Public examinations and accreditations
Oliver House School follows the National Curriculum but it is appropriately modified to each young person’s level. The school offers a tailored curriculum for pupils in Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 5 from pre-curriculum learning to GCSEs. We offer GCSEs up to the following level:
- English (A-G)
- Maths (A-G)
- Science (A-G)
- Key skills (A-G)
- Geography (A-G)
- History (A-G)
We also offer entry level 1, 2, and 3 in English, maths and science, as well as classes in PSHCE, PE, design technology, art, music, RE, SMSC and modern foreign languages.
If a young person shows a keen interest in a certain subject which is not currently offered, then Oliver House School will do its best to accommodate this. For example, we have previously arranged for a visiting tutor for a young person with a strong interest in studying A-level maths and physics. By arranging additional individual tuition in his specialist area of interest, we were able to keep his engagement whilst we worked on his other areas of need.
The curriculum map
Oliver House School offers an innovative themed curriculum model.
Stage 1
At the heart of the curriculum at Oliver House School is a focus on addressing the triad of impairments and sensory issues (as shown in the central blue area of the curriculum map). Addressing these issues first ensures that a young person is regulated, ready to learn, communicate and that their behaviour is manageable.
Stage 2
When the central issues have been addressed and we know how we are going to work with the young person, we can then progress the individual’s care and learning plan to incorporate autism specific strategies (shown in the second yellow banding on the diagram).
Oliver House School has staff qualified in specialist approaches to autism, including ABA and TEACCH. We actively encourage all our staff to participate in SCERTS training and Intensive Interaction training for those working with children with very severe learning difficulties that struggle to engage with the world. Our Social Use of Language Programme is run in-house by our speech and language therapists and the Alert programme helps young people with regulation to get them in the right space for learning.
The curriculum model involves a lot of community-based learning, with our young people usually going off-site at least once per day. The activities described in the outer band of the diagram are available for young people to choose from, according to their individual needs and preferences.
Stage 3
From GCSEs, College to Duke of Edinburgh. These tailored activities include business and enterprise, travel training and transitioning to college.
Our curriculum model offers a high degree of flexibility. If, at any point during their placement, a young person has difficulties, we can focus support back onto the core elements (coloured blue in the diagram) as these underpin everything we do here at Oliver House School.