Curriculum Rationale
At The Pines School, the curriculum supports the ethos of the school and strives to provide the context within which pupils with autism are given the opportunity to achieve high standards.
In line with the National Curriculum aims, we would like all children leaving The Pines School to develop skills and knowledge in the following areas:
Communication
- Communicate with a range of people at an appropriate level.
- Be able to express their needs and wants.
- Understand social cues.
Transition into Adulthood
- Make successful transitions into adulthood, living as independently as possible.
- Develop independence skills for work and life.
- Identify career goals.
Relationships
- Respect other people’s cultures, beliefs, genders and sexuality.
- Understand how to maintain positive relationships, appreciating that they have different functions.
Life-Long Learning
- Develop functional learning skills in core subjects to enable them to access the community.
- Develop skills that are transferable into everyday life situations.
- Enjoy learning in school and beyond and have aspirational goals.
- Access qualifications, following an appropriate pathway.
Personal Development
- Be self-assured.
- Be able to manage change by self-regulating their emotions.
- Be proud of their achievements.
- Demonstrate a level of emotional resilience.
- Be able to access the community at an appropriate level.
The Pines School curriculum aims are to provide a stimulating and safe learning community in which we all work together to nurture and maximise the potential of each and every individual and celebrate their achievements. Our Curriculum is underpinned by our school vision. Our vision is to create a safe and happy environment for our children to develop life-long communications skills to become a valued member of modern day society ensuring that we Protect, Inspire, Nurture, Embrace and Succeed. We promote and practice British Values across the curriculum and in all we do every day. This is evident in all phases within the school.
The curriculum at The Pines School is founded on two distinct pathways extended and main. Whilst we recognise that pupils may make progress at a different rate, we still maintain high expectations and aspirations for all pupils. The pupils in the Extended stream have a greater complexity of need and need a clearly differentiated approach to teaching and learning. As our most complex learners they are in a smaller group (maximum of 8 pupils) with 4 members of staff. Our main class pupils still require a specific approach to teaching and learning, however they are more able to access whole group sessions and can access learning in a slightly larger group of 12 pupils with 3 adults.