Westhaven School – Curriculum
Westhaven School – Curriculum
The Westhaven curriculum is carefully designed to address the needs of every learner, it is not just a series of stand-alone lessons or subjects but sequenced with the learner in mind. We believe that we have created a curriculum that takes our learners on a journey that puts well-being, social development, academic achievement, and independence at its heart and prepares them for the next key stage and also life beyond Westhaven.
The golden thread that permeates our curriculum and our conduct through every school day, and through the two learning pathways, be it a ‘ready to learn’ or ‘preparing to learn’ pathway, are the core values that shape our learners to be:
- safely independent
- confident communicators
- respectful citizens
- resilient learners
- inquisitive thinkers
The two learning pathways are fluid and learners are able to move between the pathways at any stage of their school journey. There is continuous teacher assessment and yearly class placement reviews. All learners are able to access areas of the curriculum at their own pace.
At Westhaven, we understand that children experience different learning and/or behavioural difficulties associated with the classroom. From the research developed by Nancy Mather, Ph.D. and Sam Goldstein, Ph.D. we have developed a BASE level of learning which provides a structure for the Preparing to Learn pathway.
| B | Behaviour | Actions, social skills, compliance |
| A | Attention & Self-Regulation | The ability to pay attention, self-regulate behaviour, control impulses, complete tasks |
| S | Self-Perception | Awareness of both strengths and abilities along with weaknesses |
| E | Emotions | The ability to pay attention, self-regulate behavior, control impulses, complete tasks |
Our curriculum therefore encompasses preparing for adulthood outcomes that include opportunities for employment, independent living, community inclusion, and health.
Our learning pathways allow a structure to lessons that builds, reflects, revisits, and reinforces knowledge and skills appropriate to the stage of development of the learner.
We believe children and young people learn better when they apply their learning to engaging contexts. Our curriculum gives our children opportunities to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding effectively whilst developing excitement, skills, ideas and the chance to express the learning they have fostered.
We want every Westhaven learner to be one that is a confident, happy individual that has a safe place to make mistakes. We want them to be inquisitive, resilient and inspired learners who believe in themselves and achieve their full potential.
Well-being travels through the heart of each pathway. At Westhaven, we believe that no one is ready to develop and learn if they do not have their basic needs met and have a strong sense of identity and good mental and physical health.
Impact
