1. Foreward

All practitioners in Scotland are familiar with the aims and purpose of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), which are summarised below. CfE aims to achieve a transformation in education in Scotland by providing a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum from 3-1 8. The curriculum includes the totality of experiences which are planned for children and young people through their education, wherever they are being educated. The purpose of the curriculum is encapsulated in the four capacities – to enable each child or young person to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen and an effective contributor. The curriculum aims to ensure that all children and young people in Scotland develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they will need if they are to flourish in life and work now and in the future. (Curriculum Review Group 2004) Staff in one school who teach and support learners aged 3 to 18 years with significant and complex needs, examined this rationale in relation to their children and young people.  They re-examined the quality of their partnership working and ensured it met the principles and practice of GIRFEC to ensure best outcomes for each child and young person.  They also took full account of the advice within the Building the Curriculum  series and the guidance: Pre-Birth to Three: Positive Outcomes for Scotland’s Children and Families  and posed the following questions:
  1. What might CfE look like in our school?
  2. How should we identify, assess and plan for the needs of our children and young people?
  3. How can we meet the needs of our children and young   people?
  4. How can we evidence their achievements  and progress
Support Manual 2 describes the journey of the school in developing:
  • an appropriate curriculum in line with CfE for children and young people with significant and complex needs;
  • Pedagogy which meet the needs of learners with significant and complex needs;
  • An ethos which embraces the acceptance of diversity, has high expectations and promotes achievement and an infrastructure of systems, information and procedures which support parents and  professional partners;
  • approaches for monitoring and evaluating practice to ensure positive outcomes for children and young people.
Support Manual 2 provides details of the school’s curriculum design, teachers’ plans, approaches to assessment, recording and reporting as well as a description of other important aspects of this specialist provision. It is believed that this model can also be used in specialist provisions within a mainstream setting.
In order to support managers and practitioners to continuously evaluate their practice and provision, there are Prompts for Reflection at the end of Sections. These Prompts can stimulate discussion and help staff to improve practice.
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