Curriculum

When a student is too unwell to attend their home school, the school will make adjustments to try to accommodate the student’s needs. If more support is needed, the school will make a referral to Lavender. (Please see Admissions page)

Our younger students will be taught within the home or community. We will follow the home school’s curriculum until the student is well enough to reintegrate back or until the school have made alternative plans for the student’s ongoing education.

Our older students, in years 9, 10 and year 11 could be offered a placement at Lavender or in community tuition. Students in provision, have often missed large chunks of the secondary curriculum. Our Intent is to ensure all students have the option of recovering missed work and continuing their learning in the core subjects. Students can take their GCSE’s at Lavender and are given careers and post 16 advice within the curriculum. We also aim to provide our students with information and support to improve emotional well-being. We encourage resilience and positive mindsets, and work to create individualized toolkits for managing anxiety. Combined, these lead to a successful transition Post 16.

We encourage our students to become active learners, responsible for their own learning through:

Smaller class sizes,
well informed and empathetic staff,
screening for additional needs where appropriate,
the opportunity for 1: 1 sessions
Creating autism friendly classrooms
Staff trained in Autonomy and Motivation Education

An individual learning profile will be devised upon entry to our services and regular reviews with the home school and other professionals where appropriate, will be held, to ensure the best possible outcome. Tuition will follow the home school curriculum.

Our timetable concentrates on the core subjects: English Language, Maths and Combined Science,. Additional GCSE subjects, Art, Literature, Statistics, Sociology and Computer Science are also offered. Our timetables are individual to each student and so there is flexibility to offer additional subjects in exceptional cases. Students can also be offered English and Maths Entry Level and FS ICT.

Additionally:

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy SKILLS sessions are offered weekly by Merton’s Educational Psychology team for year 11 students
Half termly projects incorporating film, needlework, art, hair and beauty in Well being.
Yoga and mindfulness
Football, Badminton, table tennis and tennis plus other sports, chosen by students: recent co-horts have chosen ice skating, boxing and rock climbing

Our students are supported by CAMHS, Educational Psychology, Speech and Language therapy, Occupational Therapy and specialist teachers.

Lavender Curriculum Map

	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11
English Language	All pupils	All pupils	All pupils
Mathematics	All pupils	All pupils	All pupils
Science	All pupils	All pupils	All pupils
Art	All pupils	All pupils	Optional Qualification
English Literature	All pupils	All pupils	Optional Qualification
Humanities	All pupils
Computer Science		Optional Qualification	Optional Qualification
Information Communications Technology	All pupils	All pupils	Optional Qualification
Sociology		Optional Qualification	Optional Qualification
Statistics			Optional Qualification
RSE	All pupils	All pupils	All pupils
Social Developmental Opportunities (Including musical and cultural experiences)	All pupils	All pupils	All pupils
DBT skills practice			All pupils

2023-2024 GCSE Options for Year 11 – Lavender Campus

Core Offer

11A and 11B pathway

11C pathway

English GCSE
Maths GCSE

Combined Science GCSE (worth 2 GCSEs)

Functional Skills ICT

English GCSE

Maths GCSE

Entry Level Certificate in Science

Entry Level Certificate in Maths and English

Functional Skills ICT

Additional Study Options for Year 11

Name of Course	GCSE Art and Design (Edexcel)
When	Monday P5 (1 hour) Friday P1 (45 mins)
Teacher	Kate
Outline	Personal Portfolio – 60% of qualification Completed within lessons Externally Set Assignment – 40% of qualification 10 hour sustained focus period under exam conditions in May

Name of Course	GCSE Statistics
When	Thursday P5 (1 hour)
Teacher	Rachel
Outline	Statistics is about making decisions when there is uncertainty. Perhaps one of the most versatile areas of maths, it gives students the skills to collect, analyse, interpret and present data There are 2 exams in May/June, usually 1 hour 45 mins each, each paper is 50% of qualification
Name of Course	GCSE Sociology (AQA)
When	Tuesday P5 (1 hour) Wednesday P1 (45 mins)
Teacher	Steven
Outline	GCSE Sociology helps students to gain knowledge and understanding of key social structures and issues through the study of families, education, crime and deviance and social stratification (wealth, race, education) There are 2 exams in May/June, usually 1 hour 45 mins each, each paper is worth 50% of qualification

Name of Course	GCSE Computer Science (OCR)
When	Thursday P5 (1 hour)
Teacher	Brian
Outline	The course covers computer systems, computational thinking, algorithms and programming There are 2 exams in May/June, usually 1 hour 30 mins each

Name of Course	GCSE English Literature (AQA)
When	Monday P5 (1 hour) Thursdays P1 (45 mins)
Teacher	Jacquie
Outline	This course gives students the opportunity to study a small range of literary texts in detail. Students will gain an understanding of the themes and ideas that writers convey and of the historical context of each text. They will learn how to construct literary essays that discuss ideas and concepts in plays, poetry and the 19^th century novel. Texts studied include: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by RL Stevenson; Macbeth by William Shakespeare; An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley and a selection of poems based on power and conflict. There are 2 exams in May/June: Paper 1 – Shakespeare and 19^th Century novel – 1 hour 45 mins, 40% of grade Paper 2 – modern texts and poetry - 2 hours 15 mins, 60% of grade

Name of Course	BTEC Level 1 Home Cooking Skills (This is NOT a GCSE qualification)
When	Tuesday P5 (1 hour) Thursday P5 (1 hour)
Teacher	Michelle
Outline	This practical course aims to give students the knowledge, skills and confidence to enjoy cooking meals at home. Students will gain understanding of how to economise when planning meals to cook at home. The course is assessed through on going practical tasks, tutor assessments and a portfolio of written evidence

Post 16 Entry Requirements

A Levels	Usually at least 5 GCSEs at grade 4 and above
Level 3 course	Usually at least 4 GCSEs at grade 4 and above
Level 2 course	Usually at least 4 GCSEs at grade 3 and above (Kingston, Carshalton, Merton, South Thames Colleges) Usually at least 3 GCSEs at grade 3 and above (Croydon College)
Level 1 course	3 GCSEs at any grade (Kingston, Carshalton, Merton, South Thames Colleges) GCSE English and Maths at grade 2 or above where possible (Croydon College)