Intent

At Bader Academy, our curriculum is broad and balanced and follows the National Curriculum. Our curriculum is ambitious, promotes curiosity, intriguing our young people and is, designed to give all learners the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. The school’s curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced to ensure knowledge is gained and retained for future learning and employment.

Our curriculum is based on a 3-year plan; each half-term a new enquiry question is presented to our pupils, alongside one of our Change Maker principles. Lower School (Year 1 – 7) are organised in pastoral class bases. Upper School (Year 8 – 11) follow a subject specific learning programme with individualised timetables, accessing specialist teaching for subjects. Each subject is supported by a progression of knowledge document, in order to ensure young people are making progress from their own individual starting point.

Together with our comprehensive and engaging curriculum, we embrace Care Designed to Support Learning; this includes access to Sensory Processing Occupational Therapy, Art Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychology support and Emotional Literacy Support Assistants.

Implementation

At Bader Academy, we use restorative approaches to support our pupils to understand themselves better and be more understanding of others, their opinions and their beliefs. We embrace and celebrate individuality at Bader Academy, ensuring our pupils are well-equipped to challenge stereotypes now, and in the future.

Our school curriculum is built around our whole school ethos to ‘Be Kind, Be Safe and Be Ready’. An integral aspect of our curriculum is ensuring pupil voice and pupil interests are included. “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn” (Benjamin Frankilin)

At the beginning of each half-term our ‘Big Question’ is introduced through a hook for learning. Pupils progress through the half-term working towards a real-world outcome. Families are invited to share the learning of young people, the knowledge they have gained, their experiences of the half-term and celebrate their successes.

Our curriculum delivery is designed to enable and support pupils to gain knowledge and use prior knowledge, through the content they have been taught. This supports pupils to integrate new knowledge gained, into their long-term memories in order to support them to be lifelong learners. Rosenshines’ Principles of Instruction underpin our daily teaching, as we consistently review and recall prior learning, and deliver our lessons in small, manageable chunks. Teachers scaffold learning to ensure they regularly check for understanding and misconceptions.

At Bader Academy, each subject area sits within a faculty for one of the following areas outlined below, with care designed to support learning integrated in our faculty model and approach, meaning therapy is interwoven within the curriculum delivery. The faculties are:

• Expressive Art and Design
• Understanding the World
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths
• Communication, Language and Literacy
• Physical, Social and Emotional Development

Our curriculum focuses on providing young people with life skills and knowledge in order to live happy, independent lives in the future. Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural values are interwoven throughout the curriculum to support young people to develop their understanding of these areas and fundamental British values. Curriculum overviews are shared with families half termly which enables extended learning to take place at home where applicable.

Personal priorities and outcomes are worked upon throughout the school week, and these are directly linked to the identified priorities detailed within the young person’s individual Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Pupils access personal development sessions throughout the week, to ensure holistic needs are met, including developing independence, preparation for adulthood and travel training from Key Stage 3.

Impact

Pupils develop their skills, confidence and self-esteem, so that they are able to be successful in the next stage of their learning and life beyond Bader.

Pupils gain qualifications and / or accreditation linked to their personalised flight paths and destinations. These  currently include:

• ASDAN unit accreditations
• Entry Level Qualifications – Maths / English / Computing
• GCSE – Maths, English Literature and where appropriate Science currently
• AQA Unit Award Scheme accreditation
• Duke of Edinburgh – Bronze Award
• OCR Cambridge National in Creative iMedia (Computing Key Stage 4)

Pupils ‘know more and remember’ more through a robust curriculum framework and are able to articulate their wishes and feelings.                                                                        

Our pupils are supported to recognise their own desires and aspirations, and are enabled to achieve these through independent careers advice from Year 7 throughout their secondary phase of education.

 

If you require any further information about the curriculum, please contact our office team at baderacademy@nexusmat.org