Dovetailing with the National Curriculum
Rugeley School’s curriculum draws significant content from the National Curriculum but is expertly adapted to meet every young people’s individual needs. The curriculum is built around the following seven areas, as set out in the Independent School Standards:
- Linguistic
- Mathematical
- Scientific
- Technological
- Human and social
- Physical
- Aesthetic and creative
At Rugeley School, Key Stage 2 and 3 pupils follow the National Curriculum but, from Key Stage 4 onwards, greater emphasis is placed on following individual interest. All our pupils work towards accredited awards with AQA, OCR and ASDAN.
Matching the curriculum to the student’s needs
When it comes to specialist autism provision, one size definitely does not fit all. Here at Rugeley School, we ensure that each of our pupils is on an appropriate education programme. In order to do this, we carefully track the progress each pupil makes in the following areas:
- Social Communication
- Social Interaction
- Social Imagination / Flexibility
- Sensory processing
- Engagement
- Emotional understanding and self-awareness (Mutual Regulation and Self-Regulation)
- Academic Learning
- Behaviour
- Independence and community participation
- Life Skills
From this information, we are able to place students in the most appropriate tier of the school curriculum and the class best suited to them.
Supporting learning
Rugeley School provides a highly structured learning environment that places great importance on a multisensory approach. We believe our pupils benefit greatly from the school’s consistent use of:
- Visual support
- The newest technology
- High quality resources
For our residential pupils, we ensure we maintain very close links between the school and the residential settings. Our joint-working processes ensure that individual targets and needs cross seamlessly. We believe that shared routines across home, school and extended community links provide a rich context for learning and maximise each individual’s potential for achievement.
Enriching learning
We provide an ‘Enrichment’ curriculum, offering our young people access to a wide range of interests which they may choose to pursue. We believe these structured activities help our students to develop better life outcomes through increasing interests, personal skills and employment. Vocational and work experience opportunities form an important part of the curriculum for many of our pupils post-16.