Our Curriculum

Our wonderful children have different needs, learning styles, strengths and challenges and as such we have built our curriculum around their needs to encourage and give them the opportunities to be the best they can be. 

Our curriculum is different, not differentiated to meet the needs of our children.

Curriculum Intent

What is education for?

• Preparing for the next stage in life​

• Preparing for independence​

• Preparing for a better quality of life​

• Preparing for further opportunities​

• Preparing for adulthood ​

Our objectives are to: 

• Enable children to be the best that they can be through better communication, greater independence and quality participation in the wider world.​

• Increase opportunities for high quality CPD thus improving outcomes for children

Curriculum Design & Implementation

The basis for our curriculum design:

• Knowing our children​

• What's important for them and their family?​

• Where they are now?​

• What are the next steps?​​

Our curriculum offers each and every child their own individual curriculum pathway:

Curriculum Pathways (Early Years - Year 9)

For the past few years, we have been working with Equals to develop our curriculum - https://equals.co.uk/ 

We have four key elements to our curriculum: Personal, Social & Emotional Development, Communication & Language, Problem Solving and Creativity & Physical Development, which are building blocks towards to National Curriculum.  These are represented in our curriculum wheel: 

Our four key areas of learning development are driven by each child’s Personal Learning Targets (PLT’s) that are the starting point to how our children access our curriculum.  Targets are co-produced between home, school and outside agencies to build a picture of where the individual child is now and their next steps. 

Click on the curriculum areas below to find out more: 

Curriculum Impact 

Assessment at Oakwood will follow a child's individual curriculum pathway and will build on a child's previous achievements as opposed to measuring their progress based on external criteria and standards.  ​We use stories, songs, rhymes, our children’s special interests and real-life experiences such as important celebrations and our Pupil Leadership topics as valuable ‘hooks’ to motivate and engage our children to enable maximum progress. Individual Personal Learning Targets (PLT’s) places the child at the centre of planning and will be based on communication, independence and areas that will support children's development into the future. Please see our assessment page for more details. 

Curriculum Pathways (Year 10 - Year 11)

As learners transition into Year 10 they transition over to the three-tiered pathway which caters for pre-entry through to more formal accreditations: 

• Engagement for Life, learners are continuing to develop the earliest communication, cognitive and social interaction processes and skills.  They will be working on skills for life and accreditations Pre-Entry Level ASDAN and AQA

• Foundations for Life, learners are working on more refined communication. They will be working on skills for life, functional skills, Pre-Entry Level accreditations including ASDAN and AQAs

• Education for life, learners are working within some aspects of the National Curriculum, but not always in their chorological year group.  They will be working on skills for life, functional skills, Pre-Entry Level accreditations and with access to Level 1, Level 2 and GCSE/ A Level accreditation.

This enables a bespoke curriculum offer for the wider range of learners. We work with a range of organisations within the local community such as Blakemores/Spar,  Morrisons, West Midlands Metro, West Midlands Fire Service, Walsall Council Leisure Services to offer enterprise and enrichment opportunities in addition to our work with the local secondary schools within the Mercian Trust and  Walsall College to enable the highest academic success for our learners. We have the highest aspirations for all our learners. 

All learners will have full access to physical education, RSE, PHSE and Careers at an appropriate level to their needs.

Oakwood School has developed its own assessment system to track and measure progress that directly links to the 5-tiered curriculum. This in-school assessment and is used to track and measure progress of pupils working at early development levels right through to children working at a subject-specific knowledge level/NC.

Learning is planned to give each learner a broad and balanced curriculum.