Our Curriculum

Proud to do things Differently

The Nurture Centre has a Holistic Curriculum that prioritise the hidden aspects of learning that students with Autism and SEMH difficulties don’t naturally acquire as they learn and play. 

This approach compliments the Academic Curriculum but initially priorities Connect over curriculum content. 

Our Big Picture

The Holistic Curriculum at the Nurture Centre has been summarised in our big picture. It sets out the centre's Intent and outlines how we plan to Implement the curriculum to maximise the Impact for our students. 

Intent

We aspire to 'Lay the Foundations for Success' by nurturing each students self-awareness and enthusiasm for learning, developing their abilities to self-regulate their thoughts, feelings and emotions so they can communicate effectively with the world around them and build positive relationships.

Implementation

When student join the Nurture Centre they undertake a three month assessment period. During this time students follow a perosnailsed unit of work that supports the staff team to begin to understand the young persons needs. The assessment period also includes access to a comprehensive OT and SALT assessment which supports the tranisition into the full Nurture Centre Curriculum. 

Impact

The focus of the Nurture Centre's curriculum is to promote a young persons ability to learn. We aim to acheive this by supporting them to fully understand their own needs and give them the confidence to learn at their own pace and in their preferred style. The impact of the curriculum is that students at Nanpantan Hall Nurture Centre grow to be confident young people who are ready to learn and able to access the full currciulum. 

  Our Core Curriculum - Personal Development

Almost all pupils who attend the Nurture Centre do so after experiencing significant difficulties accessing a mainstream curriculum. Therefore, unlike traditional schooling, the Nurture Centre’s core curriculum has a strong focus on the holistic aspects of learning first, in order to lay the foundations for success.


We take this approach as experience and research shows that the Social, Emotional, and Mental Health challenges experienced by the majority of our pupils present a significant barrier to learning.  Our core curriculum, which is essentially the Nurture Centre's Personal Development offer, focus on developing pupils self-awareness, self-management,  social-awareness and social-management and is summarised below. For our full Personal Development offer, please click here.

Self-Awareness - Understanding Self

The Self-Awareness aspect of the curriculum is the Cornerstone of The Nurture Centre work and focuses on supporting students to develop a deeper understanding of themselves. The Nurture Centre considers this area of the curriculum as its core curriculum and covers the subjects of PHSE, Wellbeing and Citizenship. 

Self-Management / Physical and Artistic Expression

With Self-Awareness being the cornerstone of the Nurture Centre’s curriculum the Self-Management aspect is its Foundations. This aspect focuses on supporting students to develop strategies to promote Self-regulation and encourage Self-control. It covers the subject areas of Art and Design, Music and PE and activity seeks to promote student’s ability to physically and creatively express themselves in a positive way.  

Social Awareness - Understanding the Wider World

The Social Awareness aspect of the curriculum focuses on developing a deeper understanding of the wider world and covers the core subject of Science and the foundation subjects of History, Geography and RE. Each of these subject areas will be fully embedded in the topics and will provide learning with a social context. It will also form the basis of much of the cross-curricular links and plays an important role in promoting Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural (SMSC) opportunities and Fundamental British Values (FBV).

Social Management

The Social Management aspect of the curriculum is the culmination of all other areas and focuses on supporting students to develop an understanding of how to interact with the wider world in a safe and appropriate manner. This aspect of the curriculum covers aspects of Computing and Digital Literacy and will promote opportunities for students to work collaboratively with the wider school community and beyond. 

Our Curriculum Approach

Pupils at the Nurture Centre follow a personalised curriculum that adapts to an individual’s needs as they develop and grow in confidence. As part of our holistic approach these personalised curricular are summarised under three main approches. 

Engagement Approach

When pupils start at the Nurture Centre they initially follow an engagement approach to learning.  During the first 3 months learning is mainly led by a pupil’s interest and has a focus on holistic learning. Staff time is invested into build trusting relationships and gathering information about how best to support each individual moving forward.  

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Semi-Formal Approach

Pupil move onto the a semi-formal apporach to learning once positive relationships are firmly established. The balance between Holistic and Academic learning becomes more equally balanced as pupil become more accepting of structure and routine. 

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Formal Approach

The Formal approach to learning aspires to be as close to a mainstream curriculum as is possible. Learning is broad and balanced with a clear focus on accelerating academic learning as each pupil's confidence and holistic needs are being met. 



Curriculum Design

Whole School Long Term Curriculum Plan

The curriculum at the Nurture Centre is a broad and balanced, knowledge-rich primary curriculum. It's content is delivered through a range of subject-driven thematic projects that are linked to the National Curriculum, and cover the full range of subject requirements.

The Nurture Centre uses 'Cornerstones Maestro' t deliver the National Curriculum in an engaging way that is sequenced, progressive and cohesive.


The long term plan sets out the Nurture Centre's intended coverage which is then personalised to individual needs. The curriculum is organised into cycle A & B to support and accommodate mixed age groups.  - Please click on the image to view the Long Term Plan in more detail. 

Subject Sequencing and  Progression of Skill & Knowledge

Each project is linked to a program of study and broken down into 'chunks' that form a progressive framework that runs from Year 1 -Year 6. The framework includes the knowledge and skills that our pupils need to know and be able to do in order to make progress through the curriculum.



In addition to the Cornerstone Maestro Curriculum, the Nurture Centre also uses a number of recognised schemes of work to support teacher workload including 'White Rose' for Maths and 'Jigsaw' for PSHE/RSE. 

English Intent

Awaitng Updated Content (Sep 23)


Sequencing Document 

Knowledge & Skills

Science Intent

Awaitng Updated Content (Sept 23)


Sequencing Document 

Item link

History Intent

It is the intention of our history curriculum to encourage pupils to become curious about the past and how it has shaped the world they live in. Together we develop the minds and learning skills of our young historians, by nurturing and developing pupils’ abilities to analyse different sources of information to help them understand diversity throughout time and explore how the past has influenced the present and future. 


We transport pupils back in time to significant events which helps them develop a greater understanding of local, British, and global history. The history curriculum enables pupils to understand about past civilisations and explore how Britain and the world has changed over time. Pupils gain knowledge about the social, moral and cultural changes throughout time and use this knowledge to reflect on the similarities and differences of historic civilisations. 


History Overview 

Knowledge & Skills

Geography Intent

It is the intent of our Geography Curriculum, to inspire our pupils to be curious about the world around them and support them to understand their place in it. Together, we develop the minds and learning skills of our young geographers, by nurturing and developing pupils’ enquiry skills and encouraging creativity and lifelong learning. 


Through our geography curriculum pupils will develop a greater knowledge and understanding of the world beyond their own environment by learning about diverse places and people. Pupils study current issues that affect the ecology of the planet and explore questions about the natural and human aspects of the world. Pupils develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding of the world, which helps them to develop their self and social awareness supporting them become responsible citizens.


Geography Overview 

Knowledge & Skills

PE Intent

Our Physical Education curriculum, adapted from the ‘Twinkl Move’ scheme of work, encourages pupils to develop a lifelong love of physical activity, sport, and PE. We intent to inspire the leaders and team players of the future and encourage all our pupils to understand and know how to look after their own and others physical and mental health. 


The ‘Physical Education’ element of the curriculum complements the Self-Management aspect of the Nurture Centre’s core curriculum and will provide pupils with opportunities to explore their physical and mental health and learn how to express themselves creatively and physically. We strive to give every pupil the opportunity to develop their skills in PE and be able to consider the impact of physical activity on their health and fitness through competing/performing and evaluating. 


PE Overview

Knowledge & Skills

The Teaching of Phonics

The Nurture Centre follows the 'Twinkl Phonics' scheme which is based on the Department for Educations 'Letters and Sounds'. 


Twinkl Phonics is a DfE validated full systematic, synthetic phonics programme that contains everything needed to deliver phonics teaching to our pupils from the very beginning of learning to read and write to full fluency. It delivers GPCs in a clear and rigorous way so that skills are built progressively over time, ensuring that children have a secure base from which to develop.


Implementation 


Nationally all pupil are introduced to phonics at an early stage of schooling and usually undertake a phonics screening test at the end of their Year 1. At Nanpantan Hall Nurture Centre we recognise that the early school years for many of our pupils have been disruptive or challenging. This means that some pupils arrive at the Nurture Centre not having a fully developed understanding of phonics and in some cases have had a traumatic experience of being taught phonics. 


True to our nurturing approach we aim to met pupils where they are on their journey to reading fluency. When a pupils is not emotionally ready to fully access a synthetic phonics programme we work with them to build pre-reading skills, confidence and resilience. As soon as a pupil is ready to start phonics they take a baseline assessment and start the programme from the point they are confident. Phonics sessions can happen daily either during reading sessions or English lessons. 

Early Reading

Intent 

At Nanpantan Hall Nurture Centre we believe that all pupils should have the opportunity to be fluent, confident readers who are able to successfully comprehend and understand a wide range of texts. We want pupils to develop a love of reading and a good knowledge of a range of authors. By the end of their time at primary school, all pupils should be able to read fluently, and with confidence in any subject. We do not put ceilings on what pupils can achieve in reading and we do not hold pre-conceptions about any pupils’ ability to make progress. 

Implementation 

All pupils at the Nurture Centre are encouraged to develop a love of reading as soon as they join. Adults regularly read aloud to the pupils which complements a daily reading session where all pupil are encouraged to develop their understanding of 'phonics' and 'reading' skills. 

The Nurture Centre supports its early readers using the Rhino Readers scheme from Twinkle. It's fully decodable books help bridge the reading gap and take pupils from decoding to fluency. The school uses a 'Book Band' approach to support its more confident readers and offers a broad range of reading material to inspire wonder and awe.