Sixth Form

Crowdys Hill Sixth Form curriculum allows our students to develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to empower them to achieve their personal, academic and career aspirations, with “Learning for Life” at the heart of our curriculum.

We follow a core curriculum for all students with 2 pathways designed to support students next steps and future aspirations. The key focus is to support the students to become as independent as they can be.

Functional Skills (English/Maths) are the fundamental English and Maths skills that people need for their working and personal lives. Students can study for the qualifications in practical ways and apply core skills to real-life situations.

World of Work Programme has been set up with the ultimate aim of gaining paid employment for students who have the drive and desire to work. As well as supporting students with work experience placements, they are given support in all aspects of employment from writing their CVs to how to search for vacant jobs. Each class runs an enterprise project with a focus on collaboration. Our Cushty Car wash is popular amongst our staff.

All our students participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award, it is incorporated into their curriculum. The Duke of Edinburgh Award is available to 14-24 year olds and it is the world’s leading Youth Achievement Award. It equips young people for life regardless of their background, culture, physical ability, skills or interests. This award is a personal challenge and not a competition against others; it pushes young people to their personal limits and recognises their achievements.

Wellbeing is built into our foundations and is vital at this stage of your child’s life. If not emotionally in the right place, students will not participate and learn to the best of their ability – we understand the importance of identifying and using own strategies as well as building resilience and self-esteem in order to help prepare students for their future.

The focus of PE at Post-16 is to create a love for being active. We aim to introduce students to a wide variety of sports and link with community clubs wherever possible to provide ongoing pathways for the future.

ICT This is embedded within the curriculum and provides students with the opportunities to learn about a range of topics ranging from basic programming to internet safety.

PSHE This is delivered through both standalone lessons and also embedded in to other lessons where appropriate. Areas covered range from relationships to puberty.

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Learning for Life

Our curriculum is rich in experiences, positive learning, building the feeling of self-worth in our pupils, and developing the love of learning.

At the heart of this learning is communication skills. We understand that the best way to ensure that our pupils feel part of their community, whether in school, home or in the world, is to promote their ability to communicate effectively to the best of their abilities.

Who teaches this curriculum?

We are extremely proud of our staff who have dedicated years to learning about how best to teach pupils with special educational needs. All of our staff have completed autism awareness courses, and many have taken further study in this area. All teaching staff are trained in SEN updates and initiatives weekly. All teaching assistants undertake SEN induction, first aid training, manual handling training, and basic phonics sessions. Some of our staff are subject specialists, and others are primary phase teacher trained staff, with a sound knowledge of phonics.

In the primary phase the staff to pupil ratios are higher, as we are just beginning to build independence. On average classes have ratios of 1:2 at key stage 1, and 1:3 at key stage 2.

In the secondary phase, as a pupil’s learning engagement and independence skills are improving, the staffing ratios change to 1:5 on average. Tutors get to know their pupils very well. In primary phases, the tutors usually have their tutees for two years. They will teach them for most lessons.

How does the curriculum differ from mainstream schools?

Whilst we follow the national frameworks from year 1 to year 14, they are highly adapted and differentiated to meet the needs of our pupils. We understand that our pupils learn key concepts at different points in their life, which may not follow the age expected trend. We ensure that all of our pupils can access all areas of the curriculum through adaptations to content, resources, and experienced SEN trained staffing. So whilst a pupil’s timetable may look similar to a mainstream one, within that are many opportunities for pupils to acquire new skills, succeed in education; and, most importantly for any child, to build resilience. We have a focus on communication skills, and developing their abilities to socialize as a priority.

The Arts

At Crowdys Hill School, we fully value creativity and we help it grow, individually, in each of our learners and teachers, across all the phases.

With every person being unique, we find ways and give time for each individual to learn and grow the creativity within them. As a human it is of upmost importance to express ourselves.

At Crowdys Hill School, we teach and grow this, so that each of our learners can live a healthy life inside and out. We teach art, drama and music, in groups through practical experience and hands on learning, so that each individual can express themselves creatively and honestly through whichever artistic form they wish, to become the most authentic and best self that they can be.

English/Phonics

Students need literacy in order to engage with the written word in everyday life. Think of how often you use your own reading skills in everyday life. It’s not just information like this one that require literacy knowledge, but signs, labels, messages on your phone. The same goes for writing. Nowadays, even phone calls have given way to instant messaging and text-based communication, making the ability to read all the more important.

But beyond the functional level, literacy plays a vital role in transforming students into socially engaged citizens. By giving our students the tools, they need to be able to communicate means they can share views, express ideas and develop their literacy skills. At Crowdys English lessons are fun, practical and more importantly suited to the student’s individual needs. We hope that through our English lessons we are able to develop the skills needed for the students, to be able to communicate confidently both in school and in the community.

Careers and PSHE

Our school has a critical role to play in preparing our young people for the next stage of their education or training and beyond. Our expectations are high, so every student is challenged appropriately and acquires the skills, knowledge and attitude for lifelong learning and that employer’s value.

We recognise that an effective careers programme contributes to raising aspirations, improving motivation and overcoming barriers to success. Our careers programme is designed to help every young person to realise their potential and enhance their employability. They will learn the skills necessary to navigate and manage their own careers and contribute to the well-being of themselves their families and the wider community. Students will have raised aspirations, have gained experience of meeting employers and workplace environments, be more adaptable and resilient and therefore be able to make more well informed decisions about their transition pathways.

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As part of the PSHE curriculum, we have introduced themed career weeks where different employment sectors are investigated. This will include visits from employers from each relevant sector. These themed weeks will enable pupils to begin to consider their future career paths. At Key Stage 4 we will also host a ‘Careers Day’ which will include sessions from independent careers advisors and visits to places of work. As part of the curriculum careers will be discussed and students given the opportunity to discuss different career paths and explore different options open to them. Year 11 students also undertake a week’s work experience placement with local employers or participate in our world of work week. At Key Stage 5 our curriculum is heavily focussed on developing our students’ independence with a focus on employment. All students follow an employability course and choose a vocational course such as Hospitality, Health and Social Care and Sport & Leisure. These are nationally recognised qualifications and enable students to demonstrate their learning potential to employers and can open doors for further education and training Students are taught that careers is not just about employment but a lifelong pathway. Through our extensive curriculum, they will learn the skills needed to navigate this journey. The school uses the Ofsted approved CDI framework across all key stages to ensure a strong focus on improving careers related outcomes for our young people. This framework enables the school to track student progress and provides progressive end of key stage learning outcomes as students move through the school. We also use Careerpilot, which is an online resource that allows students to investigate areas of interest and alternative pathways, gain up to date information about jobs within these areas, what skills and qualifications required for career options and map these against the skills they already have. In addition, all subjects across the key stages identify career education elements and incorporate these when lesson planning. Work Experience Programme Furthermore, to our career curriculum, we also offer all students in Year 11 the opportunity to take part in our work experience week. Whether the placements are internal or external, students gain valuable insight, hands on experience and can put the skills and knowledge they have learnt within school to the test in a real working environment. This is then extended to our Post 16 provision, where students are offered the opportunity to work within a variety of different placements, in line with their future aspirations. These placements differ from the year 11 placements as students generally accesses the placements for extended periods of time.

PSHE

The aims of our personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education in our school are for our pupils to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships, and to build their self-belief. Our PSHE curriculum will provide them with opportunity to explore this in detail in a safe learning environment. Staff will promote emotional wellbeing and equip pupils with ways to support their personal development. Pupils will develop skills and knowledge of things that matter to them now and into the future.

The PSHE curriculum is split into 6 learning areas:

Self Awareness

Changing and Growing

Healthy Lifestyles

Managing Feelings

Self Care, Support and Safety

The World I Live In

We have used the SEND framework from the PSHE Association to support our curriculum coverage to ensure we cover content that is appropriate for our pupils and also includes the statutory RSE (relationships and sex education) requirements. Lessons will include a selection of activities to engage pupils in their PSHE learning, including discussion, roleplay, film clips, guest speakers, the use of floorbooks for collaborative written pieces and independent reading and writing.

Cookery

Cookery at Crowdys Hill School is tailored to be a vibrant, varied, multi-cultural and inclusive subject. Our aim is to equip the children with the skills and knowledge to be able to prepare and cook food for themselves. Food tasting to expand their experiences is offered. The environment in the kitchen is relaxed to encourage enjoyment in cooking food they can share with their families. They learn about nutrition so they are able to make informed choices about their diet. In Year 11 there is the option to take an industry recognised qualification so all their hard work is recorded. In sixth from students can opt to further develop their skills and knowledge by taking Hospitality and Catering. A nationally recognised qualification, the course provides opportunities to develop a range of techniques, skills and personal attributes essential for successful performance at higher vocational qualifications or in working life.

Maths

We teach and promote the learning of Maths to ensure all pupils see an everyday use for the learning that happens in lessons. It’s important we develop confidence to use Maths in everyday life within the community using problem solving and reasoning for everyday tasks.

Visits, simulations and other practical activities where students can practice and apply their knowledge are an essential way we help pupils become more confident by improving memory of their number skills.

Staff will build on the children’s individual prior knowledge, developing a sense of number using a broad and practical curriculum where mathematical concepts are revised and revisited throughout the year.

Outdoor Learning

The importance of outdoor Learning is becoming a higher priority at Crowdys Hill School as we realise that many of our learners, learn more successfully and are much happier outside of the traditional classroom environment.

Outdoor learning is offered throughout the school so that learners have hands on experiences through which they develop their understanding and application of our school values, successful learning and life skills.

All outdoor learning will be planned around the curriculum currently being studied across all year groups, which will give depth, enrichment and an outdoor perspective for our learners. It will be inclusive of all.

We want learners to have the opportunity to be able to explore and learn outside throughout the year, experiencing the seasons and changing nature around them. We also hope to offer day and residential trips to extend this learning, increase their sense of adventure and widen their horizons for the future beyond our school.

Physical Education

Every pupil within Crowdys Hill school will be provided with access to one to two hours of high-quality Physical Education led by confident, well qualified coaches/teachers.

At all key stages pupils will experience activities from each of the 6 key areas of the National Curriculum i.e. Gymnastics, Team games, Dance Outdoor and Adventurous activities, Athletics and Swimming. All activities follow progressive and sequential schemes of work and align with a clear assessment system. Lessons are mostly practical with some theory elements which increase in KS4 and 5 where there are opportunities for accreditation.

Pupils have regular opportunities to take part in intra school competitions, have access to some extra-curricular clubs and increasing opportunities will be sought for inter school competition. PE has a heightening profile within the school with success being celebrated and everyone having the opportunity to experience success.

Our aim is to help each student achieve their physical potential and gain a love for physical activity which will contribute to their ongoing healthy, active lifestyle.

Science

We teach science from early years, through exploring the world around them, to year 11. Science themes continue into Sixth Form as functional concepts linked to their PSHE and vocational courses, such as leisure, sports, hospitality and health and social care.

The science is focused on individual needs, and sequenced through linking to national curriculum. There is a lot of repetition, which gives staff the opportunity to fill in gaps in learning, and for the children to consolidate and build upon their learning.

Science is presented as written work, laboratory work, investigations, outdoor learning and discussions. Educational support is used to ensure all can access.

The aim is for children and young people to have a curiosity and interest in the world around them, and have some understanding of the way things work.

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If you have any questions about our school's values and ethos, please don't hesitate to contact us.

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