Needs-Led Curriculum

Education Roadmap

Making the impossible achievable.

At Dovecote School we deliver an exciting and innovative curriculum specifically developed to meet the needs of students with SEND. The central aim is to prepare students for adulthood through a positive and supportive framework which helps overcome barriers to progress.

We aim for students to become:

Responsible individuals who can make productive contributions to society, understand democracy and follow the rule of law.
Confident learners who understand themselves and can lead safe, healthy and fulfilling lives.
Successful learners who enjoy school, make progress and achieve skills and accreditations which support further education, training, employment and adult life.

The curriculum is ambitious for each student. Ambition at Dovecote means helping each young person make strong progress from their individual starting point, widening participation, developing independence and securing meaningful next steps.

Curriculum Intent

Dovecote School recognises the importance of offering a broad, balanced and needs-led curriculum which underpins our shared school vision and prepares our students for adulthood.

Our needs-led curriculum is designed to develop:

Social and communication skills.
Emotional literacy.
Physical wellbeing.
Cultural awareness, including fundamental British values.
Cognition and learning skills.

Curriculum Implementation

At Dovecote we have 5 Phases of learning. Each learning phase has a distinct learning focus and a change in both the environment and delivery. Our academic curriculum is needs-led and flexible. Transition, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, SEND assessment, Thrive assessment and academic assessment contribute to a holistic understanding of the student and enable the school to provide an appropriate education at an appropriate pace.

Therapeutic Interventions (Need as defined in EHCP)

SALT Interventions
Occupational Therapy Interventions
Thrive
Cognition and Learning
Wellbeing and Play therapy
Drawing and talking therapy
Mental Health
Drama therapy
Art therapy

Academic Subjects

English

Mathematics

Science

Personal Development (Combine projects built around Careers, Life skills and PSHE)

Humanities (Phase 2-3), (History Phase 4 &5)

Art
Music
Drama

Design Technology
Home cooking

Computing

PE (Including Outdoor Education, Forest school, Swimming, Trampolining & Farm as relevant to phase & interest & EHCP Need)

Accreditations offered

GCSEs

iGCSEs

BTECs Animal care L1/2, & Home cooking

BTEC’s Functional Skills English and Maths

Entry Level English, Maths and History

Trinity Arts Award
NCFE- Sport & Life skills

DofE

Our Curriculum Intent

The overall purpose of our curriculum is to equip students with the necessary skills and strategies to support their development into adulthood.

Responsible Individuals

Who uphold the 5 key British values (Democracy, Rule of Law, Liberty, Mutual Respect and Tolerance). Who are able to make positive contributions to society in a way that is appropriate for them.

Confident Individuals

Who are self-aware; lead safe, healthy and fulfilling lives. Are confident in the world around them and can employ strategies and techniques that support them to access the wider community.

Successful Individuals

Who enjoy school; engage with the therapeutic curriculum and have the skills and strategies to access appropriate qualifications based on individual interests

Our therapeutic curriculum will be delivered within a safe, nurturing environment. The school environment enables students to use the space in a way that supports their emotional regulation. This includes the use or access to indoor and outdoor areas that create interest for students, e.g. horticulture, farm, forest school and Thrive pods. The therapeutic curriculum is delivered through our Thrive approach which all staff are trained in. This supports the promotion of positive mental health, a sense of well-being, self-awareness and self–esteem.

Developing student's life and independent skills

The development of functional life skills for living is one of the foundation pilar stones Dovecote School promotes. Our aim is to enable each student to lead a fulfilling and substantially independent life. We recognise that for young people with autism and other SEN needs, every experience may provide a learning experience. Our approach to teaching functional and life skills is at the core of our curriculum. These opportunities are provided through access to a Therapeutic Curriculum which includes:

Thrive practices
Targeted interventions
Wider school community opportunities
Active and outdoor learning
Our comprehensive and appropriate PHSE/ RSE program
Tailored Life skills program that includes access to the wider community.

Positive Behavioural Support

Trauma-informed education purposefully links together educational opportunities with therapeutic interventions to create a healing environment.

At Dovecote School, this means teaching young people about mental wellbeing. Adverse Childhood Experiences alter a young person’s developing brain in ways that can result in enduring emotional, behavioural, cognitive, social and physical barriers.

All of our staff are trained in Thrive techniques that, together with guided therapeutic interventions, help students understand the context and meaning of behaviour, develop positive coping strategies and emotional regulation.

What is Thrive?

Thrive is a therapeutic approach to help support children and young people develop their social, emotional, mental health and wellbeing.

At Dovecote we recognise that every behaviour is communication of a need. Research has shown that the safety we feel in relationship is directly linked to how we behave and how ready we are to engage in learning. By teaching children and young people to attune to, notice and name feelings and emotions it can help with their development and learning.

The Thrive approach offers practical strategies and techniques via individual assessment, which identify children’s emotional skills and provides personalised action plans for their unique needs.

Children sometimes need some extra support with their emotional growth, where previous experiences have resulted in skills not being fine-tuned. This can be temporary or over a longer period of time.

Thrive promotes their emotional and social growth by building positive relationships between a child and their peers and helps them explore and understand their feelings through various activities. It allows us to meet a child in the here and now and to build on previous learning and experience.

The Thrive Approach draws on the latest research from current neuroscience, recent attachment research, current studies of effective learning and current models of child development.

Dovecote is a Thrive School of Excellence, with excellence in Environment, Relationship, Reparative, Right time and Leadership.

Thrive has all round benefits for our staff, students and parents/carers. Making Dovecote school therapeutic and giving our parents/carers support and educate them on ways to approach their children in difficult times and positive times. Thrive is extremely important in our school.

Amy

I am currently completing the Thrive course and will complete this by December 2024. Thrive is very interesting and I am really enjoying the training and the use of Thrive in our school. It helps to give an understanding of how we can best support our students needs. We can help support our student’s development by identifying any gaps in their developmental strand, helping them to move into the next strand. I am very passionate about Thrive as it is a key part of my role. I am looking forward to completing all the training, it will help to enhance my practise and I will be equipped to support our students in a person centred way.

Sophie

Using Thrive to learn through creativity and play awesome! The team here are amazing at thinking about teaching outside of the box and in a student focused way.

Jess

I’m looking forward to embedding the nuances of social interaction into my practice.

Nic

I’m going to incorporate more play into my practice.

Flick

It’s given me a greater understanding of the fundamental things that may affect a child or young person and the ways in which they can be supported.

The Thrive training we’ve received opened my eyes to a different way of thinking about behaviour. I’m looking forward to learning more to help students develop.

Shaun

I feel more confident about how to support students to be grounded and will explore using meditation within the garden and grounds of Dovecote to benefit them.

Sid

Family, Inclusion and Wellbeing - a unique extended offer

Dovecote School works closely with families to support inclusion, engagement and attendance. Our dedicated Family, Inclusion and Wellbeing team enable smooth and effective communication between school and home. Many of our children experience additional barriers, challenging life experiences and difficulties away from school and the team will be able to support from the moment your child starts at Dovecote until the moment they move on. Every member of our Family, Inclusion and Wellbeing team are trained Thrive practitioners and can offer additional support to build the bridge between home and school to best support each child and young person to progress. The team offer additional Family Thrive courses to enrich the Dovecote experience.

The Needs-Led Curriculum

As educators at our school, we recognise the paramount importance of catering to the unique needs of each child, as outlined in their Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP). We acknowledge the strenuous efforts made by parents to ensure that the right provisions are duly secured in section F of their child’s EHCP. At the core of our mission is striking a delicate balance: safeguarding these provisions while equipping our students with academic opportunities and qualifications alongside opportunities to develop their independence skills in preparation for adulthood.

This is why we have developed our needs-led curriculum approach. This approach is designed to not only honour the provisions outlined in the EHCP but also to provide avenues for academic advancement, promote independence, and develop essential life skills in our students.