Pathway 4

The young people with pathway 4 are likely to have learning difficulties alongside other needs such as autism. Young people in Pathway 4 may be ready to access formal learning but may have aspects of surface learning and splinter skills. We want our young people to have concrete learning in the real world and therefore we ensure that they have access to a wide range of locations that allow them to enhance and apply their learning.

Pathway 4 young people follow a core offer within our areas of learning which covers a blend of subject based learning, pastoral support and activity personalised to reflect aspirations, strengths and needs identified within the EHCP. Including work related learning and qualifications in KS4 and Sixth Form.

English

All Pathway 4 young people follow a personalised formal curriculum. The curriculum aims to develop skills, knowledge and understanding overtime, connecting learning and developing links across the curriculum that support their development of schema.

At Pathway 4 English is organised into Reading, Writing and Communication and Language.

In Pathway 4 learners are taught to be fluent, confident and critical readers, by reading a range of text types for both education and pleasure purposes whilst analysing the impact of language. Young people will be fluent, confident and critical readers in readiness for qualifications at an appropriate level. Young people will be encouraged to recognise the importance of reading skills for life school.

During Pathway 4 young people are taught to write independently for a range of purposes and audiences using ambitious vocabulary, exciting sentence openers and a range of linguistic techniques. Young people will learn to write to a range of audiences and purposes. Young people will write for both fiction and non-fictional purposes adapting their language and layout to suit both purpose and audience. Writing will be rich in techniques and technically accurate.

During Pathway 4 the aim is to ensure young people are able to communicate effectively across a vast range of contexts adapting language/communication to suit both audience and purpose. Young people will develop the use of non-verbal cues to express meaning and showing respect to others. Communication is supported through a range of teaching strategies including image of the week, debates, subject discussions, speeches, presentations, discussions with unfamiliar people. By the end of Pathway 4, young people are competent and confident communicators; they are able to adapt their language/communication to suit both the audience and purpose. They are able to adapt their tone and speak with intonation. They can sustain conversations on a broad range of topics.

Maths

We ensure that young people can apply their learning in a range of contexts and therefore number and calculations, are encouraged at a level that challenges in all other subjects.

Cognition Maths in pathway 4 includes; subject specific learning, progress against individual academic targets, appropriate qualification or vocational studies, readiness to learn, self-study and independent thinking and learning.

Pathway 4 covers a wide range of abilities with the Ascent Trust assessment structure from D1 to F2 assessment through to GCSE and accredited courses. We need to ensure that learning is built on systematically from young people’s starting points. This is ensured through having key objectives that should be mastered and clear entry and exit points within each stage of the curriculum.

In Pathway 4, we aim to enable young people to understand the number system and apply that knowledge through a range of mathematical reasoning, problem solving and calculations. Young people will apply number concept to explore shape, space, measure and data.

The curriculum is organised into different topics, young people will access Number, Shape, Space and Measure. and Chance and data. Number is taught continually throughout the year whilst maths topics are delivered alongside. Each stage has clear entry and exit points and medium-term plans support teachers to plan learning for each young person.

Teachers use personalised learning ladders to break down an objective into small steps for young people at the start of a unit of work. This demonstrates the ambition the teacher has for each young person over the half term unit of work. Ambition should include application and mastery of skills and understanding of conceptual learning.

Science

At Pathway 4 young people follow a personalised formal curriculum.

The curriculum aims to develop young people’s science subject knowledge and scientific enquiry skills. It is a stimulating and engaging curriculum which looks to capture and maintain young people’s interest through awe, wonder and excitement. This is done with key concepts taught through Biology, Chemistry and Physics foci.

The curriculum is organised into different topics over a three year plan. Science is a spiral curriculum that gradually builds and deepens young people’s knowledge and ideas within science.

Learning is predominately practical and allows opportunities for young people to explore science in an environment that wants them to interact with the world they live in and gain an understanding of it.

Young people are encouraged to develop and use subject specific vocabulary to show their level of knowledge and understanding. Thinking Frames have been introduced throughout the Pathway to support students in ordering their thoughts, developing knowledge and recording their observations.

Scientific enquiry skills are embedded throughout the curriculum so that our young people use a variety of skills to answer scientific questions/investigations. These are: questioning, predicting, planning, analysis of data, evaluating and communicating.

At Key Stage 4, we aim to enable young people to follow a science qualification. Qualifications are offered that suit the learning needs and abilities of young people.

The aim is to provide young people with opportunities to continue to learn and study the world around them scientifically, at the level of knowledge and understanding which allows them to grasp key concepts in life.

All learning is contextualised into real life situations. Through continued work in the 3 sciences, young people learn in a practical manner to continue to develop their love of all things science. Young people currently follow an entry level qualification in Science.

Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE)

In Pathway 4 PSHEC young people follow a personalised formal curriculum which is adapted through the supportive framework of the PSHE Association SEND framework which is designed to support the development of PSHE so that it is age appropriate and covers the statutory requirements but is accessible for young people with SEND.

Young people in pathway 4 will cover the requirements for either primary or secondary age. PSHEC supports areas of young people’s EHCP and particularly in pathway 4, this can be taught discreetly as well as using a cross curricular approach. Within the Ascent Trust curriculum, as a standard, young people are taught by stage not age, however, given the statutory and appropriate age of the PSHEC curriculum the framework is delivered through a KS1-2 and KS3-4 framework.

The framework covers Self-Awareness, Self-Care, Support and Safety, Managing feelings, Changing and growing, Healthy lifestyles and The world I live in.

It is a spiral curriculum that builds upon prior knowledge and as such addresses gaps in knowledge that may have developed for a variety of reasons through a young person’s educational experience.

Opportunities to embed knowledge are actively sought across the curriculum and also support EHCP targets on an individual basis.

All young people of Secondary age access Community Citizens to support personal, social and health education as well as engaging with the local community. Young people follow the Archbishop of York Young Leader’s programme to develop their awareness and involvement of community action and engagement.

Physical Education

In Pathway 4 PE, young people will be taught to use motor skills, social & emotional skills to participate in a broad range of physical activities that promote enjoyment, health, fitness and stamina that enables them to engage in a range of competitive sporting activities. Young people access a range of different environments to develop motor, social and emotional skills. PE opportunities may take place in the local community through accessing community facilities in order to prepare for adulthood.