Curriculum
Curriculum offer at Heron Academy
Our curriculum aims to build on the strengths of our pupils and support their needs. We aim to prepare our pupils to live fulfilled and engaged adult lives in the community. We work on supporting our pupils to develop the skills and knowledge to access the community and become active members within it. This happens in discrete lessons. Due to the nature of our pupils some of our learning is incidentally, every interaction is a learning opportunity.
The curriculum works from non-subject specific to subject specific, working from the Engagement Model through to the Pre-Key Stage Standards. The curriculum is sequentially built from Modules and Units which build on knowledge and skills. In pathways 1 and 2 units of work are taught thematically enabling skills and knowledge to be generalised and maintained in an engaging and effective way. In pathway 3 and 4 units are linked to national curriculum subjects which are topic based.
Our curriculum has 4 pathways which link together. These can be seen in the continuum section. Our Post 16 cohort engage with thematic curricula and/or work experience curricula dependent on pupil stage of development.
Our pupils are exposed to a rich and broad curriculum which develops both pre-requisite subject specific skills and subject specific skills. For instance, our non-subject specific pupils will not have subject specific lessons but will be exposed to subject specific content such as reading through the Communication and Interaction strand.
Teachers are encouraged to use the suggested activities in the unit plans as a starting point for pupil focused planning. It is important that the termly theme is woven through the class planning to help bring the learning to life and generalise skills and knowledge.
The ultimate aim of our curriculum is for our pupils to leave Heron being able to manage their emotions, complete tasks with a degree of independence, to be able to advocate for themselves and enjoy life. All stakeholders have a vital role in making this a reality.
. 
. 
. 
