Learning Entitlement

Schools are responsible for planning and providing a curriculum to meet the specific needs of children and young people and which considers the context and environment of the school and the needs of local authorities as defined in each learner’s statement of special educational needs. The curriculum should be clearly outlined within the school’s Curriculum Policy Statement setting out the school’s approach to teaching, supported by subject schemes of work . The Curriculum Statement should also embrace the following expectations.

1. All children and young people in our schools should have an entitlement to access a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum. In most cases this will be defined by the National Curriculum which will be modified to accommodate the specific learning needs of the individual and afford the learner the opportunity to achieve high standards.

2. Every child and young person, whatever their background or their circumstances, should have the support they need to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being.

3. There should be emphasis on the personal growth and development of individuals who have a sense of self-worth and personal identity, relate well to others and form good relationships, are self-aware and deal well with their emotions and have secure beliefs and principles to distinguish right from wrong.

4. The curriculum should provide a range of enhanced learning experiences, including outdoor education, work related learning, community activities and college links.

5. On admission to school, all children and young people should be assessed, after which each learner should have a learning programme and targets so that they leave school with essential skills in English, maths and ICT. Progress in learning and personal development should be frequently assessed so that targets and learning programmes can be regularly modified.

6. For some learners, in meeting their entitlement to access the curriculum the school will need to plan for, and provide, specialist learning resources and support as defined within the statement of special educational needs.

7. Learners should be helped to understand how they learn, to think creatively, to take risks, handle change and, as far as possible, take responsibility for their learning, to solve problems and work independently.

8. Learners should be actively involved in the assessment of their progress and achievements so that they know how well they are doing, what they are aiming to achieve, how they can reach these goals and identify their next steps in learning.

9. By the time they leave school, all children and young people will have been supported in making progress and gaining success so that they are able to continue with their next stages of education or have access to employment opportunities.

10. In their planning of learning experiences, teachers and support staff should modify their teaching to the needs of the learner, and engage the learner through varied and challenging activities, using a range of learning and teaching strategies.

11. Children and young people should be provided with a range of opportunities to contribute to the school and its routines by actively seeking their opinions through, for example, school councils, and by encouraging them to take responsibility by, for example, organising events, running activities and mentoring of peers.

12. Parents/carers and referring authorities should be involved as much as practicable in the learning and reporting of the learner’s progress and achievement.

13. In residential settings the 24 hour curriculum will make a strong contribution to this entitlement.