Planning doesn't exist in a vacuum. A teacher needs to set a lesson within a series of lessons in a scheme of work. The National Curriculum provides programmes of study for all subjects. However in a special school it is often the case that neither the programme of study nor the identified age group is applicable to meet the needs of children with learning difficulties.
Some published material is available for teachers in special schools to access, such as EQUALS, but individual schools often choose to differentiate this further to design a highly personalised curriculum for their population.
Compare and contrast the curriculum requirements of the National Curriculum and EQUALS.
Department of Education: Curriculum requirements
Some suggestions
The National Curriculum contains the following:
- Requirements for each Key Stage for each subject area
- Attainment target Level Descriptors
- Programmes of study within each subject area relevant to age group, listing subject knowledge, skills and understanding to be taught
- Particular teaching strategies and activities are not prescribed.
The EQUALS Curriculum contains the following:
- Suggested Learning Objectives - detailed
- Possible teaching experiences and activities
- Differentiated Learning Outcomes
- Developmental approach to outcomes
- Takes learning styles of pupils with SEND into account.
Return
Watch the clip of the science lesson again.
Despite pupils in the clip being at Key Stage 3, a topic-based approach is deemed appropriate.
Can you explain why this approach has
been taken?
What is the impact on planning likely to be?