Overview - Nigel Bowes Academy

At Nigel Bowes Academy we provide a stimulating educational experience which motivates pupils to engage in the learning process, enabling them to make the best possible progress in all areas of their development.

Pupils are taught in small groups with a high staff to pupil ratio. There is an emphasis on the development of emotional well-being and social skills enabling pupils to form good relationships with staff and peers. Personalised learning programmes are available to all children, meeting specific individual needs to promote self-esteem and efficacy.

The INTENT of our curriculum

To provide a wide range of engaging learning opportunities enabling pupils to make progress towards achieving their personalised goals, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to become resilient, safe and respectful citizens.

How we IMPLEMENT our curriculum

We offer an engaging, broad and balanced curriculum, addressing the under-lying issues that are barriers to learning. This enables pupils to develop core skills, knowledge and understanding which helps them to achieve outstanding rates of progress and close any gaps towards age-related levels of attainment.

We teach all National Curriculum subjects using a wide range of resources and teaching methods to engage our pupils. Our curriculum is designed around four pillars of learning:

CORE – English, Maths, Science and Computing
HUMANITIES AND CULTURE – History, Geography, Religious Education and Modern Foreign Languages
CREATIVE – Art, Design Technology, Music and Drama
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT – PHSRE, Physical Education, British Values and EHCP key skills

Our whole school curriculum map is coherently planned and sequenced to enable pupils to access the essential knowledge and skills in each curriculum area. Most subjects are timetabled weekly and are supplemented by a series of themed days and weeks e.g. Panto week, Museums and Galleries week and British Science week.

Our curriculum map can be found here 2022-2023 Curriculum Map

We provide opportunities for our pupils to be capable of making personal choices and to be lifelong learners. We aim to involve families, pupils, young people, staff and other visiting professionals to ensure every learner achieves their best.

We teach inspiring lessons that build upon the prior assessment of the pupils, and aim to provide a safe environment where all learners achieve. Particular focus is given to the development of key literacy and numeracy skills, improved levels of attention and concentration, social skill development, emotional health, well-being and self-regulation. Personalised learning programmes are available to all children meeting specific individual needs and making progress against the outcomes on their Education Health and Care Plans.

Our approach to teaching the Nigel Bowes curriculum is underpinned by:

SEND code of practice – Teaching and Learning at Nigel Bowes Academy is guided by the principles within the 2014 SEND code of practice. We use the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ cycle to plan our special educational needs support and ensure that our response to individual needs and barriers to learning is graduated.
RSR (Resilient, Safe, Respectful) – High expectations and code of conduct, development of individual character and preparing pupils for life in modern Britain.
The Thrive Approach – For our pupils to make progress in their academic learning they need to be ready to learn. Our use of the Thrive approach enables pupils to develop personally in social and emotional aspects to learning helping them to self-regulate and ensure they are ready to learn.
SPELL framework – SPELL comprises of five principles of best practice; structure, positive, empathy, low arousal and links. Although developed by the National Autistic Society for working with people on the autistic spectrum, we use this framework to support all of our pupils at Nigel Bowes Academy.
Metacognitive and Cognitive strategies such as Blooms and Solo Taxonomy – Thinking about thinking and learning to learn. Children use Solo Taxonomy to evaluate their curriculum knowledge and skills.
Rosenshine’s Principles – Key principles that underpin effective instruction.
Up to date research, theory and training.

The expected IMPACT of our curriculum

Pupils have achieved their personalised goals enabling them to continue their journey to becoming resilient, safe and respectful citizens. Our pupils will experience success and be prepared with the knowledge and skills needed in their next phase of education and on their journey towards adulthood.