Curriculum overview

Our Vision

We will provide a highly structured and well organised environment in order to allow our pupils to develop both academically and socially. We want our pupils to be equipped to lead lives of happiness, fulfilment and independence.

Intent

At Woodbridge Road Academy we have a holistic approach to learning and, as such, we value both academic learning and broader personal development.

We ensure that our pupils have access to appropriate qualifications to enable them to transition successfully into the next stage of their education. For us this means that:

• We prioritise reading and numeracy in order to support our pupils to make progress from their individual starting points.

• We extend our pupils’ horizons by providing access to a broad and balanced academic curriculum.

• We offer a range of qualifications at Key Stage 4, including GCSEs, vocational awards and Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

In order to transition successfully into the next stage of their education and into workplaces, we understand that our pupils need more than academic learning. For us this meant that we equip our pupils to be able to:

• Regulate their emotions

• Reflect on their emotions

• Understand their own triggers

• Communicate as part of a pair or team

• Make and maintain friendships

We want our pupils to be equipped to lead lives that are as independent as possible, for us this includes the following:

• Understanding how to have a healthy lifestyle

• Access to a range of employment encounters

• Knowledge and understanding of risk awareness and safety in a range of contexts

• Functional life skills, including an ability to plan and prepare meals

• Understanding of our world, including our local area

Implementation

Woodbridge Road Academy follows the National Curriculum, as appropriate, adapted in order to meet the communication and interaction needs of our pupils as outlined in their EHCPs. Our pupils are grouped mainly by age, however, this is done by stage where appropriate.

Within all aspects of the school day there is an emphasis on building communication and interaction skills. In addition we have dedicated communication lessons as well as extracurricular and enrichment activities.

Core Subjects

All our pupils have regular English, maths and science lessons which are based on the national curriculum at Key Stage 2 and 3 and work towards external qualifications at Key Stage 4.

In addition, all pupils have a reading lesson and a short numeracy session every day.

In line with the statutory requirements for each Key Stage, pupils have the required number of lessons in the following subjects:

• Physical Education (PE)

• Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE)

• Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE)

In addition to timetabled PSHE lessons, we also have a careers programme which is mapped to the Gatsby benchmarks.

Foundation Subjects

As part of our commitment to a broad and balanced curriculum and in order to meet the needs outlined in their EHCPs, our pupils in Key Stages 2 and 3 have regular lessons in the following subjects:

• Art and design

• Communication

• Computing

• Food and nutrition

• Forest school

• Humanities

• Music

We have created a discovery curriculum which promotes the explicit links between PSHE, PE, forest school, food and nutrition and communication. This therefore maximises pupils’ social learning.

Curriculum Delivery Model

Our model of curriculum delivery combines class teachers who are key adults for their pupils with subject specialists teaching particular subjects across a range of classes. Our teaching assistants usually stay with a class or pair of classes, supporting both curriculum delivery and being valuable key adults for our pupils.

Our school day is designed to meet our pupils' academic needs whilst prioritising opportunities for communication and interaction. 

Impact

When considering the impact of our curriculum our focus is on whether pupils have learnt what they have been taught. We measure this both informally and formally in a variety of ways.

We use a range of external and internal assessments to provide a baseline for our pupils, to measure pupil progress and to demonstrate the impact of our curriculum. These include the following:

• Cognitive Ability Tests (CATs) on entry

• New Group Reading Test (NGRT)

• No More Marking writing assessments

• Maths Mastery assessments

Our Key Stage 2 pupils are entered for SATs and our Key Stage 4 pupils are entered for appropriate external qualifications.

Our pupils all have Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and we monitor their progress through individual learning plan targets at least half termly and annual EHCP reviews at least annually.

In addition, as a team, we talk to pupils about their learning, we look at their work and we spend time with them in lessons which helps us to demonstrate the impact of our curriculum.

Reading

Intent

Our pupils have a wide range of starting points for their reading. Our aim is for them all to make progress, and, where possible to read at, or exceeding, an age appropriate level.

We understand that reading can be a barrier to the curriculum access and future independence for some of our pupils and we aim to remove that barrier as far as possible.

Implementation

On entry pupils we carry out phonics screening for all pupils and use the Read Write Inc. Fresh Start programme for any pupils who require it. We work with a Read Write Inc. consultant on a termly basis to support our staff and enhance our delivery.

Starting in September 2024, all pupils have a daily 30 minute reading lesson in groups which have been designed based on their reading age. The following elements are part of these lesson:

• Shared reading using appropriate texts

• Reading Plus online programme

• Library time to encourage independent reading

Impact

The impact of this is measured by New Group Reading Tests (NGRT) and, where appropriate, Read Write Inc assessments.