowledge and skills to ensure schemas are built and developed upon. Imaginative learning projects establish disciplinary knowledge which lead to substantive knowledge-rich projects securing transferable skills and information into adulthood.

Through our six Big Ideas; Humankind, Nature, Place and Space, Exploration, Creativity and Rights, we ensure that our curriculum is intertwined, structured and builds on prior learning.

The Curriculum Intent:  The Why

Learners at our school should have their physical, health, sensory and communication needs met fully in the five different pathways that we offer through our curriculum. Our learners vary greatly and so our curriculum needs to be flexible and adapted to their individual needs. The core areas of Communication and Literacy, Cognition and Numeracy and Physical are fundamental pillars around which our curriculum is built. Our six Big Ideas reflect the key disciplinary and substantive knowledge that best equips our learners for transition into adulthood.  All of our pathways are progressive, enabling movement at appropriate points. The imaginative and knowledge-rich termly units, taken from the Cornerstones topics, provide a spiralled structure based on Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction.  We want our young people to have opportunities for accreditation and vocational studies that will enable them to enter the world of work or lead fulfilling lives as meaningful members of their communities.

The How? We will do this through the following:

• Exciting and engaging classroom environments adapted for each learner’s needs.
• Allowing all learners to become as independent as possible given their individual needs.
• Encourage learners to feel valued, value others and understand strength and differences.
• Ensure that the families of learners are at the core of their curriculum pathway working together to be the best that we can be.
• Preparing all learners for their next life stage; ensuring that they develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to progress on to their next steps after school.