Chapel Green School Curriculum
Challenge Grow Shine
“Our job is not to prepare students for something. Our job is to help students prepare themselves for anything.” - A.J.Juliani
Curriculum Rationale
Chapel Green School opened in January 2018 on a beautiful new site, providing us with the space and scope to develop the curriculum in ways not possible on the old site. The move coincided with a new climate of freedom and expectation within the Complex Needs sector, to develop a curriculum that truly meets the needs of students within a school. We developed our curriculum over three years to cater for all ages and abilities of students. During this time, we continued to grow in size. Once we reached 175 students, we decided it was time to move from a small school curriculum to a big school curriculum; ensuring each key stage and route had a specific learning offer alongside bespoke packages. We then transitioned onto a Knowledge and Skills based curriculum system from January 2024. Throughout the school, learning experiences are exciting, relevant and destination- led.
Curriculum Ethos
At Chapel Green school, our ethos is that all students and staff have the right to
Challenge, Grow and Shine
both at school and out in the wider world.
Curriculum Vision
We believe that learning is an adventure, one that is inspirational and creative. We provide a variety of experiences to provide challenge to enable every individual to grow and become the best they can be as they shine in the light of their achievements.
Learning opportunities are child-centred with an emphasis on life skills and preparation for adulthood. We encourage independence and communication giving everyone the opportunity to achieve success.
We foster relationships and work in collaboration to overcome barriers and create a respectful and inclusive community.
We provide a safe environment for all our students to flourish and forge happy, fulfilling, successful lives.
Curriculum Intent
Our curriculum has been developed with a focus on aspirational, destination led learning, preparation for future learning and life beyond school. We want to provide the best possible education for all of our pupils and aim for every child to access a bespoke curriculum that meets their needs and allows them to have fun and develop their communication, independence skills and cultural capital. By making learning irresistible we will ensure that all our pupils learn successfully, resulting in the best possible progress so they are fully prepared to make positive choices for their future.
“Total Communication” underpins all learning; this supports our pupils to become successful and confident communicators and independent learners.
Curriculum Umbrellas
The curriculum has been divided into key umbrella areas:
Literacy & Communication
Maths & Problem Solving
Personal Skills, Physical Development & Health- PE
Personal Skills, Physical Development & Health- PSHE
Environment & Community
Creativity
My Future
Skills & Knowledge Curriculum
The skills are developmental, progressing from pupils working at the very earliest levels of development through to our most able learners. These skills are not age related; one of our younger pupils could have a relatively high skill level and conversely an older students might still be working on some of the earliest skill levels.
The knowledge by contrast focuses on the key content and context that pupils should be exposed to during the different phases of their education. Appropriate experiences and lesson content for a five year old is very different to what is appropriate at eighteen.
By combining these two strands into their planning, our teachers are able to put together learning experiences that are tailored to the individual needs of every pupil that they teach, in all six phases of education.
At CGS, we also use knowledge and skills planning formats to compliment the curriculum. For the individual skills, we use a Child Centred plan which focuses on what an individual student can already do and what they are working towards. For the knowledge, each class has a knowledge plan which highlights the offer for the key stage and route of the students in the class.
Our Core Values
At Chapel Green School, for our pupils, their families and our staff, we value:
- Cooperation.
- Responsibility
- Respect
- Resilience
- Kindness
Students receive a values certificate each half term for demonstrating the focus value that half term, alongside a value badge to add to their personal lanyard. In the first half of the autumn term, we focus on our pre-value of Transition while students adjust to their new class, peers or staff.
Our Learning Routes
Over the past few years, our pupils have become ever more diverse and complex. After an initial assessment period, we place the pupils into one of 4 Learning Routes: Pre-formal, Pre-formal Plus, Semi-formal and Formal, with the formal and semi-formal routes utilising the same approaches but pushing for higher level outcomes for formal students. Our EYFS route spans across the EYFS and KS1 classes and is used before determining which route category each student falls into at the end of KS1. Each learning route has a leader and class staff teams specialising in these areas provide a bespoke package to cater for pupil’s individual strengths, needs and interests. The Route teams meet to develop the learning experiences for pupils within the routes and support the continuing professional development of staff.
Focusing on pupil’s learning styles and needs allows for bespoke provision and the flexibility to place the emphasis on the priority areas for the different routes, for example more traditional Literacy and numeracy skills for the semi-formal pupils and therapeutic approaches for the pre-formal plus and pre-formal. The pace of learning can be adapted for each route to maximise opportunities for learning and engagement.
The Core Curriculum
For all pupils, regardless of learning route or age, the core curriculum comprises: English (including Communication and Literacy), Maths (including problem solving), PSHE (including RSHE) and Physical Development (including PE). These subjects each have a leader (from the leadership team) who develops the strategy and monitors delivery, learning and progress within the subject. The following gives more detail.
Curriculum Policy Overview Document
- Communication Strategy
- Reading Strategy
- Writing Strategy
- Maths Strategy
- Calculations Policy
- PSHE Strategy
- Physical Development and PE
Accredited courses
Our accreditation offer is through ASDAN and City & Guilds. The ASDAN offer is available for all students Key Stage 4 and onwards. For those assessed as able to, there is an additional Key Stage 3 ASDAN offer and also Functional Skills qualifications through City & Guilds. The Functional Skills offer is currently for literacy and maths skills and we are awaiting an ICT Functional Skills package to be released. For our most able Key Stage 4 and above students, we also offer short courses in skill and interest areas to promote future destinations.
Curriculum Overviews
The curriculum overviews show teachers what to teach each half term. Each half termly focus will be sent home through the class newsletter.
If you would like any additional information about the curriculum coverage for your young person, please email your class team.
Knowledge and Skills Documents
These documents show teachers which age-specific knowledge should be taught at each key stage and which skillset a student is working on. They are divided into the following curriculum umbrellas:
Literacy & Communication
Maths & Problem Solving
Personal Skills, Physical Development & Health- PE
Personal Skills, Physical Development & Health- PSHE
Environment & Community
Creativity
My Future
Withdrawal from Areas of the Curriculum
Religious Education
Parents/carers have a right to withdraw their young person from Religious Education (RE). This applies to students of school age and in Sixth Form.
A parent/carer can request for their young person to be partly or wholly withdrawn from:
- Receiving Religious Education as part of the school curriculum
- Attending religious worship at school (Sixth Form students with the cognition to understand the choice, can choose to remove themselves from religious worship).
Please be aware, that the CGS RE curriculum is relevant to all pupils and respects each individuals personal beliefs.
If you would like to understand the CGS RE curriculum more, please attend the online training events (termly curriculum training at the beginning of each term) or email deputyalg@chapelgreen.norfolk.sch.uk
PSHE - Sex Education
Parents/carers have the right to withdraw their young person from part or all of the Sex Education offered as part of the CGS curriculum, unless the school believes there to be "exceptional circumstances".
Parents/carers can do this up to 3 terms before the child's 16th birthday where this choice will then be re-evaluated through student voice.
Parents/carers can not, however, withdraw their young person from relationships or health education.
If you would like to understand the CGS PSHE curriculum more, please attend the online training events (termly curriculum training at the beginning of each term) or email deputyalg@chapelgreen.norfolk.sch.uk
If You Wish to Withdraw
If you wish to withdraw your young person from any aspect of Religious or Sex Education, please contact the school office.
Online Training and Support Events for Families
At CGS, we have a monthly training and support package online for families. There is a focus each month (2 in some cases) and the office will send out the date, time and Zoom link for you to access each month. If you are unable to attend, but would like the information, you can request a recording from the office after the event has taken place.
