Rationale

As a Rights Respecting School we believe that our pupils have the Right to the very best education possible. At Montacute it is extremely important that we equip our pupils with the skills and knowledge needed to become as independent as possible to prepare them for their future adult lives.  We would like them to be able to take part and to enjoy relationships with others and to lead full and happy lives.

Curriculum Intent

At Montacute School we provide a rich, broad and balanced curriculum to enable all students to broaden their horizons and to reach their full potential. It is well resourced and planned to ensure students can access the curriculum using their preferred learning style. At all times pupil safety, mental and physical well being remain uppermost in planning for an individualised curriculum.

Throughout the school a strong emphasis is placed on developing independence and communication skills. We aim to give our pupils an independent voice and in doing so believe it is important to listen to their voices and involve them as much as possible in their own learning.

We aim to make learning ‘real’ and meaningful, so we offer a range of learning experiences in the local community and beyond.  As pupils move through the school they are given opportunities to develop work related and life skills. This may take the form of work experience in the community or by taking responsibilities in school. To develop independence some pupils may learn how to use public transport and make choices.

The Sixth Form Curriculum takes into account pupils’ own aspirations offering a range of accreditation including ASDAN, OCR Awards, Certificates and Diplomas, Open Awards and Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme where appropriate.

Curriculum Implementation 

All pupils access a broad and balanced curriculum which introduces them to a wide range of subjects . Our curriculum is designed in subject areas organised into units of learning to maximise opportunities for retrieval practice. This is crucial for our learners who need much repetition for deep learning to take place. It may be necessary to repeat learning taken place in the Early Years Foundation stage throughout a child's school life but this will always be repeated in an age appropriate way.

English and Maths, whilst they are taught as discrete subjects, pupils are supported to practise their learning of these in all other areas of the curriculum and at other times during the day including during transitions and play times.

Subjects are taught through themes . These themes provide the vehicle through which the subjects are taught and are not subjects themselves.

Curriculum Impact

Learners at Montacute school develop knowledge and skills across a broad and balanced curriculum and, as a result, achieve well. Where relevant, this is reflected in results from an appropriate range of nationally recognised accreditations. 

Learners are ready for the next stage of their lives which may be education or employment or training. They become as independent as possible with an appropriate means of communication which they are able to use to make choices about their future lives. They have developed a wide range of social skills and are able to participate in a social life with friends and family.

Provision Maps

Our provision maps at Montacute outline the breadth of our curriculum coverage from EYFS - Sixth Form. Each topic area has been carefully designed so that the pupils here at Montacute have opportunities for retrieval practice whilst expanding upon prior learning with age appropriate changes within the depth of the overarching topic heading.

For further information on the topic grids that inform the depth of these curriculum areas please get in touch. 

Reading Across the Key Stages - A Developmental Approach

The school currently uses Letters and Sounds as its phonics programme and is reviewing other DFE approved schemes to ensure rigour and progression. Letters and Sounds currently serves us well because it offers a programme which is progressive but accessible to all our learners from an early age (Nursery) and gives consideration to cognitive development in line with the needs of our learners.

Experiential exploration alongside sensory-based engagement which links readily to our children’s learning styles, aptitudes and needs makes the Letters and Sounds approach so relevant and accessible to our children. The programme lends itself to generalisation and enables children to learn/experience reading at their own level, their own pace and via varied activities in the classroom and beyond.

Earlier stages can be linked closely to the child’s communication devices/systems and ensures relevance and accessibility as well as transferability between settings and activities. Music is encouraged as a motivational feature in the teaching of reading and the learning of phonics and supports memory building through familiar rhyme, rime and repetition.

Letters and Sounds actively encourages and promotes social development and interaction which is often a key skill highlighted in our children’s EHCPs and IEPs. Motor skills, attention giving and maintaining, listening skills, articulation and sentence building, reading facial expressions, multi-sensory consideration (VI/HI relevant) are all key teaching and learning themes presented in the scheme and lend themselves very readily to the appropriate teaching approaches for children and young people with SEND. The ability to adapt and adopt texts and phonics-related materials also give us flexibility in our work with the young people and also enable age appropriate presentation. We find the scheme is also supportive for non-specialists and those early in their careers whilst being creative and broad enough to develop the skills of the presenter.

At this time, we feel that the scheme serves us very well indeed while we explore other schemes which may embed this great work further.

This approach was discussed and approved by Ofsted, March 2023.