Curriculum Offer
Marlborough School Curriculum
Our Mission is to effectively meet all our students’ unique and holistic needs, enable them to thrive and prepare them fully for adulthood.
Our School Values are central to our ethos and learning culture and are embedded within our curriculum. Marlborough School values are HEART: Happiness Empowerment Aspiration Respect Teamwork
We recognise that powerful learning happens only when our students are happy. As such, we strive to promote the happiness of our students through a range of targeted interventions. We are committed to empowering our learners to develop confidence and autonomy, to take ownership of their own learning and control over their lives. We are passionate and ambitious about learning and progress and strive to promote a culture of aspiration, effort and resilience. We support our learners to be honest and reflective and encourage them to enjoy the freedom to take risks and to learn from their mistakes. We believe that every student should experience and develop respect for self and others. We celebrate diversity and individuality and ensure everyone has their voice heard and valued. Teamwork is essential to our success. We work in close partnership with parents/carers and multi-agency teams to ensure success for all our students.
Every moment is a learning opportunity.
Our curriculum is holistic, and our students are supported to learn across a variety of areas throughout the day at school.
Curriculum Intent
In order to achieve our mission, we believe that our curriculum design should provide broad, balanced and meaningful learning experiences tailored to the needs of individual students. The development of communication, independence, autonomy, and choice is central to our curriculum design. We strive to effectively promote the students’ personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. A key focus of our curriculum is to prepare students with the skills and cultural capital to successfully access the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. Leaders evaluate how the curriculum design meets our values and aims.
Curriculum Implementation
Meadow, Orchard and Legacy Pathways
Our curriculum is split into three strands, Meadow, Orchard and Legacy.
The Meadow Pathway meets the needs of our learners with profound and multiple learning difficulties, complex sensory needs and medical and physical needs.
Orchard meets the needs of our learners with severe learning difficulties including those with autism and other complex needs.
Legacy is our provision for pupils between 14 and 19 who are able to attend our Chislehurst and Sidcup site focussing on preparing students for adulthood and learning beyond school.
| Meadow | Orchard | Legacy |
|
Lavender Tulip |
Bluebell Daffodil Daisy Sunflower Snowdrop |
Lotus Orchid Poppy |
Personalised learning is structured across five areas. Four of these are based on the student’s statement of SEN or education and health care plan (EHCP) and form student’s Personalised Learning Plans. These are:
| KS3 and KS4 | KS5 |
|
|
In addition, we have included a ‘Creative and Cultural’ component for all age groups to offer breadth of experience and enrichment for our students.
Organisation of Learning
Learning is organised according to the needs of the students within each class. Some lessons are taught discreetly for example food technology, PE, swimming, Maths, English, Science, and RSE. The PSHE and Relationships and Sex Education curriculum schemes prepare students for life beyond school by helping them to develop a healthy and safe lifestyle, the ability to reflect upon and manage their own personal feelings and behaviours, good relationships with others and respect for diversity.
Where relevant, subjects are grouped together into curriculum clusters or provided continuously throughout the day. Learning is student centred and students work on their individual targets throughout the day. The classrooms are set up to provide exploratory learning opportunities in curriculum areas including maths, reading, writing, ICT, art, music, science.
The class teacher and teaching assistants work with individuals to extend learning based on individual Personalised Learning Plans. All classes have structured group learning time throughout the day. They will also have opportunities for 1:1 work e.g. individual reading, paired or small group work e.g. playing maths games.
Students access programmes developed by a range of multi-agency professionals as highlighted in the Education and Health Care Plans. These include Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational therapy and Physiotherapy.
Our enrichment programme includes a range of educational trips and visits linked to the curriculum, guest speakers, frequent musical and dramatic performances and competitive and non-competitive sports. Residential trips extend students' daily experiences and develop self-help and independence skills and build confidence, self-esteem and an appreciation of teamwork. Learning outside the classroom is a key feature of the enriched curriculum which is designed to enable students to explore and discover for themselves, experience appropriate risk and challenge, and enable them to make choices and to initiate and drive their own learning and development.