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Park School


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		6th form schools

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Personal development is the central aim of the whole curriculum in a special school, so coordination is all the more important.

The school

Park School is an urban, MLD-designated special school taking 4 to16 year-olds from Tamworth and some other parts of Staffordshire and North Warwickshire. It has 130 places, together with 10 places in the attached nursery.

The programme

Personal development, particularly learning to become independent, is the main focus of the key stage 4 curriculum. The school aims to enable students to become rounded individuals by the time they leave. There is continual assessment of students’ individual personal development needs, with adaptation of the curriculum where necessary.

In year 10, the key stage 4 curriculum is English, mathematics, science, IT, some humanities and optional French. In year 11, there is a wider choice of options, including child care, health and beauty, and building a hovercraft (something year 11 boys are particularly keen on).

However, there is also an explicit personal development curriculum, set out in a series of separate documents for sex and relationship education, PSHE, citizenship, RE and work-related learning. The documents note the links between these different areas, and personal development is taught as a single subject in its own lessons throughout key stage 4.

Careers education is delivered separately.

The time allocated to personal development lessons increases as the students go through key stage 4. In year 10, it is 20% of teaching. This increases to 50% during year 11, and as the end of the year approaches (when the students leave the school) it occupies nearly all the teaching time. In the final stages, the emphasis is very much on encouraging independence and helping students to make a successful transition to the next stage of their lives.

Learning outside lessons

There are many school activities outside formal lessons which contribute to the students’ personal development. These include visits from the drugs coordinator, sessions with Connexions advisers, and the option of studying in college for part of the week.

Work experience placements can occupy up to three days a week. For some students the placement is outside school, perhaps in a local supermarket. For others, the work experience takes place in the school: for example, helping with serving lunches. Students have the opportunity to engage in various types of community work, such as gardening, charities and children’s nurseries.

Students work with the school nurse to provide peer group support. There are many opportunities for social and moral development. There are fewer opportunities for cultural and spiritual development, but the school makes good use of visitors, particularly visiting theatre companies, to boost spiritual and cultural awareness. Students also study alternative religions in the beliefs and values section of the ASDAN Youth Award Scheme.

There is a video club, a dance club, theatre presentations, sporting activities, sessions to encourage students to read for pleasure, and opportunities to cook lunch or take part in a school production. Some of these take place in school time; others take place after school or in the lunch break.

Coordination

Everyone who is involved in helping the students to learn takes part in planning the curriculum. This includes not just the teachers and teaching assistants, but also Connexions staff, a language assistant, the school nurse and the school handyman.

They plan formal and informal meetings aimed at supporting individual students. Much of the overall planning takes place in May for the following school year. The key stage 4 coordinator puts all the plans together and then returns them to staff for decisions on teaching and learning. There is a great deal of team teaching, particularly in the specific activity weeks such as the Environment Week, and in work for the ASDAN Youth Award.

Assessment and certification

The school uses records of achievement and the B-squared database to assess and record students’ progress. Students’ records of achievement include copies of school records linked to their Individual Education Plans. The students are encouraged to write these plans themselves in year 11.

The criteria for success include the students’ ability to function independently, to make their own decisions and give their own views, to take part in activities and to be self-confident.

Success in gaining qualifications is also considered important. Students work towards the ASDAN Youth Award, Entry level qualifications and the level 1 Key Skills qualifications.

The school runs Team Enterprise for students in years 9 to 11.

Students appreciate the links between initiatives. Craig, a year 11 student, says, 'Young Enterprise, such as the banking, can be used in the Youth Award Folder'.