Curriculum

“to create a personalised curriculum that promotes a love of learning; provides breadth of knowledge and skills; that is  enriching and supportive in terms of personal development and seeks to provide a platform for our children to succeed in whatever they aspire to do.”

At the Libra school we offer vibrant learning environments for our children founded on an understanding of the principles of sensory processing and how this impacts all children. The physical environment of the school, lots of natural wood and light, small and open spaces, green surroundings and proprioceptive play equipment, together with our outdoor learning environments of the farm and forest schools, provides a wonderful calming canvass for our curriculum.

All our children have full access to National Curriculum (differentiated to meet the individual needs of EHCPs) and we enable them to achieve the highest academic and personal standards of which they are capable by providing them with challenges and the life skills that they need on their development journey to being useful and valued members of a community and society. We want all our children to succeed, to achieve the best that they can.

We offer a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes children’s spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development while preparing them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in adult life in democratic Britain.

The teaching of ‘the basic skills’ (reading, writing & maths) is an essential aspect of each child’s time at our school and we are committed to ensuring that all children are confident and competent in Literacy and Maths.  Their progress in these areas is very carefully monitored and parents receive regular updates about their child.

Although Libra works within the framework of a National Curriculum, we also feel it is important for our children to have a broad range of experiences that will enrich their learning and inspire them to develop interests in as many areas as possible.

Children learn best when they are motivated and interested in their learning and we aim to provide a rich learning experience for all children by:

Teaching a wide range of subjects, using the expertise of specialists where appropriate
Striving to ensure lessons are varied and interesting
Using cross-curricular links to help children make connections between different subjects
Using the outdoor environment to make learning more exciting and meaningful
Inviting visitors or taking the children on educational visits
Organising special theme days or weeks for the whole school
Giving the children opportunities to communicate their learning in a variety of ways
Teaching independence and life skills through certificated qualifications

Children enjoy a broad and balanced curriculum supplemented by a strong SMSC curriculum with lots of outdoor learning through educational visits, Outdoor Physical Education, with the addition at Key Stage 2 of the ASDAN Key Steps programme from Year 5 which is a comprehensive programme of activities in a range of topic areas covering Citizenship, PSHE, Environment Education, Personal Finance Education, Enterprise and Internationalism. This in turn can contribute to the ASDAN Personal Development Programme offering children the opportunity to achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold awards.

Children continue to enjoy a broad and balanced curriculum supplemented by a strong SMSC curriculum with lots of outdoor learning through educational visits, Outdoor Physical Education and Forest School completing their Key Steps programme and progressing towards the Personal Development Programme with opportunities to enjoy short validating courses in English, Maths, Science, PSHE, Sex and Relationships, Personal Finance, Living Independently, Road Wise, Foodwise.

Young people have opportunities to embark on NCFE English and Maths in addition to NCFE qualifications to Level 2 such as Food and Cooking, Sport and Health, the option of GCSE(s) as appropriate, in addition to other Curriculum subjects and the option of Work Experience. There are further opportunities for additional ASDAN Short Courses validating the ASDAN Personal and Social Development qualification to Level 2 which offers imaginative ways of supporting young people in becoming confident individuals who are physically, emotionally and socially healthy, responsible citizens who are starting to make a positive contribution to society,  who can embrace change and manage  risk together with their own wellbeing.

Young people will continue with the qualifications from years 9 and 10, whilst also being offered additional optional ASDAN short courses: Careers and Experiencing Work, Sports and Fitness, Environmental, Animal Care, Gardening, Leadership, Computing, Construction, Hair and Beauty, Hospitality, Land-based sector, Manufacturing, Uniformed Services and Employability Skills Development, which is an activity-based course to develop skills for the workplace. This is further supported by a programme of work experience.

To meet needs identified through EHCPs children have access to a Speech and Language therapist, Play therapists highly experienced with working with children in trauma, THRIVE practitioners, 1:1 mentoring, 1:1 sensory play and a programme of 1:1 interventions for specific learning difficulties.

have good knowledge of the subject(s) and courses they teach;
have effective support for those teaching outside their main areas of expertise;
present subject matter clearly, promoting appropriate discussion about the subject matter they are teaching;
check children’s understanding systematically, identify misconceptions accurately and provide clear, direct feedback and in doing so, they respond and adapt their teaching as necessary, without unnecessarily elaborate or differentiated approaches;
design their teaching to help children to remember in the long term the content they have been taught and to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts;
use assessment well in order to help children embed and use knowledge fluently or to check understanding and inform teaching;
create an environment that allows the child to focus on learning;
develop a rigorous approach to the teaching of reading in order to develop children’s confidence and enjoyment in reading;
use reading materials at the early stages of learning to read that are closely matched to children’s phonics knowledge’.