Curricula Pathway Approaches

At Prestley Wood Academy, we recognise that children and young people with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties learn differently and therefore require different approaches to learning. Our curriculum has been designed to ensure that every pupil accesses learning that is meaningful, ambitious and responsive to their individual needs.

Learners are guided on a clearly defined, personalised journey to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to flourish as valued members of their community in life beyond school.

Our curriculum is organised into three pathways: Pre-Formal, Informal and Semi-Formal. These pathways are not hierarchical and do not represent levels of success. Instead, they identify the most effective curriculum approach for each learner at a particular stage of development. This reflects the principles set out in Curricula for Teaching Children and Young People with Severe or Profound Learning Difficulties (Imray & Hinchcliffe, 2014), which emphasise matching curriculum design to how learners’ access and process learning rather than simply what is taught.

Placement within a pathway is informed by a pupil's cognition and learning, communication, social and emotional development, sensory profile, physical needs and readiness to engage with different types of learning experiences. Pupils may move between pathways over time as their learning profile develops. Provision is determined by individual need whilst maintaining high aspirations and access to a broad and balanced and sequential curriculum which is adapted at point of delivery.

What is Consistent Across All Pathways?

Communication at the Heart: Every pupil is supported through a total communication approach which may include speech, signing, symbols, Objects of Reference, AAC and assistive technology. Communication is embedded across every curriculum area and every interaction. Consistent with the principles outlined in Communication at the Heart of the School (Latham & Miles, 2012), we recognise communication as both a fundamental outcome and the means through which learning takes place. Staff are trained to recognise, interpret and respond to pupils' communication at their individual level, ensuring communication is embedded within learning, relationships and daily routines.
EHCP Outcomes Drive Learning: Individual EHCP outcomes remain at the centre of curriculum planning. Teachers use curriculum pathways alongside EHCP outcomes to design learning that is personalised, ambitious and relevant to each pupil's long-term aspirations. It is co-produced with families and professionals.
Preparation for Adulthood: Preparation for Adulthood is a golden thread running throughout the curriculum. (Employment and future opportunities, independent living, Community participation, Health and wellbeing). These priorities begin in the earliest stages of learning and continue throughout the school journey.

Ambition for Every Learner: Whilst our pupils learn differently, every pupil accesses a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum with high expectations and meaningful pathways towards adulthood.

High Expectations for Every Learner

Whilst our pupils learn differently, every pupil is entitled to a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum. Learning is carefully sequenced and adapted so that pupils develop the knowledge, understanding, communication and independence skills needed to achieve meaningful outcomes and participate fully in their communities. As highlighted throughout Imray's work on curriculum design ambition is not defined by the content of a curriculum alone but by securing genuine progress towards meaningful long-term outcomes.

Pre-Formal Pathway

The Pre-Formal pathway is designed for learners with profound and multiple learning disabilities and those with the most complex learning, sensory, physical and medical needs. For these learners, progress is not best supported through subject-based approaches or traditional National Curriculum models. Instead, learning is rooted in engagement, interaction and exploration, reflecting the principles described in The PMLD Curriculum: Supporting More Inclusive Practice (Lacey, 2011) and the statutory Engagement Model (DfE, 2020).

Our approach is underpinned by the recognised Five Key Principles for Supporting Learners with PMLD identified by the PMLD Network and Mencap:

Responsive and individualised approaches
Multi-sensory learning experiences
Communication at the heart of all interactions
Meaningful relationships with consistent adults
A holistic approach integrating education, health and therapy

The pre-formal curriculum is an integrated curriculum accessed through highly personalised support. Learners interact with the world through observing, exploring and experiencing. Thematic play and immersive learning experiences provide opportunities to encounter the world, develop curiosity and build breadth of experience across their school journey.

Learning occurs through responsive, reciprocal interactions with familiar adults and through carefully planned sensory experiences. The emphasis on communication-led interaction draws upon A Practical Guide to Intensive Interaction (Nind & Hewett, 2001), which highlights the importance of shared attention, responsiveness and relationship-based learning

Learners are supported through approaches such as Intensive Interaction, sensory stories, TACPAC, Objects of Reference, Songs of Reference, AAC, eye gaze, on-body signing, positive touch, story massage and multi-sensory environments. Learning is further supported through integrated therapeutic approaches including hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, postural care, sensory regulation and body awareness programmes.

Assessment focuses on engagement, responsiveness, participation, communication and increasing independence. In line with the Engagement Model, small steps are recognised as meaningful achievements because they represent genuine growth in a pupil's ability to understand, influence and interact with the world around them. Progress is evidenced through observation, engagement outcomes, photographs and knowledge of the individual learner over time.

Our pre-formal curriculum ensures that learners access rigorous, immersive and meaningful experiences whilst being valued and respected as individuals.

Informal Pathway

The Informal pathway supports learners who are developing early communication, attention and problem-solving skills but continue to require highly structured and specialist approaches to learning. Many pupils have severe learning difficulties alongside autism and are working significantly below age-related expectations across most areas of learning.

The curriculum focuses on helping pupils develop communication, emotional regulation, attention, engagement, independence and social understanding. Learning is delivered through carefully structured experiences that combine play, routine, repetition and exploration. This reflects the principles outlined in Engaging Learners with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (Carpenter et al., 2011), which identifies engagement as a key precursor to learning and progress.

Many pupils on this pathway are highly sensitive to sensory stimuli and require carefully planned environments and predictable routines to support successful participation in learning and sharing their environments. Consistent routines and a total communication approach help pupils anticipate events, understand expectations and engage more confidently with their surroundings.

Adults scaffold learning carefully, modelling communication, interaction and play. Pupils are encouraged to make choices, broaden preferences, develop curiosity and engage increasingly with the people, activities and environments around them. Learning is revisited frequently to support consolidation and enable pupils to apply skills across different contexts. This reflects the understanding that learners with severe learning difficulties often require repeated and meaningful opportunities to encounter, practise and generalise new learning before it becomes secure.

Approaches may include structured teaching, Attention Autism, AAC, sensory regulation strategies and personalised interventions designed to remove barriers to learning and increase participation. The overall aim is to help pupils become increasingly independent learners who can communicate effectively, manage themselves successfully and participate meaningfully in everyday life.

Semi-Formal Pathway

The Semi-Formal pathway supports learners who are developing the skills to engage in increasingly structured learning whilst continuing to require specialist teaching approaches and curriculum adaptations.

The curriculum promotes curiosity, enquiry, communication and problem-solving. The emphasis is not simply on acquiring knowledge, but on helping pupils develop understanding, make connections and learn how to think about the world around them. This reflects the curriculum principles set out in Curricula for Teaching Children and Young People with Severe or Profound Learning Difficulties (Imray & Hinchcliffe, 2014), which emphasise conceptual understanding and meaningful learning rather than the memorisation of isolated facts.

Learners are supported to investigate, explore, question and solve problems through a combination of structured teaching, guided discovery and real-life experiences. Opportunities for learning may be informal, semi-directed or structured, with skilled adult support enabling pupils to make connections between new learning, previous experiences and the world around them.

Learning is carefully sequenced and revisited to help pupils retain knowledge, deepen understanding and apply their learning in different situations, both within school and in the wider community.

Where appropriate, pupils access bespoke interventions to remove barriers to learning, including communication support, sensory regulation programmes, phonics and reading interventions, AAC systems and structured teaching approaches. Learning is broken down into manageable steps whilst maintaining ambitious expectations and clear preparation for future learning and adulthood.

The Semi-Formal curriculum ultimately aims to equip pupils with the knowledge, skills, confidence and independence needed to become participatory and valued members of their communities.