Whatley Campus Curriculum
What is our intent?
Our goal at Whatley is to help all pupils become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. We will provide a supportive and nurturing environment for students, following a bespoke curriculum which will take account of individual learning needs. This will be supported by close work with a range of professionals including speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, CAMHS, mentors and educational psychologists.
How we implement this
In order to best meet the needs of our pupils and support current gaps in provision across Merton, we provide a mixture of GCSE, Functional Skills and BTEC qualifications from years 9-11, with additional provisions in place for students who may require this.
In the lower Key Stages pupils experience a range of subjects, specialist learning strategies and interventions to support their previous learning journeys and enable them to become an engaged member of the Whatley family. In particular, this includes a range of research-led ASC strategies being built in to the school curriculum with support from our educational psychologist, occupation therapists and speech and language therapists. Our model progressively builds on routines and transitions as pupils move through the year groups supporting them to engage in learning and developing key life skills which are important for life beyond education.
Classes follow a broad curriculum covering key areas from the National Curriculum adapted to meet individual needs. We work with the whole child to help get them ready for their future including GCSEs and beyond. Students build strong relationships creating a family atmosphere where they can grow in confidence and develop their resilience. Teachers and support staff work to develop a deep knowledge of the individual child and use this to support their needs, enabling them to access learning consistently. Working with a range of in-house therapists and outside agencies supports this whole-child approach and ensures the curriculum is not purely academic.
Our three-year Key Stage 4 starts in Year 9 providing a longer period of time for students to absorb specific knowledge linked to their accreditation pathways. This supports many of our students who come to us having experienced inconsistent learning journeys. Learning is adapted to meet individual needs and a range of supports and interventions are in place to ensure all students can successfully access a full curriculum. All students complete accreditations in English, maths and science, and have a choice of specialist subjects including PE, food technology, art, computing, health & social care and religious studies. Students in Key Stage 4 continue to be supported by the therapy team and outside agencies to ensure a consistent offer to all students as we prepare all students for their future lives beyond Whatley.
For three afternoons each week KS3 students take part in a range of enrichment activities designed to develop their cultural capital, social communication and life skills. These activities include sports activities, arts and crafts, music groups, cooking, gardening, computing, model-making and wellbeing opportunities and trips within the local community. At KS4, students partake in Duke of Edinburgh sessions twice a week. Students across all key stages also have life skills through the King's Trust weekly.
We are fully committed to a child-centred approach at Whatley and feel that our nurturing model and family environment promote this at every opportunity allowing all students to succeed.