At Kingsdown School, where all pupils have Special Educational Needs, the approach taken to their learning is personalised according to their individual needs. We have high expectations for each individual and expect each pupil to achieve their full potential.

We aim to place pupils in the most appropriate teaching group to meet their particular learning needs. The classes change each year according to the mixture of pupils on roll. There is no prescribed teaching methodology, but all staff have to plan, deliver and assess.

Our ethos is to look at the whole child and celebrate their success. Our curriculum model sets out our principles of overall development for our pupils.

Our mission statement is: ‘Be happy, communicate, learn and achieve’.

Why have we developed our curriculum?

Our ethos is to look at the whole child and celebrate their success through pupil led learning. We know that our pupils do not learn in a linear manner and require a great deal of differentiation and adaptations to access the current National Curriculum. The National curriculum offers a linear structure and expects such learning from our pupils. We felt that this created a negative outlook for pupil learning and staff teaching by shining a light on what our pupils could NOT achieve rather than what they CAN achieve.

Curriculum

 Our curriculum model sets out our principles of overall development for our pupils through non-subject specific learning. We offer three pathways of learning to our pupils and this is tailored to the needs of our pupils:

• The Blossom pathway which supports our pupils in Early Years.
• The Tulip pathway which supports our pupils with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties.
• The Orchid pathway which supports our pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties.

‘Each flower is unique. They grow at their own speed and develop in their individual way.’

Each pupil will follow the appropriate pathway for them and their curriculum will be personalised to their learning. Our curriculum offers a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum and promotes engagement through pupil led learning.

Kingsdown School Curriculum Pathways Overview

Kingsdown School Blossom EYFS Curriculum

Kingsdown School Tulip Curriculum

Kingsdown School Orchid Curriculum

Kingsdown School Curriculum Assessment

THE BLOSSOM PATHWAY

Through The Blossom pathway we aim to address the children’s social, emotional, physical, intellectual, moral and cultural development within a safe, secure and stimulating environment.

Our curriculum enables the child to learn and develop skills and attitudes following the Early Years Foundation Stage in these areas of learning:

The prime areas are:

• Communication and language development
• Personal, social and emotional development
• Physical development

The specific areas are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding of the world
• Expressive arts and design

THE TULIP PATHWAY

The Tulip pathway has four main areas, My Communication, My Cognition, My Movement, and My Personal, Social, Emotional Development. Each area is made up of different categories which focus on the key skills required to support each individual pupil’s development.

The curriculum supports the development of pupils through their eight senses:

Interoception, Proprioception, Vestibular, Sight, Hearing, Smell, Touch, and Taste.

This offers an opportunity for all pupils to learn in a mode that they choose.

An overarching focus on engagement, well-being, sensory, and play is imbedded throughout the curriculum.

THE ORCHID PATHWAY

The Orchid pathway has five main areas, My Communication, My Thinking skills, My Movement, My Engagement and Well-being, and My Personal, Social, Emotional Development. Each area is made up of different categories which focus on the key skills required to support each individual pupil’s development.

We aim to work in close partnership with parents/carers and other professionals to ensure the best support is given to each pupil.

 

Individual profiles and target setting

Every pupil regardless of the pathway they are following have an in depth individual pupil profile detailing their current knowledge and skills in My Communication, My Thinking skills/My Cognition, My Movement, My Engagement and Wellbeing, and My Personal, Social, and Emotional Development. This highlights how best to support the pupil in their learning and development.

In addition to the Education, Health and Care Plans outcomes, each individual pupil has ‘long term’ outcomes and ‘next step’ outcomes.  These are chosen with their families and other professionals working with the pupil. This supports the pupil’s development in the areas that are key for them to achieve success. The next steps are displayed in each pupils own class to ensure this information is easily accessible for all practitioners working with them.

We also use ‘WOW moments’ which stands for ‘Wonderful Observed Work (WOW)’. These are used to capture and celebrate spontaneous achievements. Within our school environment it is impossible to predict all new skills that may be acquired but this does not mean that they are any less important just because it was not their stated target. Using ‘WOW’ moments reinstates the ethos of the curriculum by highlighting the pupil led learning.

Alongside this, every pupil will have a ‘Hello, this is me’ document which is completed together with the class teacher, parents, and other professionals whom work with the pupil. It includes information about the pupil’s medical needs, communication, medication, partner agencies, curriculum access, personal care, eating and drinking, behaviour strategies, mobility, therapy, equipment and likes and dislikes and some basic information about their family. This highlights the key information about the pupil that is quickly accessible to support new professionals working or interacting with the pupil. This ensures that every professional is working together and kept abreast of the most up to date information.

 

Each pupil’s curriculum is continuously reflected upon and updated where necessary. These are discussed with parents/carers and other professionals through face to face discussions, contact books, and meetings. The profiles are annually updated to ensure their progression and challenges are clear.  Each pupil’s curriculum targets are monitored termly by the Senior Leadership Team.

 

Additional Learning Opportunities

Attention Autism – Attention Bucket

Attention Autism is an intervention model which aims to develop natural and spontaneous
communication through the use of visually based and highly motivating activities. The main
focus of the sessions is that they are fun and offer an irresistible invitation to learn.

TACPAC

TACPAC is a sensory communication resource using touch and music. TACPAC helps people with sensory impairment, developmental delay, complex learning difficulties, tactile defensiveness, and limited or pre verbal levels of communication. TACPAC is hugely beneficial for people who have sensory processing difficulties. This can mean anyone of any age or stage of ability. TACPAC combines the sense of touch and music through social interaction. It is delivered via an interaction between 2 people – a giver and a receiver. The session is structured and has a clear format to follow.

Story Massage

Story Massage offers a fun and interactive way of uniting the creativity of story and words, whether as a story, rhyme, or song, with the benefits of positive touch. Everyone can join in, whatever age or ability. Story Massage sessions can be shared as a teacher to child, child to child, or parent to child activity. Ten simple massage strokes form the basis of the Story Massage. These strokes each have a name, such as The Circle or The Sprinkle, and an easy to recognise symbol making it fully accessible for all ages and abilities.

Sensory Integration

Sensory Integration Therapy (SI) is technique used by occupational therapists for children with sensory processing disorder (SPD).

Children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) respond to their environment in various ways. Some children are hypersensitive to sensory input, while others can’t seem to get enough stimulation. Whether your child is a sensory seeker or avoider, the root of the problem is the same. There is a malfunction in one of their senses. This causes the nervous system to send an abnormal number of neural signals to the brain. This interferes with other cerebral processes, creating an excess in brain activity. As a result, the brain becomes overwhelmed. The brain tries to calm everything down by causing unwanted sensory behaviours. For example, the tactile system lets us know when something is too hot, or when we are in pain. If someone has a tactile dysfunction, they are unable to tolerate physical touch. They may avoid certain food or not like to get their hands dirty.

Children with an oral dysfunction may chew on edible objects. Sensory avoiders may be overly sensitive to certain fabrics or avoid crowds, while sensory seekers are hyperactive. More often than not, these behaviours become so extreme that they interfere with daily life, learning and social participation.

Intensive Interaction

Intensive Interaction is an approach designed to help pupils at early levels of development, who have severe, profound or complex learning difficulties or autism. Intensive interaction works on early interaction abilities such as how to enjoy being with other people, to relate,
to interact, to know, to understand, and practice communication routines. The approach works by progressively developing enjoyable and relaxed interaction sequences between the adult and the pupil taking part. These interactions are repeated frequently and gradually grow in duration, complexity, and sophistication. The style of the adult is relaxed, non-directive, and responsive. A key principle is that the adult allows the pupils to lead and direct while the adult responds and joins in with the positive behaviours.

Forest Schools

Forest Schools is an inspirational process that offers all learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning through sensory experiences in a natural environment. The ethos of Forest Schools is to allow children the time and space to develop skills, interest and understanding through a range of activities which provide practical, hands-on experiences in a natural environment.

Food Therapy

Food Therapy provides a calm and happy place to explore a variety of foods and textures. It adopts a sensory approach to feeding through a detailed 32 strategy and assessment scheme. Food Therapy uses varied stimuli, such as food items, bubbles, and vibrations which are known to increase the want to chew, all to promote oral stimulation which encourages pupils to interact and eat a variety of foods. The sessions are pupil led ensuring the pupils remain in a calm and engaged state avoiding situations where pupils are forced to eat or interact with items.

MOVE

MOVE stands for Movement Opportunities Via Education. An activity-based program that combines therapy with an instructional process designed to help individuals acquire increasing amounts of motor skills needed for sitting, standing, walking and transitioning. It is a structured program that also provides a framework to assess and measure gross motor skills. This approach looks at the skills the individual already possesses and teaches the skills necessary to become independent in a given activity at their highest functional level.

Papa Piccolo

Papa Piccolo is an active music and movement program that can be delivered by nonspecialist teachers. It was devised by a Kingsdown member of staff under guidance from The Music Man Project UK, who continues to oversee its growth and development. The program
was initially aimed at Early Years classes but now supports learning for other year groups too.

Singing Lessons

Singing Lessons at Kingsdown School give the opportunity for pupil’s with an interest or particular talent in singing to engage in one to one singing sessions.  Pupils can explore music and their vocal skills in an environment they are familiar with. They have opportunities to initiate interaction, communication, and express their creative natures through music.

Preparing for Adulthood

At Kingsdown School we have adopted a personalised approach to ensure all our pupils learn and fulfil their potential. Each pupils curriculums is pupil led, personalised to their individual strengths and needs. It changes termly to offer a wide breadth of opportunities to learn, retaining its fundamental core values and building on pupil learning.

In association with preparing for adulthood we believe that young people with special educational needs and disabilities should have equal life chances throughout their lives, and particularly so as they move into adulthood. This should include paid employment and higher education, housing options and independent living, good health, friends, relationships, community inclusion and choice and control over their lives and support.

At Kingsdown School a high quality systematic phonics programme is used to teach pupils to read, this includes a multi-sensory approach where pupils learn from visual, auditory and kinaesthetic/tactile learning pathways. A high priority is placed on the development of pupils’ speaking/communicating and listening and providing pupils with a broad and rich language experience.

Kingsdown is a signing school where Makaton is used across the school day. Symbols and objects of reference are used to support learning.

A variety of reading schemes are used including: All Aboard, Oxford Reading Tree and Jolly Phonics. Formal assessments include Year 1 Phonic Screening Check and Salford Sentence Reading, and Derbyshire Language Scheme Assessment.

 

Recording progression and assessment

Kingsdown School expects every pupil to make at least good progress and all teachers have aspirational yet realistic expectations for all pupils they teach.

Each pupil’s curriculum is tailored to their learning needs which is discussed in depth and agreed by teachers, therapists, and parents. These are constantly assessed through observations and record keeping in order to offer the best support.

Compare school performance

School Improvement Plan Pupil Learning 2024-2025

School Improvement Plan Pupil Learning – reviewed 2023-2024

Workbooks and Tapestry

Tapestry is an online journal recording all the learning and fun the pupils have.

Every pupil has records of progress in the main areas of learning in a Work Book or on Tapestry.

• Work Books/Tapestry are monitored each term by Senior Leadership Team and written feedback is given to each teacher
• Work Books and individual pieces of work are moderated at a Teachers’ Meeting once a term

Each pupil will focus on a target from their individual curriculum for each lesson and progress towards this target is recorded in the Work Books or on Tapestry.

Level of support

Each piece of work should have an ‘S level’ recorded on it.  This indicates the level of support that a pupil has had in order to achieve that work.

S0                        Opted out

S1                        Physical and verbal prompting

S2                        Constant verbal prompting

S3                        Prompting by gesturing or limited verbal support

S4                        Completed after instructions

S5                        Completed independently without any instruction

Marking and Feedback

For the majority of our pupils, written feedback is not appropriate and instant verbal feedback is given. This varies on the child and includes:

• Verbal Praise
• A ‘high 5’
• A team point
• Claps
• Class award e.g. a Hedgehog

Red Progression Folders

All of the achieved targets and progress the pupils make are documented in their own Red Progression Folder to show the pupil’s learning journey. It tells the story of where they were, to where they are now and the skills, knowledge and understanding they developed in order to get there.

Each pupil’s long term targets and next steps are moderated at the start of the academic year by the Senior Leadership Team to ensure they are realistic and challenging.

Pupil Progress (Red Progression Folders) 2024/2025

 

Mapping and Assessing Pupil Progress 2

Each of our pupil’s Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) outcomes and Annual review targets are reviewed termly and assessed using the Mapping and Assessing Pupil Progress 2 (MAPP2) material.

This information is shared with the parents or carers and added into the EHCP or Annual Review’s outcome evidence.

Pupil Progress towards EHCP Targets 2024/2025

 

We adhere to the statutory requirements each year, and when appropriate individual pupils partake. The phonics screening assessment is conducted with year 1 and 2 pupils. Reception Baseline Assessments are completed within 6 weeks of EYFS pupils starting if appropriate. This information is shared with the local authority.

Assessments are moderated internally and across the MAT periodically throughout the year. We attend annual external moderations to monitor the progress and our judgements of our pupils at the end of Key Stage 2. No concerns have been raised with our judgements.

The Blossom pathway assessment

Instead of the Red Progression folders, pupils following The Tulip pathway are assessed using Routes for Learning (RfL).

RfL is used as an ongoing tool to plot progress and plan individual targets continuously.

The pupils are baselined in their first six weeks and these assessments are then updated termly.

Compare school progress.gov.uk

Additional Assessments

A comprehensive number of assessments are used to track pupils learning and when necessary reshape teaching and learning.

Those pupils following The Tulip Pathway are assessed using Routes for Learning (RfL). This is an ongoing tool to plot progress and plan individual targets continuously.

The Engagement Profile is used for pupils working below pre key stage standards, as an assessment for learning tool.

 

At Kingsdown School we promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

Democracy

As a school all pupils are given the opportunity to put forward their ideas to the school council. A member from each class attends the school council meetings. The ‘Buddy Bench’ in the playground, the Ride-on Ponies and puppets in the library were all named as a result of nominations and voting at a school council meeting.

The Rule of Law

Kingsdown has its own school rules which everybody abides by such as ‘walk on the left hand side’. Each class has their own class rules which each pupil takes part in creating at the start of the year.

Individual Liberty

Everybody is encouraged to make choices and to share their opinions or views during sessions and the throughout the school day. This is done verbally, vocalisations, using Makaton signs, using symbols, eye indications, writing, or drawing.

Mutual Respect for and Tolerance of those with different Faiths and Beliefs and for those without Faith

All pupils are kind to their friends at Kingsdown School. As a school we give praise to each other and celebrate achievements. We also like to learn about people who are different from us and explore the objects they may encounter.

At Kingsdown School we believe that the pupils should be given a wide range of opportunities to develop and practise leadership skills in preparation for life beyond school.

The Junior Leadership Programme is one way Kingsdown School encourages independence and positive role models. As such Junior Leaders will be individuals who others admire and aspire to be like.

Aims of our Junior Leadership Programme

• To empower pupils to work in partnership with staff towards shared goals.
• To enable creativity to flourish as the school community benefits from the wealth of experiences, ideas, skills and sense of fun that pupils bring.
• To provide opportunities for pupils to develop leadership skills through a variety of inspiring, challenging and valued projects which impact positively on learning, teaching and the well-being for both pupils and staff at Kingsdown School.
• To prepare pupils for learning beyond Kingsdown School, and becoming valued members of the community.

Our Junior Leadership Programme provides;

• Formal and informal learning opportunities to develop individuals as leaders.
• A wide range of participation and leadership opportunities which cater for all pupils in the school.

Our Junior Leadership Team: TBA

 

 

A school council is a classroom elected body of pupils whose purpose is to represent their classes and be a forum for active and constructive pupil input into the daily life of the school.

Introduction

All young people – irrespective of ability, personality, race or class – should feel valued and safe within an inclusive and caring school community throughout their school years. Schools with an ethos of mutual respect develop into caring communities where each individual understands that they can make a valuable contribution.

A school is a community and School Council will contribute to making Kingsdown School a more harmonious and positive community.

Aims and Objectives 

• Provide the opportunity for pupils to become partners in their own education and to make a positive contribution to the school environment and ethos
• Develop and promote children’s self-confidence, social skills and their responsible behaviour towards each other and towards their teachers and adult members of staff
• Develop the pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding of how to contribute to society as a whole and what it means to be an active citizen
• Develop pupil’s effective communication skills
• Develop the pupil’s recognition of themselves as worthy individuals with a right to be heard
• To allow the children to have a “voice” and to share their opinions and ideas with others
• To allow children to become more responsible and actively involved in the decision-making process of the school
• To develop important life-skills

They have many responsibilities from choosing fundraising ideas, supporting the Including Everyone Team, being part of the teaching and leadership recruitment and making decisions that impact the school as a whole. They are very responsible and have great ideas to share across the school.

School Council Newsletter – December 2023

School Council Newsletter – June 2023

School Council Newsletter – March 2023

 

 

Kingsdown School careers and education provision is an embedded part of the curriculum. Rather than a static programme which takes place each year, the careers provision changes and is personalised to reflect the needs of our pupils.

Click on the link below to see our film showing our aspirational pupils at Kingsdown.

 

Statutory Guidance

Part of the statutory guidance for schools is the requirement to meet the 8 ‘Gatsby Benchmarks’ by the end of 2020.  We make use of the ‘Career and Enterprise Company’s’ ‘Compass Tool’ to monitor our progress towards these benchmarks.  With our work experience shadowing programme, in school experiences such as visits from local businesses and guest speakers, we are already fully compliant with a number of these benchmarks.   Progress towards fully achieving the other benchmarks is well underway.

Curriculum

Our curriculum promotes engagement through pupil-led learning. It is developed through pupil profiles for each area of the curriculum which highlights how best to support them in their learning and development. ‘Next step’ targets are developed for individual pupils in order for longer term outcomes to be achieved giving success in all areas of the curriculum.

At Kingsdown School we believe that every pupil can achieve. We have high expectations.

The curriculum lends itself to focus on developing important life skills, such as communication, collaborative working and problem solving, which are important aspects of being successful in employment or voluntary work, and being valued members of the community.

Enterprise

‘Learning beyond the classroom’ is vitally important to all learners. Enterprise features prominently in the curriculum for our Key Stage 3 pupils. This involves our pupils planning and leading a pop up Staff Cafe and Father’s Day Sale.

Work Experience

Pupils have the opportunity for relevant work experience through a job shadowing programme, which includes working in the office with administration personnel and other support staff throughout the school.

Beyond the Curriculum

The Junior Leadership Programme provides formal and informal learning opportunities to develop individuals as leaders. Junior Leaders make outstanding contributions as lunchtime leaders, classroom based learning support assistants and reading leaders, as well as playground leaders. These roles enable the development of leadership skills in addition to working collaboratively with peers and members of staff.

Our Key Stage 3 pupils participate in travel training sessions to support their independence and engagement in the local community.

Involvement in the local community features prominently in the curriculum with our pupils frequently visiting local amenities, such as Pets at Home, Pizza Express and supermarkets.

Our careers fair takes place each year to enable our pupils to gain an understanding of different workplaces, and different jobs and voluntary work available in the local area.

We would like to extend our thanks to all our community partners for offering these experiences to our pupils.

The careers provision at Kingsdown School is supported by Rosie Powley, Enterprise Coordinator and Louise Merrell, Enterprise Advisor.

Other Information

• Providers Access Policy
• Careers Programme Policy
• School Improvement Plan Careers 2025 – 2026
• School Improvement Plan 2024 – 2025 Evaluated
• School Improvement Plan Careers 2024 – 2025
• School Improvement Plan Careers 2023-2024-Evaluated
• School Improvement Plan Careers 2023-2024
• Preparing for Adulthood

Further Information

If you feel able to support out careers programme, or would like further information please contact our Careers Lead, Lisa Stroud, by telephone on 01702 527486 or by email lstroud@kingsdown.southend.sch.uk