Implementation

Upon entry, our pupils will have a baseline diagnostic, whilst taking into account information we receive from their mainstream schools and with regards to their age and ability, as well as considering their previous experiences. This multi-action approach, ensures we are able to best place the child at Primrose.

From here, the pathways available to our children are:

• Nurture pathway (subject to referral)
• Foundation skills pathway
• Main pathway (key stage 1 and key stage 2)

We then use this to continually track pupil progress, both in relation to SEMH, SEND and knowledge and skills acquired to ensure that they grow and flourish to reach their full potential and beyond.  

When designing the curriculum, we needed to take into account a number of factors. Our pupils have complex and disparate needs, often having undiagnosed SEND or challenging behaviours. Mainstream settings have not met the needs of our pupils and therefore a curriculum needs to reflect this, however because our pupils can return to their mainstream setting, it is imperative that we provide a curriculum that does not result in them falling behind their peers academically. Moreover, we have children joining us at various points of the year (either on a preventative placement or having been permanently excluded) and then joining mixed-age classes.

With that in mind, we provide a thematic approach to learning, chosen carefully with our children’s varying needs in mind. The topic acts as an ‘umbrella’ which all of the subjects taught, feed into. 

Core Curriculum: pupils study English, maths and science, aligned with the National Curriculum and adapted to meet individual needs and current attainment. We use Little Wandle to teach phonics, across the centre- including identifying the need for intervention. We have adopted a vocabulary rich environment for writing which focuses on imitating a text, with modelled adult support, then allowing the children opportunities to innovate the original and put their own stance on the story before independently inventing a version of their own, displaying the taught knowledge and skills. To further support literacy and in particular, reading, we have timetabled daily 1:1 reading sessions and reading for pleasure (RfP) timetabled sessions. The children will also visit our new and improved library, once per week. This enables pupils to enjoy reading time either by listening to stories/texts being read to them or by reading texts that interest them individually or in small groups.

At Primrose, we recognise the needs of our pupils and appreciate that our children may have many more adverse and traumatic life experiences than others. As such, we have put a high focus on our personal and social development provision here. To implement our intention of delivering a bespoke curriculum that encourages this, we have weekly Dog, Duck and Cat sessions which focuses around a social story with a character exhibiting behaviours or experiencing issues that many of our children face. There is then a session each week focusing around the British Values to further develop our SMSC offer. Throughout the year, professionals visit school to deliver targeted sessions to address a range of current affairs and relevant issues, which may impact on pupils’ ability to access education. We will have visits from Brook and Decca and other outside agencies.

We have daily short-bursts of PE as we believe our children benefit from having shorter sessions and the opportunity to release energy, whilst also learning valuable skills and co-ordination.

We are proud that we are also able to offer the Thrive programme, with a qualified Thrive Practitioner, who works across the centre to work with the children in small groups and on a 1:1 basis, where a need is identified. The Thrive approach helps identify unmet social and emotional needs and provides strategies to address them. These disruptions or gaps are identified by using the Thrive on line assessment tool.

To further enhance our offer, we are also blessed to have a Nurture provision. After initial baselines, staff are invited to create referrals where they identify a child who may need further nurture provision as an additional intervention. This is led by our nurture lead.

Our wider curriculum studies: history, geography, art, DT, cooking and nutrition, RE, computing and music. As a school, we value the positive social, emotional and mental health benefits of cooking, whilst also recognising it as a major life skill. Therefore, we have agreed to continue to cook weekly, with our children. Through the processes, we will continue to design, make and evaluate. We will then have 1 formal unit throughout the year. Children will be taught a variety of cooking techniques. This is a broad and balanced curriculum, tailored to the learning needs of our children.

In all subject areas pupils are monitored to ensure appropriate progress. Timely interventions for phonics, maths, English and SEMH needs are timetabled on an individual basis. Where applicable, children receive an individualised timetable that is built on flexibility and adapting to each child’s needs.

CPD and specialist training:

All staff are provided with regular opportunities for professional development and training in line with the School Development Plan. The children are again at the centre of this and training is adapted as and when needs arise. The needs will also be linked to the school’s performance management process. Staff will also have the opportunity to develop their own lines of CPD enquiry and will be encouraged to give feedback on their experiences, in order to grow and work collaboratively, fundamentally to benefit the children at Primrose.

Trauma-Based Approach: Staff are trained in a trauma-based curriculum approach. We understand that students may carry burdens that affect their learning and well-being. We recognize the impact this has and have strategies to respond empathetically, with PACE training guidance, whilst improving the chances of success for each child. We also regularly meet with external professionals and outside agencies to enhance the skillset of our staff.

We sensitively equip our students with methods and strategies for self-regulation to manage stress, anxiety, and overwhelming emotions. By teaching self-regulation strategies, we empower them to thrive both academically and emotionally.