Upper School
I started out my career lecturing in further education and it was here that I developed a passion for working with children and young people with social emotional and behavioural difficulties. After working in several specialist schools I am proud to call Bettws Lifehouse home, and I’m currently based in the Kingsland Grange Upper School as a teacher, interventions, outreach and designated mental health lead.
I am passionate about young people’s mental health and wellbeing and in trying to develop myself and deepen my knowledge, I also became a fully qualified person-centred counsellor and a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
I am passionate about creating the right conditions for every child to be able to access their education in order to thrive and achieve their true potential. No child is unreachable, and I am proud of how the Lifehouse work to cater for the individual needs of each child.
Outside of school, I run my own private practice specialising in children and young people and I devote the best of my time to my family life. I love to travel, explore the great outdoors and I’m a long term lover of the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
Salina Price
Upper School Faculty Manager
Curriculum
The curriculum in Upper school is based around the Preparing
for Adulthood (PfA) framework and the National curriculum programmes of Study
for Keys Stage 4. The PfA pathway reflects the SEND reforms and supports young
people to achieve fulfilling lives in their communities and career aspirations
There are 4 main strands:
pupils are supported to chose subjects
which will enable them to follow their career aspirations into employment. This
may include standard and vocational qualifications alongside work experience
and life skills.
Post 16 pupils may then progress to additional higher level
qualifications, into Further Education, supported Internships, apprenticeships,
employment or University. Clear careers advice and guidance enables them to
investigate and experience opportunities to help with their decision-making.
pupils
are supported to investigate housing options and gain the skills that they need
to live independently.
This includes travel training, accessing services and
ultimately contributing to their local communities and the wider world
Pupils
are supported to spend time with their peers both in school and in their
communities.
They are encouraged to
maintain friendships and relationships and access their community in ways that
keep them safe and increase their confidence.
Pupils are supported to manage their own health and live active
and healthy lifestyles as they progress into adulthood. They are encouraged to
develop the skills to ensure they can access health professionals and hence
live health active lives.
All pupils are required to participate in ‘HAL’
(healthy Active Lifestyles) activities within their individual timetable
programme.
The curriculum is developed to encourage pupils to become active learners by ensuring it makes them feel safe & secure, releases their motivation, unlocks their curiosity and increases their participation. Each pupil has an bespoke curriculum which is identified in their lifehouse Learning Pathways document (LLP)
KS4 LLPs will normally prioritise:
The curriculum consists of appropriate skills and
levels of learning depending on the individual Learning pathway:
Pupils working at Therapeutic Level follow a personalised curriculum and are working towards E4L goals, Lifehouse Attitude to Learning Levels & identified personal outcomes
Pupils have
opportunity to develop Skills across the curriculum including: ·
Pupils work towards subject level outcomes: The National Curriculum Levels or Lifehouse Curriculum Levels
Pupils in KS4
work towards Entry Level, Level 1 & Level 2 outcomes (Both Standard and
Vocational options)
Post-16 pupils
work towards Entry Level, Level 1, Level 2 & Level 3 outcomes (both
Standard and Vocational options) in addition they may be engaged in supported
Internships or work experience
Curriculum Subjects and Areas of Learning
Subjects within the curriculum offer are organised under 9 curriculum
areas of learning Experience:
Using the Programmes of Study from the National Curriculum combined with our aim to provide individual learning pathways, which include therapeutic education, our aim is to develop pupils’ abilities within an integrated programme of speaking & listening, reading & writing, performing and creative art and design. Learners are encouraged to:
Using the Programmes of Study from
the National Curriculum combined with our aim to provide individual learning
pathways, which include therapeutic education, our aim is to develop pupils’
abilities and enthusiasm to maintain healthy and active lifestyles. Learners will be given opportunities to
develop their skills in cooking alongside optional subjects areas such as food
and nutrition, hair and beauty and a programme of physical activity / HAL
(Healthy Active Lifestyles)
Specifically,
the aims of Healthy Living are to:
Using the Programmes of Study from
the National Curriculum combined with our aim to provide individual learning
pathways, which include therapeutic education, our aim is to develop pupils’
abilities within an integrated programme of Speaking & Listening, Reading
& Writing. Learners will be given
opportunities to develop their use, knowledge and understanding of spoken and
written English and literacy within a broad and balanced curriculum, with
opportunities to consolidate and reinforce taught literacy skills. We are committed to developing:
Mathematical
Mathematics,
numeracy, and statistics are tools for everyday life. They are a whole network
of concepts and relationships which provide a way of viewing and making sense
of the world. They are used to analyse and communicate information and ideas
and to tackle a range of practical tasks and real-life problems. They also
provide the materials and means for creating new imaginative worlds to explore.
This Subject
Learning Area Pathway can be divided into 3 inter-related strands:
Mathematics
Numeracy
Statistics
Using
the Programmes of Study from the National Curriculum, which may be modified,
combined with our aim to provide individual learning pathways, we are committed
to developing:
Physical
Bettws Lifehouse School recognises the advantages of providing encouragement to support pupils to engage in physical and outdoor activities. The therapeutic advantages and the opportunities to engage in Healthy Active Lifestyles (HAL), in a way which supports pupils health and fitness, also helps to embed values such as fairness and respect.
Using the Programmes of Study from
the National Curriculum combined with our aim to provide individual learning
pathways, which include therapeutic education, our aim is to develop pupils’
abilities within an integrated programme of Physical. Learners will be given opportunities to
develop their emotional, Social and economic skills alongside informed
knowledge as appropriate.
Specifically,
the aims of Physical are to:
Scientific
The sciences
provide foundations for understanding the world. Learners are encouraged to
understand the significance that sciences have on what is occurring in the
world they live in and how they enable us to predict how things behave and
change.
This Subject
Learning Area Pathway is divided into individual subjects: ·
Biology
Chemistry
Physics Astronomy Applied
Science
The overall
aim for this subject learning area is to enrich learning for all pupils and to
ensure that they develop confidence and competence to understand how the
sciences are related to the world in which they live.
Technological (IT/Digital Learning)
The growing
importance of ICT skills is well documented. The CBI report ‘Working on the
three Rs recognises ‘the steadily growing significance of IT in so many
aspects of working life’. The Leitch Review of Skills final report: ‘Prosperity
for all in the global economy-world class skills’ acknowledges skills that were
once seen as high level are increasingly seen as basic skills. The ability to
use a computer is one of the most visible and widely used generic skills. The
past few decades have seen a rapid expansion in the need for IT skills across
all occupations and sectors
This Subject
Learning Area Pathway can be divided into 3 strands: · Computer
Science
Information
Technology
Digital
Literacy
The overall
aim for this subject learning area is to enrich learning for all pupils and to
ensure that teachers develop confidence and competence to use Information and
Communication Technology in the effective teaching of their subject as well as
understand the importance of ‘computer science’ as a bespoke subject. The 3
inter-related strands offer opportunities for pupils to:
The overall
aim for this subject learning area is to enrich learning for all pupils and to
enable them to experience and value different routes into the workforce through
a more practical skills route. The subjects offer opportunities for pupils to:
Using the Programmes of Study from
the National Curriculum combined with our aim to provide individual learning
pathways, which include therapeutic education, our aim is to develop pupils’
abilities within an integrated programme of PSHE and RSE. Learners will be given opportunities to
develop their emotional, Social and economic skills alongside informed knowledge
of RSE as appropriate.
Specifically,
the aims of PSHE are to:
·
Specifically, the aims of RSE are:
Upper School Key Stage 4 Options
All pupils follow individual Learning Pathways, which
wherever possible, include both a core subjects and a selection of individual
options.
Core
Subjects
The Core subjects are studied by all pupils at a level
appropriate to the individual. This may
be to qualification or for subject learning. Pupils in discussion with their
Parents / Carers, Lead Teacher and the Head of Lower School can make one
selection from each column. In addition,
all pupils will follow a programme of PSHE, Health and Wellbeing.
Optional Subjects
The
optional subjects are selected from the 5 areas of the Pathways to Adulthood (PfA)
framework and from pupils own Individual interests. They are selected at
a level appropriate to the individual.
This may be to attain a qualification or for skills and personal
interest. The overall pathways section is aimed to allow the pupil to gain the
necessary skills and qualifications to progress into a variety of ways. This
may be into Further Education vocational study, supported Internships,
apprenticeships, further academic qualifications or into employment.
Pupils can
select up to TWO choices from each
column. Please identify choices 1 and 2, as a preferred choice and reserve choice
in each column. Wherever possible and
subject to timetable constraints the school will attempt to offer all choices
identified. Please note some subjects may require a minimum number of pupils to
be offered.
