TEACHING AND LEARNING AT BREAKSPEARE
Breakspeare School offers its students a progressive, exciting and rich curriculum that respects and recognises individual needs, is age appropriate and builds on motivation and provides appropriate challenge. We believe that before learning can happen the students need to feel safe and be able to build trusting positive relationships with their teacher and teaching assistants.
We plan teaching and learning around the students’ individual needs. We look closely at their developmental needs, barriers for learning and their strengths in order for us to design an individual curriculum that helps them to progress both academically and in their social-emotional developmental areas.
Developing communication, independence and social skills is an integral part in all curriculum areas. Our curriculum is functional; learning needs to be fun and it needs to have real meaning and relevance for the students. We provide our students with a curriculum that enhances their life skills.
Our lower school focuses on teaching ‘learn to learn’ skills. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (EYFS) for our Nursery, Reception and KS1 students. Learning happens at different areas of our school and its grounds.
In middle school (KS2 and KS3) we follow the National Curriculum as a guide to learning; our curriculum benefits from strong cross curriculum links and topics. The focus is to further develop students’ functional skills in different curriculum areas. The curriculum broadens to utilise our strong links in the community and in Abbots Langley village for example with local mainstream schools. Whilst the students are in middle school they consolidate their skills and strive hard to excel in their learning.
Upper school (KS4 and 16+) is organised to support students’ slow transition for lifelong learning in adulthood. The students have many opportunities to access community through our Arts Award, college links and practising everyday living skills in ‘The House’. The House is our independent living unit. The student undertake qualifications and courses that are externally moderated such as ASDAN or AQA.
“It's hard to believe that when my son started this school he could barely catch a ball. Now, he seems to be no longer afraid to try something new, however difficult it may seem and we have seen him be adventurous elsewhere in his life.“
Parent of Year 14 student.