Introduction 

SV Academy provides a curriculum which is enriched by a range of planned activities and experiences to enhance learning and personal development to equip all students with the tools to become: 

SV Academy curriculum will promote values 

Education is an important and on-going process, which enriches the lives of all members of the community and through this, the society in which they live and to which they contribute. Education is a route to the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, physical and mental development and thus the well-being of the individual. Education should also reaffirm our commitment to the virtues of truth, justice, honesty, tolerance, trust, respect and a reflection of British values. 

The curriculum therefore flexible, inclusive and offers continuity, coherence and progression. It motivates and provides challenge for all students whatever their ability, promoting achievement for all and students ready for post 16 education and working life,   or for their next steps as appropriate. 

KS 3 Curriculum Intent 

The Ready 4 School Group (R4S) will provide carefully structured and routine sessions, where there is a balance of teaching and learning, attachment and structure within a home-like atmosphere and this will be personalised to each cohort of students. 

The curriculum will be a topic based scheme with a focus on age and level appropriate literacy and numeracy. The topic themes will incorporate some aspects of humanities, art, design and music technology as appropriate to the cohort. The curriculum is intended to support students to make rapid progress in their literacy and numeracy skills so that they are able to access the wider mainstream curriculum successfully. Topics will allow the students to develop other curriculum area interests and encourage them to engage effectively when they move back to their mainstream schools and follow the National Curriculum in full again. 

The curriculum will support the positive emotional, social and cognitive development of young people in a developmentally appropriate way using PSHE. Developing emotional literacy will give students the skills to access mainstream education more successfully on return to their home schools. The intent is for students to be measured via Boxall Profiles as more resilient, more self confident, have better developed language skills so they can express their feelings, wants and needs effectively and be able to approach transitions and change more positively. 

There will also be opportunities to enrich the cultural capital for the students. The intent is that students will be familiar with a range of historical, musical, art and theatre experiences with visits, talks and other means of exposing the students to new concepts. Students will be taught about and will have opportunities to discuss and explore British values. 

Students will have weekly PE sessions off site and will access a variety of sports. The intent is to foster an interest in healthy and active lifestyles and development of physical skills. 

R4S Group is a 6-12 week programme. Students will start on day one of week one but will transition back to mainstream at any point during week 7-12. Mainstream schools will identify students for the R4S Group. The R4S Group is full time and will run from 9am to 2.30pm daily. Students will be selected for the R4S based on their social and emotional and mental health needs as well as learning needs. There will not be any barriers to access and it will be up to the home schools to identify the most appropriate students for the inclusion in the R4S. As SV Academy is an alternative provider pupils can be referred to us at any time throughout KS4. 

Implementation of KS 3 Curriculum 

The R4S Group curriculum will be delivered by a registered R4S Group Lead who has considerable experience in learning support and behaviour management. The R4S Group Lead will be supported by a TA who has experience of delivering a variety of SEN interventions including programmes to support social, emotional and mental health issues. 

The R4S Group will have full access to all school resources. They will spend a significant amount of time in their R4S room. The R4S room will offer a balance of both educational and creative experiences aimed at supporting the development of the student’s relationship with each other and the staff. Structured sessions in this room will provide opportunities to revisit absent or poorly internalised early learning experiences. Sessions will place an emphasis on the quality of communication and language development through intensive interaction with adults and peers. There will also be opportunities for social learning through co-operative activities, play, discussion, role play and carefully structured social experiences. 

R4S Group will use other learning spaces for specific learning activities. This will ensure that the students continue to experience normal classroom expectations in preparation for a return to mainstream education. 

Impact of KS 3 Curriculum 

The Boxall Profile and BKSB is used to assess the students on entry to the R4S Group. The R4S Group Lead will then work to plan and create a personalised curriculum which will enable the cohort to work towards their goals and reduce their difficulties as shown on the Profile. 

At 6 weeks the students will have a second Boxall Profile and BKSB which will quantify each student’s progress. At this point some students might be ready to transition back to mainstream provision. 

At 12 weeks a third Boxall Profile and BKSB will be completed and this will help mainstream schools to plan for transition back for any of their students who are still in the R4S Group. 

Return to Mainstream School for KS3 Students 

Students will return to mainstream schools with the following support: 

·  If required up to three follow up sessions with the R4S Group Lead to support students to apply the skills learnt within a mainstream classroom environment 

KS 4 Curriculum Intent 

SV Academy delivers a curriculum that responds to the needs of our students with the aim to provide opportunities for all young people to learn, achieve and be successful in their academic development through a balanced, accessible and relevant range of leaning experiences. The curriculum promotes spiritual, moral, social and cultural development as well as providing cultural capital to prepare SV Academy students for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life to become global citizens. SV Academy enables a smooth transition into student’s next steps. These steps may be a reintegration to mainstream, a place in a more specialised provision or to get them to access and engage in learning at SV Academy. All SV Academy students will be prepared appropriately for their chosen post 16 pathways so that they are confident and able to secure and sustain positive, meaningful and relevant post 16 destinations. SV Academy will provide students with the most up to date information, advice and guidance on opportunities that are appropriate for them as individuals. 

SV Academy provides a balanced, accessible and relevant range of learning experiences that enables teachers to know the students – their strengths, interests and needs – and use this knowledge to make the best possible personalised offer for them. With students being admitted at varying times throughout KS4, SV Academy will develop and exam Functional Skills in Numeracy and Literacy at the joining point in KS4 with intended progression onto GCSE exams at the end of KS4. Reading skills will be developed during the full Key Stage with various personalised interventions offered and whole class opportunities to develop both an interest in reading and increased reading skills. It is expected that all students will reach a minimum reading age of 10.0 to ensure that they can access examination papers successfully. 

For students in Year 10, there is a curriculum offer of Functional Skills Maths and English, PHSE, and BTECs Alongside the Functional Skills in Maths and English a GCSE course is delivered in preparation for Year 11. 

For students in Year 11 there is a curriculum offer GCSE English Language, GCSE Maths, PSHE,GCSE Science and BTECs. 

A range of work related qualifications are also offered including construction, hair and beauty, motor mechanics. 

Implementation of KS4 Curriculum 

SV Academy designs their curriculum to offer support of the wider areas: 

With most pupils presenting differing barriers to their learning the SENCo will provide individual plans to inform staff of the learning ability of students and enable appropriate planning to take place. These objectives and information are then transferred to all staff through a regular teaching and learning CPD program along with the information received from the home schools. 

SV Academy has a set of classrooms that are not specialised; the curriculum has been designed to fit within these constraints. 

To enhance the curriculum impact, modular and on demand courses, along with BTEC qualifications, are taught to provide the best opportunity for student success and is not dependant on students completing a full 2 year KS4. small group intervention sessions help students who have arrived mid-year along with access to a learning platform to provide additional support. 

Impact of KS4 Curriculum 

In order to meet the needs of every student within the school the point at which they join us is pivotal to the curriculum decisions made for the student. This may result in them not being offered the full curriculum as entry dates for exams may have passed. Students that join us late in KS4 may have individual arrangements supported by us to ensure they gain as many qualifications as possible. 

Many students arrive with low self-esteem towards their education due to external factors and a lack of school attendance in their home school. Social, emotional and mental health interventions are offered to these students to support them to be successful academically. 

For some students, tutoring or external providers may be sought to enable access to further subjects such as GCSE’s in alternative languages. 

Six data collection points a year provide pupil progress information. This is used to inform small group intervention planning and whole class scheme of work and lesson planning. 

Whilst pupils attending SV Academy are not considered less academically able, it is recognised that their learning, prior to the point of them being referred, is likely to have been significantly disrupted. Therefore SV Academy curriculum focuses on the following measures: 

Pupils attending at SV Academy are given high quality CEIAG to inform their destination route. 

When identifying the progression route, SV Academy will consider both prior attainment and access to education in the year subsequent to the referral. For example, a student may have the academic ability to complete A Levels, as identified by prior attainment in KS3, but due to personal circumstances is unlikely to have had enough access to education to stay on this pathway. In this instance we would consider progression routes which enable catch up rather than directing to level 1 provision. 

REFERENCE TO OTHER POLICIES AND DOCUMENTS 

• SVA Teaching, Learning & Assessment Policy
• SV Examinations Policy
• SV Quality Assurance Policy
• SV Cheating, Malpractice and Plagiarism Policy
• SV Assessment Appeals & Procedure Policy

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This policy was last revised March 2023.