Curriculum Overview.
In St. Mary’s Special School we strive to provide a high standard of teaching and learning within a positive and enriching learning environment. We realise that providing educational experiences for students with special educational needs within the framework of the mainstream curriculum is a challenge. The advantage of the main stream curriculum is that it provides a clear structure within which many of the needs of special education can be catered for. We believe that the educational experiences of our students should reflect what is available to their peers. While each student has his/her own individual educational plan, the opportunities for learning that co-operation and group work present should not be ignored.
As a school we believe in a collaborative approach, the professional responsibility for the education of the students lies within the class teacher, specialist teachers, SNAs, and Principal.
St. Mary’s Special School aims to provide an eclectic education to enable the child to live their lives to the full and to realise their potential as a unique individual. In order to achieve this, we offer a broad and balanced curriculum that is child centred to all pupils, taking into consideration their learning style, their individual needs and abilities. The curriculum is divided into two areas: ‘Core Curriculum Areas’ and’ Wider Curriculum Areas’. Adaptation of the curriculum to suit our school is achieved through the continuous updating of the school plan.
We have decided that our core curriculum are as follows:
- Learning to learn skills Ref: ABLLS-R
- Language and Communication (English)
- Mathematics
- Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE), including Relationship & Sexuality (RSE)
- ICT Basic skills
- Physical Education/Sensory Needs
Our Wider Curriculum areas are:
- Visual Arts: Art, Music and Drama.
- SESE: History, Geography & Science
All the above subjects are taught through a cross-curricular approach because:
- Increases Motivation.
- Improves Learning.
The bulk of the available research would seem to strongly indicate that students who participate in any form of extra-curricular activities benefit from enhanced status amongst peers, a wider social network, and an early understanding of several crucial ‘life skills’. St. Mary’s Special School offers its pupils a number of extra-curricular activities, such as: Horse Riding, trips to the local community and School tours.
We have created a designated Nurture Room. This is a specifically designed room with a homely feel, a place to relax in small group settings or for individual needs.
In creating our Nurture Room, we want to give students an enriching experience in order to develop the skills required to build positive relationships with staff and peers when they are struggling to cope in the classroom.
THIS IS A PILOT PROJECT AND WE ARE VERY Excited ABOUT IT!!!!
Assessment
The core of our assessment policy is that all pupils should experience success at school.
St. Mary’s Special School’s ultimate goal would be to improve learning through effective assessment practices, ensuring that each pupil is enabled to reach their full potential
Assessment is an on-going process throughout the child’s education. Therefore, it is important that all members of the teaching staff are involved in developing, implementing, and reviewing the assessment policy. Parents should be also involved in the process, which helps in creating a sense of ownership and allows for a more effective implementation.
Assessment literature and practice highlight that children learn best when they know:
- what’s expected of them
- when they are learning get feedback on how well they are doing in their learning
- understand what they can improve on and how they can do this.
This can be done through self-assessment as one method teachers can use to help children learn. This involves children looking at their own work in a reflective way, identifying parts that are good and parts that perhaps are not so good and could be improved, and then deciding how they might do the work differently the next time in order to improve it.
Peer assessment is the assessment of the work of others of equal status. In the context of student learning, peer assessment is used by students to estimate the worth of other students’ work with reference to specific and agreed criteria.
It is our intention that teachers will assess students in May, using one of the assessment tools below:
- The Psychoeducational Profile-Third Edition (PEP-3).
- The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS).
- The Verbal Behaviour Milestones Assessment and Placement Program. ( VBMAPP)
- TEACCH Transition Assessment Profile (TTAP)
- The Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS)
- ASDAN
The school personnel involved in assessing the students will choose the most appropriate assessment tool.
Individual Educational Plan (IEPSs)
What is an Individual Education Plan?
An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is a written document prepared for every student. It specifies the learning goals that are to be achieved by the student over a set period of time and the teaching strategies, resources and supports necessary to achieve those goals.
The Individual Education Plan is developed through a collaborative process involving the school, parents, the student (where appropriate) and other relevant personnel or agencies
Why have an IEP?
The requirement to develop formalised IEPs is an essential component of the EPSEN Act, 2004. An IEP:
- Allows the student to progress at a level commensurate with ability
- Involves collaboration between all partners
- Focuses teaching strategies
- Ensures records are kept
IEP Principles
The IEP is a working document and should be useful, available and comprehensible to all those dealing directly with the student. It needs to be considered in the context of home, school and classroom organisation.
Effective individual education plans have key characteristics. These are:
- Individualised and child-centred
- Inclusive
- Holistic
- Collaborative
- Accessible.
Sources of information
Home, school and community are important sources of information about the child with special educational needs. The child concerned is likely also to have contact with a number of professionals who will have assessed her/his strengths and needs formally and/or informally.
Parents:
Provide a perspective on their children that is different from that of the professionals involved with the child. Parents can often provide valuable information about the child’s medical history/requirements, educational history, strengths and gifts and emotional and social needs.
Student:
Students themselves, particularly if older, can be an important source of information about, for example, their learning style, interests, what they like to learn about, what interferes with learning for them and what helps them learn.
School:
The child’s class teacher and SNAs are a central source of information about the child’s strengths/needs, interests, specific difficulties across curricular areas as well as the programmes and strategies that have been successfully implemented with the child.
Other Professionals:
The range of professionals consulted in relation to a child’s educational programme may vary as appropriate. The information provided by such professionals may include: information about the child’s medical needs, physical or sensory development, cognitive functioning, emotional and/or behavioural development, speech and language, communication, hearing and/or vision. Information gathered from these professionals can help determine the child’s strengths and needs across a range of functioning.
Emotional Regulation Support Plan (ERSP)
Every member of the school community has a role to play in the development and implementation of the (ERSP). School staff work closely with parents and external professionals and in exceptional circumstances and where deemed appropriate and suitable, the School will engage with parents in the management of behaviours in the home. Speech and Language and Occupational Therapy (where appropriate) staff will also be involved to ensure the delivery of an eclectic approach. On-going data collection is employed to track the successful progress of the strategies within the plan.
Language and Communication Literacy.
Pupils with General Learning Disabilities and ASD exhibit significant social communication and language difficulties. Appropriate communication and social skills are necessary in order to express needs, desires, and feelings. Language and communication are the foundations for the development of relationships, participating in society and accessing the curriculum. It is therefore crucial to develop skills in these areas in order to improve pupils’ quality of life. For this reason, St. Mary’s Special School places greater emphasis upon receptive and expressive communication (speaking and listening) within English, making this area of the curriculum, one of our Core Curriculum Areas.
The term ‘communication’ embraces verbal and non-verbal methods of receiving and giving information, essential when catering for students for whom verbal communication may not be an option. Language enables the students to engage socially initially within the family, school and later in the wider world. It enables the students to give expression to their feelings, ideas & concerns. We in St. Mary’s Special School believe that the ability to gain control over the environment opens up a world of opportunity for the student.
Mathematics
Mathematics education provides the child with a wide range of knowledge, skills and related activities that help him/her to develop an understanding of the physical world and social interactions. Maths education fosters creative and aesthetic development and enhances the growth of reasoning through the investigative techniques in the mathematical context. Given the needs of students with General Learning Disabilities and Autism we at St. Mary’s Special School have identified Mathematics to be one of our Core Curricular subjects. We aim to provide students with a mathematical education that is developmentally appropriate and socially relevant. Through the mathematics curriculum we aim to improve the students understanding of the environment, to increase his/her interest in it and their ability to interact with it.
Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and Relationships and Sexual Education (RSE)
SPHE, by its very nature, is an integral part of the student’s daily life. However, while much of the teaching in SPHE can be done informally throughout the school day, the Primary School Curriculum advises that learning is best facilitated in a combination of three ways:
- in a positive school climate and atmosphere,
- through discrete time (a specific time on the timetable)
- through an integrated approach throughout a range of subject areas.
SPHE enables the student to develop the skills necessary for managing his/her life to the best of his/her ability, personally and socially. The age and stage of development of the student will be important factors in determining the emphasis of each student’s scheme of work.
SPHE is intrinsic to all areas of the curriculum and to every facet of the student’s life. Issues cannot be explored in isolation, but must be seen as part of the daily experience of the student. Every opportunity should be taken to place learning in its functional context. Students should be enabled to understand and use language appropriate to particular situations.
RSE is an integral part of SPHE and must be taught in this context. It provides structured opportunities to pupils to acquire knowledge and understanding of human sexuality and relationships through processes which will enable pupils to form values and establish behaviours within a moral, spiritual and social framework.
Central to RSE is the fostering of self-esteem, through which the pupil becomes more aware in making choices and decisions in all aspects of life and particularly in those relating to sexuality and relationships.
Therefore, when planning a RSE programme, it should be taken into consideration the extent to which the content is treated which will be dependent on the emotional and intellectual maturity of the children. Thus a degree of flexibility is advisable.
SPHE and RSE help all pupils develop as individuals in a wider society. Pupils learn to understand themselves physically, emotionally, socially and sexually and to understand their relationships with others.
ICT
At St. Mary’s Special School, we see ICT as being integral in teaching all areas of the Curriculum and in meeting the needs as presented by our students. ICT has features which appeal to students with special needs as they provide a secure learning environment which remains stable and predictable. ICT allows our students to develop their communication and literacy skills. It also aids the student in communicating with others, and provides structured skill practice which supports basic literacy and numeracy. Additionally, ICT provides opportunities for engaging in meaningful leisure activities and can encourage creativity. At St. Mary’s Special School, students have access to IT equipment and augmentative communication devices.