Woodfield School

Woodfield is an outstanding special school with Specialist School Status for PE and ICT. We offer places to pupils from 11-19 with a wide range of learning difficulties. We have expertise in a range of teaching methods to meet the needs of pupils with Autism, Moderate Learning Difficulties and Severe Learning Difficulties. We work hard to ensure pupils are successful and we celebrate and recognise achievement and effort in all areas of the curriculum.

At Woodfield School we provide a secure, enjoyable and stimulating place to learn, where our pupils feel proud of what they have achieved. We have a curriculum that is practical and engaging, where teachers have high expectations that challenge and meet the needs of our pupils in this multicultural school.

We develop skills for independence in preparation for an active role in society and we maintain close contact with home, making parents and guardians welcome in school, enabling them to play a full part in the education of their children.

Woodfield School provides a rich, balanced and challenging curriculum for pupils to develop their academic, social and emotional skills. It encourages them to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens.

We aim to ensure our pupils leave us ready for life in modern Britain and a global society. The focus is on enabling pupils to progress through high quality teaching and a range of enjoyable learning experiences.

The acquisition of transferrable skills is central to the curriculum, both in terms of literacy and numeracy as well as the wider skills needed to equip pupils for success throughout and beyond their education.

Equality of access and equality of opportunity underpins Woodfield’s provision for all. Every pupil has access to a curriculum and a range of learning experiences of the highest standard possible, which take account of unequal starting points and which are provided irrespective of gender, ethnic background, age or disability.

The curriculum at Woodfield School is valued for its cross-curricular elements; aiming to reinforce basic concepts and use the pupil's curiosity to extend and enrich that encourages all pupils to progress successfully to the next stage in their education or career path.

From Autumn 2016 Woodfield has introduced a new, 'semi-formal' curriculum model for two class bases, where the core curriculum offer is adapted to promote deeper learning, generalisation and real world application.

At Woodfield School we strive to: Develop each pupil’s potential to learn and to achieve, promote all aspects of each pupil’s development preparing them to make a positive contribution to society and to have an understanding of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, encourage pupils to become independent, responsible, accepting and caring people with respect for the beliefs and values of others, provide a safe, supportive, calm environment for all pupils".

We aim to deliver a curriculum that is varied, challenging and inspiring, builds upon first hand experiences, is rich, stimulating and relevant, enable pupils to enjoy learning. Our outstanding curriculum strives to be responsive to each learner, and build on individual strengths and interests.

Assessment is a continuous cycle over the duration of each term, reviewed each half term and where required, strategies put in place to ensure progression. Feedback to parents and carers is provided for these targets at the end of each term. These are shared with pupils to encourage them to have pride in their accomplishments.

School gives pupils relevant opportunities for learning, and motivates and inspires all pupils to make progress across their learning intentions and through structured routines, appropriately paced and motivating activities with assessment for learning firmly embedded across all contexts.

Learning is promoted through well organised classrooms and learning environments. Classroom environments are created to support the different range of needs within the class, with learning resources which are shared across the school to support the individualised learning requirements of all pupils. This allows for pupils in a range of classes to have the resources available to support their interests and learning needs.

The curriculum in KS3 concentrates on pupils acquiring basic skills with a focus on personal independence and organisation.

The curriculum in KS4 concentrates on pupils extending their skills and increasing their independence with a focus on accreditation, vocational learning and healthy lifestyles.

The Key Stage 5 (Post 16) curriculum provides a wide range of learning experiences and opportunities that prepares our learners to be successful independent young adults in which they can approach future challenges with excitement and confidence.

Our provision aims to provide our learners with a balanced curriculum that gives them the opportunity to gain external accreditation, undertake vocational learning, experience work related learning and develop independent living skills.

We are constantly looking for ways to adapt flexibly to the changing demands of modern society and ensure we offer a curriculum that enables our learners to compete placements successfully when the time comes to leave us. As such our curriculum is constantly in development.

We have recently redesigned our curriculum delivery to encompass a more vocational experience and introduced a base class for our more complex learners.

The teaching in KS5 is highly individualised. In designing a personalised curriculum for each learner we adopt a holistic approach. Strengths and the needs of the individual learners are taken into account in setting targets, facilitating learning, developing teaching approaches and through discussion decide on suitable pathways.

The Sixth Form Team use a range of approaches of formative assessment to collect information, evidence and plan for each learner.

Our Vocational learning and option programmes aim to provide our learners with the opportunity to explore a range of vocational areas and supporting them to further develop their skills and interests and aspirations in a safe and secure setting.

The courses on offer include Catering, Horticulture, Cycle Maintenance, Hair and Beauty and Independent Living. All are linked into external accreditations including AQA and OCR. Learners spend two full days of the curriculum timetable which provides a practical ‘hands on’ approach to the subjects. During the vocational program, learners are expected to visit communities, retail environments and meet people in the workplace to gain a wider understanding of the world of work. Within the delivery of the vocational course learners will have opportunities to develop their skills and understanding of literacy and numeracy in everyday situations and complete OCR communication and Numeracy units.

All learners will have access to work related learning in the form of work experience. Woodfield School 6th Form works with Brent Work Experience Partners to find, establish and link our learners with work experience placements throughout the year. It is the aim of the 6th Form to provide each learner with either one or two full days placement for a whole term in an environment that is associated to their individual Vocational Educational pathways.