Specialist Classes Learning Pathway

The aim of these ‘themes’ is to enable our pupils to leave school able to be involved receptively and expressively in communication with others, access relevant supportive technology, be self- aware, access the wider community and contribute to society

Communication , language and literacy

Cognition, Numeracy

ICT/ECT

PSHE, Self-help, Life skills, Environment and Community

Physical/Motor skills

Sensory development and Creative skills

Use of hands

Tactile

Vision

Interaction

Vocalisation

Hearing

Expression

Questioning

Comprehension

Social

Conversation

Non-verbal rules

Control

Negotiation

Description

Listening

Emotions

Making requests and asking questions in familiar situations

Providing personal information

Engaging in early reading activities

Interacting in a group situation

Engaging with the world around you - people

Encountering experiences - being a part of things

Developing communication skills

Developing reading skill

Developing writing skills

Responsiveness

Discovery

Initiation

Curiosity

Persistence

Investigation

Anticipation

Predicting

Remembering

Empathy

Reasoning

Time

Functional numbers

Money

Problem solving

Choices

Humour

Physical access

Control of switch

Motivated by effects

Control for independence

Communication

Using ICT to record and edit information

Interacting purposefully with ICT

Obtaining information from an ICT-based source

Using creative software

Identifying and using ICT equipment

Responding to ICT enabled equipment

Eating and Drinking

Planning and preparing food, including drinks and snacks

Daily routines

Domestic Tasks

Cleanliness, grooming and health

Clothing

Dressing skills

Toileting skills

Giving Information

Use of Information

Time

Money and shopping

Freedom of Movement

Use of amenities

Leisure

Responding to your local natural environment

Rights and responsibilities

Self awareness

Positive relationships

Keeping safe

Healthy living

Developing skills for the workplace

Participating in a mini-enterprise project

Fine motor:

Reaching

Grasping

Releasing

Manipulating

Gross motor:

Sitting

Standing

Walking

VI, HI, MSI-specific developmental steps

General sensory development

Engaging in a creative group project

Engaging in new creative activities

Displaying creative work

Pure sound and music

Sound and music related to other things

Technical aspects of music

Means of access – Reactive, Proactive, Interactive

Specialist Classes Curriculum Provision

The Curriculum Intent for all the Specialist Classes is:

to enable our pupils to leave school able to be involved receptively and expressively in communication with others, access relevant supportive technology, be self-aware, access the wider community and contribute to society

To achieve this, the Specialist Classes all work within the following ‘subject areas’, which each have their own strands (that are listed on the large poster):

Communication, Language and Literacy
Cognition, Numeracy
ICT/ECT (Information/Environmental Control Technology)
PSHE, Self-help, Life skills, Environment and Community
Physical/Motor skills
Sensory development and Creative skills

As a whole school, The Beacon has a 5 strand curriculum (with each strand having its own curriculum intent):

Communication
Number
Digital Technology
Understanding the World
Healthy Lifestyles

This table shows how the two relate to each other (approximately):

Specialist Classes’ overall curriculum strands	The Beacon’s 5 strand curriculum
Communication, Language and Literacy	Communication
Cognition, Numeracy	Number + Communication
ICT/ECT (Information/Environmental Control Technology)	Digital Technology + Communication
PSHE, Self-help, Life skills, Environment and Community	Understanding the World + Communication + Healthy Lifestyles
Physical/Motor skills	Healthy Lifestyles + Communication
Sensory development and Creative skills	Communication + Healthy Lifestyles

Note the difference:

Specialist Classes – one overarching curriculum with one overarching curriculum intent, but 6 strands (subject areas)
Main school – 5 strands (curriculum subject areas), each with its own (curriculum subject) intent

Specialist Classes' Pathway

Within the group are:

Zone 1 – Austria (linked to Wingham and Preston Classes at our Walmer site)
Zone 2 – Antigua, Canada, Nicaragua, Seychelles, St Kitts
Zone 3 – Aruba, Cape Verde, Egypt

All classes within this group have a higher ratio of staff than the main body of the school, in order to accommodate the range of individual timetables, interventions and additional support required for those pupils to reach their best potential.

Sense Curriculum

In September 2025 we introduced a new curriculum framework for some of our Specialist Classes (Canada, Cape Verde, Egypt, and Aruba), and linked class Senegal. The Sense curriculum was designed to give pupils the awareness, experience, understanding and learning skills needed within eight key developmental strands, each addressing a specific aspect of learning:

Social relationships and emotional development
Communication
Conceptual Development
Sensory Responses
Understanding of time and place
Orientation, movement and mobility
Ownership of learning
Responses to routines and changes

The Sense curriculum deals with the issue of pupil progression in a clear and practical way, but it is less prescriptive than many models, and does not include specific schemes of work. Instead it enables a pupil’s learning to be structured and managed by means including:

Parent, School and other professionals’ expectations
Teaching environments
Teaching objectives and strategies
Timetabling
The complexity of information provided to pupils
Pupils’ individual needs and potential barriers to learning
The balance of group and individual work

This approach allows for considerable flexibility in curriculum delivery, so is well-suited to pupils with ‘spikey profiles’ who may excel in certain areas but not others, due to their particular barriers to learning. It also means that the curriculum is appropriate for pupils of all ages. The flexibility in curriculum delivery allows us to operate the same basic curriculum structure throughout our age range, yet with the themed learning content designed according to age/class group, which, in turn, enables inclusion with other classes following the same themed learning topics.

Learners in these classes need an optimal and individualised learning environment, defined broadly as the places, people, objects and activities which make up their world. The Sense curriculum is based on a transactional model of development which focuses on the interaction between pupil and environment. Its purpose is to create an individual learning environment within which a pupil can successfully explore, interact, learn and generalise. Whilst conventional curricula focus on what pupils will learn, with a clear set of linear, product-based learning outcomes on which to measure progress, the Sense curriculum focuses on developing how children learn and especially on their ability to interact with the world around them. It is a process-based, branching, learner- centred curriculum, which emphasises cross-curricular working and ‘real life’ experiences.

Themed Learning

To give structure and ensure breadth of experience as pupils move through the school, we have redesigned our themed learning planning to include a greater range of topics and experiences. Zone 1 classes across both Folkestone and Walmer sites now have their topics aligned, and these are linked to similar topics within Zone 2 classes, to enable an increased number and range of inclusion and transition opportunities amongst all those classes. Zone 3 classes also have their planning linked, to facilitate access to the widest possible range of learning opportunities relating to their personal interests and life beyond school, including experience of the ‘world of work’ at a level appropriate to teach pupil.

ABLLS

Austria, Antigua, Seychelles, St Kitts, Nicaragua and Aruba Classes will continue to use the ABLLS framework (Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills) to assess their progress and guide their learning schedules.

ASDAN an Ascentis

All pupils from our Specialist Classes and Senegal Class are expected to achieve accredited outcomes through the ASDAN Personal Progress awards within our ‘extended 6th form’ provision, and some will achieve Ascentis awards for maths and/or English.

EHCPs

All pupils’ EHCP outcomes continue to support their journey through school and beyond.

Summary

Sense and EHCPs provide the overall outcomes towards which pupils are progressing. ASDAN and Ascentis provide the accreditation (certified evidence) of their learning as they leave 6th Form. For specific classes, ABLLS provides a particular structure within which pupils are taught.