Curriculum Overview

Curriculum at Venturers’ Academy

Principles

The Academy Improvement Plan for Venturers’ Academy sets out the vision for the Academy which is that every student will achieve more than they ever thought possible through high quality provision, teaching and learning.  This will not only raise attainment but also aspirations for our students with ASC and their parents/carers and ensure that all students leave us as:

  • Successful learners with good qualifications and motivated to enhance their knowledge and skills to reach their full potential.
  • Self-confident individuals who can make informed decisions and communicate them based on their values and beliefs.
  • Responsible citizens who respect others and take part responsibly in political, economic, social and cultural life.
  • Effective contributors with a positive attitude who can lead or work in a team, meeting the challenges of the 21st Century.

VA intent statement

At Venturers’ Academy, our mission statement is “Where Everything is Possible” and we encourage students to dream for their future, seeking to weave this through every facet of school life so that we can provide all students with creative, challenging, inspiring and memorable opportunities where doors are opened to them.  All students at VA have an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) with 99.3% of students having a primary diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) and all of our students have speech, language and /or communication needs in line with their diagnosis of ASC.  Therefore, the needs of our students including their barriers to learning, starting points and contexts on arrival, as well as student and parent feedback, including their experiences, are what shapes our curriculum design.

We are a rapidly expanding school, starting in 2016-17 with 54 students, followed in 2017-18 with 72 students, then 95 students in 2018-19, leading to 140 students in 2019-20. In 2018-19, of our 95 students, only 46% of students were admitted at the standard time of admission. Therefore, our curriculum delivery approach must be flexible and readily adaptable to the needs of the students in our care. 

Our curriculum focusses on enabling students to keep themselves safe and is informed by students’ vulnerabilities and the need to support their social, emotional and mental health needs.  PSHE and SMSC are therefore integral to our curriculum and drive our curriculum model.  We have three main learning pathways (Life Skills, Vocational and Academic) which overlap and interlink, and are personalised for each student.

Our Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) and Occupational Therapy (OT) teams are key in helping to develop our curriculum, for example with the use of SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transactional Support) in the Life Skills pathway.  All our students receive universal, targeted and / or specialist therapeutic interventions and we have a range of therapies and interventions to help students, and to build a sense of mental and physical health, well-being and happiness, for example through dance movement psychotherapy, music intervention, child psychotherapy, Thrive and Art therapy.

Nearly all students who join VA are below age-related expectations in Reading, Writing and Mathematics and 14.3% of our cohort are non-verbal.  This means that we use a multi-sensory delivery approach to learning including Makaton, PECS (Picture exchange Communication System), Attention Autism (which aims to develop natural and spontaneous communication through the use of visually based and highly motivating activities) and Intensive Interaction (which uses body language to tune into children), as well as ensuring that pupil progress is a priority through quality first teaching and learning, targeted academic interventions in English and Mathematics, and bespoke pastoral interventions to engage students in the learning process.  We ensure that all students receive a broad curriculum, however this is underpinned by ensuring that our students’ literacy and numeracy skills are developed.

84% of our cohort is boys, and particularly within KS3 and KS4 we deliver a bespoke girls’ group programme.

53% of students at Venturers’ Academy received additional Pupil Premium funding (2018-19), however 65% were Ever 6, looked after or service children (with 12% of these not on the January census and not funded as they joined mid-year).  We therefore focus on providing opportunities for our students to build cultural capital and have access to a rich, broad, balanced and creative curriculum which provides substantial opportunities for personal development and academic growth.  We take our students on as many learning experiences as possible within the community to develop their confidence in trying new things and to make sense of the world around them.

Venturers’ Academy draws from four local authorities (85.7% from Bristol LA) and with 18.6% of students living in the Withywood and Bishopsworth areas. 19% of our students have EAL:  40% of these students are Somali.  We therefore promote community cohesion by supporting students to learn about a range of cultures, faiths and beliefs and their horizons are broadened.  Where appropriate, MFL (Spanish) is taught discretely across key stages; we are developing links with China and South Africa and are the lead school in the national ‘Wettest Classroom’ project.  We are a Rights Respecting School (Silver):  students’ rights and student voice is an integral part of our curriculum delivery model and a key component of our Academy culture.

We make sure our curriculum programme is bespoke to Venturers’ Academy and is sequenced across appropriate pathways from EYFS to KS4.  We have a whole school approach to literacy and our phonics programme introduces speed sounds first.  We have worked with Curious City ™ to ensure the cross-curricular aspect of our primary curriculum is tailored to the context and students at Venturers’ Academy whilst also ensuring that PSHE and SMSC themes are at the heart of this approach, with secondary level learning building upon students’ knowledge and skills development.  Within the Life Skills pathway, we have designed a curriculum centred around SCERTS and a bespoke communication, learning and employability skills framework.  Through these curriculum approaches, students will be able to know more, remember more and do more, moving learning into their long term memory.

VA is totally committed to ensuring every student makes progress regardless of their context or starting point.  We will set high expectations which inspire, motivate, support and challenge students. We believe students should enjoy and be enthusiastic about the curriculum and their learning and should be engaged motivated and involved in all lessons. This can be driven through a personalised curriculum and range of teaching strategies and will result in a purposeful atmosphere where children are on task and learning.

In addition, the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) aspects of the curriculum are key for each of our students’ development, and the SMSC Policy outlines the provision and cross curricular elements that will impact on students’ learning and development.  The Sex and relationship Policy and E safety policy should also be read conjunction with this policy. 

At the heart of the curriculum is the view that any child with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) has the right and ability to develop into adults capable of taking an integral part in a wider society. The resulting ambitious curriculum will see Venturers’ Academy (VA) being a centre of excellence always striving for outstanding student achievement, attainment and progress. This high level strategy is one to be achieved over the whole age range of provision and be rooted in an on-going assessment process. This process will effectively identify and support each child’s abilities and learning needs, setting appropriate goals that allow them to fulfil their social and educational potential, and personalising the curriculum to support them in achieving this. Each student at primary and secondary will have the option to access opportunities and learning provision in our partner Academy, Merchants’ Academy (MA) if this is appropriate for their needs.

 

We have chosen to base the curriculum on an adapted National Curriculum in order to allow students the full range of opportunities available through it. This ensures the students have access to, and can attain, formal qualifications and career pathways in line with the majority of their peers. The National Curriculum is also being used in MA and, therefore, inclusion opportunities will be maximised. For many students the curriculum will need to concentrate on:

§   Communication

§   English

§   Maths

§   Science

§   Computing

§   Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE)

 

All compulsory National Curriculum subjects will be taught, alongside Spanish as a Foreign Language (FL) or experience of the culture of another country.

We wish our students to leave us with the appropriate skills and qualifications that enable their successful transition to adulthood. We have, therefore, prioritised methodologies and a curriculum that provide a clear, flexible, developmental and linear pathway to those core principles in adulthood. Our aim is that, where appropriate,  our students will access part of the curriculum at MA.

 

 

What is the Venturers’ Curiosity Curriculum ?

Curious-City explained

The focus at Venturers’ is to enable learners to become Scientists, Engineers and Authors for instance, not to regurgitate Science, Design and English content.

Using the Curious-city curriculum as a starting point, a Bristol version of the National Curriculum, we have created a bespoke, locally focused curriculum experiences for our students.

This curriculum is a skeleton of curious and creative learning opportunities that provides guidance for our teachers to inspire learners with local people, places and stories, yet lots of room for additional contextualisation.

To ensure our learners get a broad and balanced experience, there are seven themes to help teachers locate the learning in different ways such as outdoor learning, global goals or rights respecting. Our favourite is Giving City that looks at charity, kindness and altruism. It is imperative that this language is used with the children at home and at school and appears on displays, in classrooms and around the outdoor areas.

 

 

The seven themes...

 

 

Enable learners to become...

 

 

 

 

 

Geographers  •  Scientists  •  Musicians  •  Authors  •  Philosophers  •  Mathematicians   Artists  •  Engineers  •  Historians

 

 

 

States of Being?

The emphasis is on children learning, not being taught subjects. For instance, teaching Science is a different thought process than planning for learners to become Scientists. Active, practical and experiential, the States of Being are essential to becoming curiosity driven settings and all staff are expected to use the States in visual timetables, termly planning, displays and newsletters.  Each State of Being is characterised to help the children understand what is means and to also challenge stereotypes around them.

 

What is enquiry-led learning?

In a nutshell, enquiry-led learning provides learners with key questions that are too big to answer in one go, but not so conceptually large that they do not understand. The purpose is to guide learners through a scaffolded process, answering a big question by producing something, such as a piece of writing, performance or animation.

 

 

What are the Curious-city™ core principles?

Cognitive development, emotional literacy and language levels underpin the approach of Curious-city. With strong links to mastery-led learning principles (Bloom’s Taxonomy) we recognise children's’ awareness of the world develops as they mature and that this has a significant impact on their ability to learn. Initially, we believe in anchoring all aspects of learning to reinforce personal identity and the present day, essential in creating self-aware individuals. As they develop we will strive to help them connect to the immediate environment, community, country until they are able conceptualise abstract themes such as tolerance or culture on a global scale: from ‘Me’ to ‘Everyone’. This process cannot be rushed, nor can it be executed in a haphazard approach, as every layer builds on the last. This approach affects the content as well as a way in which enquiry questions are structured, for instance.

These principles are also aligned to the Thrive approach - a specific way of working with all children that supports emotional and social wellbeing. The Thrive Approach is also informed by developments in neuroscientific research, and underpinned by a theoretical base in child development theory, attachment theory, Transactional Analysis, creativity, play and the Arts. The Thrive approach equips staff with the training to recognise their underlying needs and know how to respond appropriately.                                           

Venturers’ Academy has thirteen staff members trained as Thrive Practitioners.

 

 

Curriculum Term 2 Letters Date  
Dragonfly 06th Nov 2023 Download
Stephenson 06th Nov 2023 Download
Southey 06th Nov 2023 Download
Quartz 06th Nov 2023 Download
Post 16 06th Nov 2023 Download
Emerald 06th Nov 2023 Download
Diamond 06th Nov 2023 Download
Topaz 06th Nov 2023 Download
Pearl 06th Nov 2023 Download
Ladybird 06th Nov 2023 Download
Diamond Class 06th Nov 2023 Download
Caterpillar 06th Nov 2023 Download
Ruby 06th Nov 2023 Download
Penguin 06th Nov 2023 Download
Pelican 06th Nov 2023 Download
Peacock 06th Nov 2023 Download
Opal 06th Nov 2023 Download
Jade 06th Nov 2023 Download
Flamingo 06th Nov 2023 Download
Falcon 06th Nov 2023 Download