Telephone: 01234 745200 Email: rivertree@biltt.org
Rivertree Free School is part of Bedford Inclusive Learning and Training Trust
Company Number: 08156641
Curriculum
At Rivertree Free School, we believe all our pupils deserve the opportunity to have a broad range of experiences that are engaging and purposeful. Through our curriculum, our intention is that we enable all pupils to feel a deep sense of belonging, develop a strong belief in their own skills and abilities and ensure that they leave RFS with achievements that they value and that will enable them to be as independent as possible and that they are able to participate in local events and contribute to society as active citizens.
Pupils are placed at the centre of all we do. This is built around a core offer based on our four pathways to success and the adaptations required to ensure a personalised curriculum .
Our pathways are bespoke and adapted. Click here to see further information.
Click on the pathway links below to view further information on each pathway.
Being in a unique situation as a new specialist provision, and sharing skills and knowledge with our SEND trust BILLT, we pride ourselves in being able to offer pupils a coherent curriculum which meets their diverse individual needs; academic, emotional, social, communicational, interactional and physical. This may include aspects of work or experiences across our schools, allowing all pupils to draw from and contribute to the wider learning of all students and staff.
At Rivertree Free School we give curriculum emphasis to the development of:
- Communication and Interaction Skills
- Cognition and Learning Skills, including Literacy, Numeracy and ICT skills
- Independence Skills
- Sensory and Physical Skills, including regulation
- Creativity and self-expression
- STEAM
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health skills, including PSHE, Life skills, resilience and well-being
- Work-related and Vocational Skills
Class groupings are based on age and stage (based mostly on pathways) but also consider the dynamics of the individuals and the group. This gives everyone the best opportunity to make progress. In some classes teaching is underpinned by the TEACCH approach, whereby predictable routines, high levels of structure and the use of visual cues enable pupil progress. The classroom environments are clearly organised and accessible for pupils with autism. Visual schedules support pupils to understand the sequence of events of the day. A range of AAC (Augmented and Alternative Communication) strategies are used to facilitate expressive and receptive communication. Learning is supported by visuals, symbols, photographs, real objects, and demonstrations. Teachers demonstrate skills and use tasks which they have broken down into small chunks to scaffold learning and enable pupil progress.
Long Term Planning
RFS curriculum is topic based (click here to view) across the school. Each term we have a theme which allows for a flexible cross-curricular approach to fully embed learning. Golden threads of communication, independence, life-skills and experiential learning are woven throughout each topic. The long-term planning is set on a 4-year rolling programme but is flexible to cater for pupils’ needs and interests. As pupils move through the school, the expectation for the depth and breadth of their learning is increased, depending on their individual abilities, interests, specific learning needs and pathways.
Schemes of work map knowledge and skills into four pathways. In all classes, work is highly adapted and bespoke to the needs of the pupils, allowing for further challenge and extension opportunities. Some classes will therefore spend more time focussing on specific subjects so that they are able to complete the highest possible qualification in that subject.
We regularly evaluate and make changes to ensure that the curriculum is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before.
Our schemes of work are carefully planned to include cross -curriculum links wherever possible and create opportunities to overlearn. We try to link learning to real life experiences as often as we can and make the most of the local community by visiting attractions, educational establishments, and inviting visitors to deliver talks, workshops and assemblies. We believe learning is not a linear experience for our pupils and our teaching, therefore, reflects this. We have developed a curriculum that blends and builds upon pupils’ knowledge and skills cross all subjects.
Assessment
At RFS Assessment is based on our Pathways. These pathways consider the needs of pupils and the ways in which they will make best progress. This means that the pathways, whilst they sometimes teach the same area of study, will have different approaches to learning. All pathways have a planned curriculum approach and, whilst all are taught by highly skilled staff, not all are taught by subject specialists. Each area of the curriculum has a Pathway to show how each step is built on or from prior learning. This does not always expect learning to be linear but gives the opportunity to identify any prior learning has been missed and may identify barriers to sequential learning. Evidence of progress is collated on Evidence Me and is shared with families through this platform. RFS monitor and evaluate steps of progress as identified by our flight path assessments. We ensure that pupils learning follows a coherent sequence that is planned and that (where possible) is retained and applied. Our ultimate goal in all pathways is that pupils are demonstrating independent skills, whatever that might look like for them. We know that some pupils have needs or conditions which are regressive, and whilst we accept the condition we do not place a ceiling on the opportunity to gain from our curriculum at any level.
Life Skills and Practical Learning
All pupils at Rivertree Free School have additional opportunities to participate in enrichment activities for example: theme days, workshops, activities off site, work experience, visitors onto site, residentials and so on. Alongside exposing our pupils to the world around them in a safe place (and empowering parents/carers to do the same), we aspire for pupils to become progressively more confident with each experience. We aim for RFS pupils to be successful and to become moral citizens with a holistic set of core values as aligned to our RFS/British Values and the UNICEF Rights Respecting Charter.
Through our curriculum we hope to:
Develop learning and applying skills
We embed Maths, Phonics, Reading and Writing throughout the curriculum.
Develop Key Life Skills
To develop the appropriate skills and understanding, through accessing a diverse range of life skills-based opportunities, supporting pupils to be independent in all areas of personal development.
Develop Cognitive and Academic Abilities
To develop the appropriate subject specific knowledge, skills and understanding, so that our pupils make consistent progress academically, reach personal targets and exceed their potential in all areas as outlined within their EHCPs.
To develop the appropriate skills and understanding, through accessing a diverse range of life skills-based opportunities, supporting pupils to be independent in all areas of personal development.
Develop Cognitive and Academic Abilities
To develop the appropriate subject specific knowledge, skills and understanding, so that our pupils make consistent progress academically, reach personal targets and exceed their potential in all areas as outlined within their EHCPs.
Enrichment
Extra-curricular experiences also form an integral part of RFS’s provision. Educational visits, visitors and key whole school events make learning meaningful and engaging for pupils, linked to real life experiences. We ensure that all pupils are exposed to arts and cultural experiences, and we timetable local, national and international key events into the school calendar, so that pupils get to engage in new experiences as they progress through school. Examples of this have been: theatre visits, local artists working with our pupils, dance classes, visits to a wide range of interests and places of religious and cultural interest.
Our rights respecting work also ensures that RFS Values are embedded into everything we do. We review our curriculum annually in line with the interests of our pupils and also as part of our curriculum offer.
Impact of our Curriculum
Through rigorous termly tracked assessment, it is evident pupils make outstanding progress over time. Our pupils have demonstrated increasing resilience, independence and confidence and have participated and contributed to local events.
Our pupils have a good sense of right and wrong and go out of their way to help others. They leave us as kind, caring, dedicated students with aspirational goals. They have raised money to support local, national and international charities.
Phonics
The teaching of reading will begin as soon as our pupils start at RFS through our phonics programme, Little Wandle. Little Wandle draws on the latest research into how pupils learn best; how to ensure learning stays in pupil’s long term memory and how best to enable children to apply their learning to become competent readers.
The foundations for Phonics will allow learners early exposure to sounds, using a personalised approach that utilises multi-sensory mediums. Multi- sensory phonics teaching provides visual, auditory, kinaesthetic and tactile activities to enhance the learners’ connections with the different phonemes. Despite the early exposure and multi-sensory approaches to phonics, teachers should focus on learners’ phonemic awareness and how these can be expanded through appropriate texts.
It is a comprehensive programme that is taught from Phase 1 to Phase 6 with a multi-sensory approach. We teach ability groups so that objectives covered closely match the needs of all learners and their EHCP targets. We ensure that our Phonics programme is delivered at the pace optimal for our pupils’ learning needs. Where necessary we adapt to enhance engagement and learning for our pupils making it accessible for all.
Pupils on our phonics program receive bespoke Phonics lessons 4 times a week and this is further enhanced by visuals that are used across the Curriculum enabling pupils to apply their phonetic knowledge. We have a wide range of decodable books that further supports this. Our pupils Phonics ability is closely monitored and tracked using Phonics Tracker.
Where needed small group or 1:1 intervention is used to support and increase a pupil’s Phonic knowledge and associated skills. In addition to this, we apply a range of other spelling and reading strategies to support and compliment this.
Curriculum Offers:
- English
- Maths
- ICT
- CP/RSHE
- PE
- Food Technology
- Design Technology
- Art
- Music
- Life Skills