Maple View School Curriculum and Assessment Policy
Amanda Grant: February 2020 Updated: June 1 st 2020 September 2021 April 2022 August 2023
At Maple View School children follow their own individualised curriculum pathway, with Learning Intentions developed from their EHCP Outcomes and in preparation for life after Maple View, whatever the destination, these will be varied. In line with the SEND Code of Practice and the SENAD framework, the curriculum facilitates the school’s key Aims for our children to : • Be happy, safe and active members of the school and wider community • Develop their social, communication and academic skills to their full potential • Self-manage their behaviour • Develop self-care and independent living skills In order to live a rich and fulfilling life. To ensure that the curriculum achieves these goals, all adults, teachers, support staff and therapists, work together to support the children’s development and learning through the establishment of, and tracking of progress towards, Learning Intentions. These are formally reviewed in a termly Review of Assessment and Planning (RAP) Meeting. Judgements are supported by evidence collated throughout the term on Evidence for Learning (E4L). Children follow a broad curriculum offer, planned according to ability, with EHCP Outcomes and preparation for life post Maple View at the core of their pathway. The curriculum offer is unique to each child, not a differentiated offer. Planning meetings are held by the child’s Key Team to establish the Learning Intentions, these are then reviewed at least termly in RAP Meetings. The curriculum offer is ambitious, with the intent that all children develop the skills, the knowledge and cultural capital, within the context of their individual needs and disabilities, to participate within their communities to their full potential, as reflected within the school aims. The curriculum offer is not subject specific for all children, some of the children function at the very early stages of development; development is holistic with learning tasks often supporting the development of a range of skills. In the mornings , children engage in classroom-based learning, including daily literacy, reading, numeracy and PSHE activities. There is a strong focus on creativity and well-being, with music at the start of the day and a sensory diet throughout the day.
A half-termly text unifies the children in their learning. The text is accessible to all children, they are mainly pictorial, or with very limited written text. It is the focus of whole-school cross-curricular planning; planning encompasses, music, art, DT, literacy, science and the humanities, uniting the children in common themes, regardless of ability. It provides a vehicle to broaden the content of the curriculum offer and to address any cultural deficits. Alongside at least daily reading/phonics activities, the text also supports a love of reading.
In the afternoons children have access to a range of learning activities including, but not exclusively, horticulture, small animal care, cooking, Forest School, PE, swimming, Commando Joe’s , dance, African drumming and community-based activities, supporting the whole school aims. All off-site activities are pre-planned with clear objectives and risk assessed in line with SENAD Health and Safety procedures.
English/Literacy: All children engage in daily literacy and reading activities in relation to their abilities, position within the Writing Framework and in accordance with their individual Learning Intentions. Progress is recorded on the Writing Framework and evidenced on E4L. The Framework details learning expectations from EYFS to KS4. The skills are developmental and each stage builds on the next. Rather than age expected learning, the stages follow a linear pattern but are not linked to age and year group. Daily reading activities are scheduled, but also encompassed throughout the school day; reading for pleasure is actively promoted. The Twinkl phonics programme is used for early readers and the Rapid Reader scheme for developing readers. Where appropriat e for the child’s developmen tal levels, the specifics of grammar, punctuation and spelling are taught as are writing for a range of audiences and in a range of styles, often with a functional focus. Handwriting is practiced. Skills and knowledge are embedded and further developed throughout the school day within cross- curricular activities. Maths/Numeracy: All children engage in daily numeracy activities in relation to their abilities, position within the Numeracy Framework and in accordance with their individual Learning Intentions. Progress is recorded on the Numeracy Framework and evidenced on E4L. The Framework details learning expectations from EYFS to KS4. The skills are developmental and each stage builds on the next. Rather than age expected learning, the stages follow a linear pattern but are not linked to age and year group. Daily numeracy activities are scheduled and also encompassed throughout the school day, including within off-site activities. All aspects of mathematics are taught, however there is a focus on functional and practical numeracy for the children. In line with their developmental levels, they are taught to recognise, count and handle money in exchange for items. They also learn the concepts of time be able to better understand and organise their day. The Growth Framework: Our Growth Framework details the neuro- typical development of a child from birth to 5 years. The framew ork is designed to document children’s developmental progress pre the formal Maple View Numeracy and Writing Frameworks, it dovetails into these and therefore some children may be assessed against both when they are around stage 1 or 2 of the formal frameworks. The Growth
Framework allows a flexible and holistic approach to assessment, moving away from the neuro- typical expectations that children make linear progress. A child’s learning journey will follow their own unique path, highlighting any missing steps which may prevent them from moving forward.
PSHE:
The PSHE Curriculum is at the heart of the curriculum, and intertwined into daily activities, with a focus on social development and equipping our children with the skills and resilience required to safely and effectively participate within a range of communities. We are a ‘Kindness School’ and daily acts of kindness are encouraged and celebrated. The PSHE and RSE Curriculum Policy and plan are developed in line with national guidance. See attached
Therapies within the curriculum We have on-site Speech and Language Therapy and a Therapy Assistant. This academic year we are commissioning OT provision, we also commission a range of creative therapies. Throughout the school day, individual and group therapy sessions take place within the classroom, within therapy rooms, outdoors or in the community, with communication and sensory-regulation at the heart of the programs. The development of communication skills is a key focus within school. The children have a wide range of communication modes. A range of Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are used to supplement or replace speech (see separate policy).
Assessment:
The children’s progress against their Learning Intentions and the fr ameworks is measured using MAPP (Mapping and Assessing Personal Progress). Teacher assessments are formally reviewed in a termly RAP (Review of Assessment and Planning) meeting, their judgements are supported by evidence collated throughout the term on Evidence for Learning (E4L) and in children’s work books. MAPP assessment is ipsative, the assessment compares an individual’s current performance with their own previous performance and therefore is not necessarily referenced to an external set of criteria. It follows that MAPP assessment does not make comparisons of outcomes between learners or across groups of learners. Progress is measured in four key areas and rated on a scale from 1 to 10 from an initial baseline: • Independence: from dependent to independent • Fluency: from approximate to accurate • Maintenance: from inconsistent to consistent • Generalisation: from single context to many contexts
These lateral measures enable children to embed and generalise skills and knowledge, rather than working through linear steps. Lateral progression is most easily defined in relation to linear progression. Linear progression presupposes a fixed hierarchy of skills, each typically being a component skill of a task analysis. It might be thought of as a ladder whose rungs are the skills and which has a fixed starting point and fixed end-point. Progress is measured in terms of the number of rungs climbed. Lateral progression, by contrast, is concerned with the refinement and strengthening of skills over time and not simply with enumerating the number of skills gained.
Marking and Moderation: The teachers provide short, medium and long-term teaching and learning plans. These are scrutinised to ensure balanced coverage of the curriculum offer for each individual child. They ensure that teachers’ planning reflects the children’s EHCP outcomes and Learning Intentions and supports progress against the frameworks. This ensures not only the best provision for our children but also that we provide the best quality teaching and learning that we can. Our mar king guidance is based on a child’s level of participation and support needed to complete their learning tasks. Teachers and TAs also provide verbal feedback, and written feedback where it is appropriate, for the child or class team to help progress the child.
Aim Awards Accreditation Pathway: Personal and Social Development (PSD) To be accessed by children in KS4 where accreditation is the currency to the next steps.
The AIM Awards ‘ Personal and Social Development Skills ’ qualifications can be achieved at Entry level 1 to Level 1, through completion of components from a range of subject areas; at Maple View School this will always include the core subjects of numeracy, literacy and PSHE. Alongside Evidence for Learning, progress is measured and evidenced through completion of portfolios, which is the both internally and externally moderated/verified. This academic year we have no children following this pathway.
Organisation: The school day is from 9:00- 3.00 Monday – Friday. Class sizes are between 3 and 5 students in each of the 5 classes, The children are grouped according to their age, ability, communication style, social dynamics and sensory needs. Due to the children’s needs and support levels, breaks and lunchtimes are also considered learning opportunities.
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