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Curriculum Design

FORDWATER NEW CURRICULUM

We are very excited to be in the process of developing a new curriculum for all our pupils at Fordwater School.

Our new curriculum design is a holistic, individual and meaningful offer for each pupil in our school. This curriculum is being written specifically for Fordwater School.

It will provide teachers with an innovative and exciting framework to provide individual learning journies for every pupil. This will enable pupils to meet their EHCP outcomes and make the progress which is possible for them. It puts the child at the centre of the curriculum and every learning moment.

In light of the new Ofsted Inspection Framework and The Rochford Review, we are developing a curriculum model which has moved away from traditional subjects to a model which is centred around ten Fordwater School Aims.

Curriculum Mission:

Our mission is to do everything we can to develop our pupils into 

  • Healthy,
  • Happy,
  • Independent,
  • Motivated,
  • Engaged  
  • Resilient

young people by the time they leave our school. With the Fordwater School Aims at the heart of our curriculum , we believe we can provide our pupils with the best opportunity to be able to do this.

Fordwater School Aims:

Our curriculum aims are what teachers consider to be the most valuable, meaningful and appropriate outcomes for individual progress for each pupil by the time they leave our school at the age of 19 years old.

The Aims directly support the four areas of the EHCP.

School aim


Long Term Plans:

Each Aim has a Long Term Plan. The long term plan is designed to offer pupils a relevant and logically structured range of learning activities which give regular opportunities for repetition, practice and consolidation of learning.

We recognise that our pupils have specific needs around being able to practice and generalise skills, and we need to provide a framework which incorporates maximum chances to over-learn and generalise skills into real life settings.

Long Term Plans


Fordwater Medium Term Topic Planners:

  • EYFS up to KS planning follows a rolling topic plan. These topics are repeated at least two or three times during these years. These topics relate to 6 Key Themes, which work from direct experiences close to the child to experiences and knowledge in the world around them.

6 Key Themes

Primary Newsletter example (.pdf file)

Secondary Newsletter example (.pdf file)

  • KS4 and KS5 have a series of learning modules. These are repeated every year and have been designed to support the EHCP outcomes directly, with a strong focus on community and independence.

KS4 Newsletter example (.pdf file)

KS5 Newsletter example (.pdf file)


My Learning Map:

Every pupil has an individual ‘My Learning Map’. This Learning Map provides personalised and appropriate targets for each pupil and is linked to their EHCP outcomes as well the schools 10 Curriculum Aims. Targets are set collaboratively with teachers, parents and therapist to ensure next steps will enable the most progress possible.

Throughout the term, teachers ensure that progress against pupil’s individual targets is captured using photos, videos and work. This evidence is uploaded to Earwig, our on line assessment tool, and annotated. Progress towards targets is evidenced using a traffic light system (RAGging). A RAGged ‘My Learning Map’ and a report is shared with parents/carers termly and targets revised where necessary.

Learning Map

At each stage of planning, the Aims are always the focus, and each Aim is designed to fulfil and support the four areas of the EHCP outcomes.


As this is still being written in collaboration with our teachers, SSAs and therapy teams, this page is only a small example of what we will offer.  We will be posting regular updates of  our curriculum development on this page as it happens, and parents can keep up to date with the curriculum development via the Curriculum Focus page on the weekly Bugle.