Curriculum Intent
“Developing the right pathway for each individual learner, enabling them to thrive, flourish and succeed.”
What is a therapeutic curriculum?
A therapeutic curriculum is one that supports the ‘healing’ of a child in a holistic sense. Every action and interaction that every adult has with any child within the trust is therapeutic in its nature, valuing and respecting the child, interested in them as individuals, their lives, their interests, and their personalities. Our therapeutic curriculum is adaptable. It tailors the child’s learning experience to their unique needs, recognising that no two learners are the same.
All interactions underline the message that the child belongs in BCAP and are an important part of the trust family. Their parents/carers are also included and acknowledged as key partners in their child’s education, and that they too are part of the trust family.
We want our learners to experience personal success, so we provide support and opportunity for our learners to achieve their potential and experience personal success in essential skills; life skills, emotional development, in order to prepare them for adulthood. We create a warm and nurturing environment that offers consistency and routine. We focus on learners’ attitude and readiness for learning. We build an environment for learners to form positive attachments. Strategies used to ensure our learners experience personal success include high levels of adult support, relational activities to promoting readiness for learning, deep knowledge of a child’s triggers and de-escalation techniques with every adult having a fresh start approach with all of our learners.
We want our learners to develop a sense of their own identity, so we nurture their positive understanding of ‘self,’ enabling them to accept and celebrate their individuality with confidence, creating a sense of positive identity. We have a consistent approach to learners and understand the impact of trauma and past experiences on access to learning, encouraging personal responsibility. Praise is used effectively to celebrate all characteristics and attitudes, not just for academic prowess.
We want our learners to develop a sense of cultural and social awareness, so we facilitate our learner’s ability to develop the relevant skills, knowledge, and attitudes to become tolerant socially and culturally aware young people. Our approach to personal development, PSHE and RSE is woven through subjects as well as stand-alone and bespoke to particular cohorts and needs of the learners. Staff model appropriate behaviours and attitudes and create safe spaces for learners to discuss pertinent issues and concerns.
Our therapeutic curriculum is not a standalone curriculum: it is seamlessly integrated into the broader aspects of every school within the YES Trust. This approach enables us to heal the scars of a disrupted, sometime traumatic previous experience of education, and empower our learners to thrive and flourish as confident, independent learners, with the skills and knowledge they require to be successful in life.
