Support Pathway & Avenue

The support curriculum pathway is for children with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD). It provides pupils with a range of multi-sensory activities, which are tailored to help pupils meet their EHCP outcomes. It aims to promote communication, skills, interactions and engagement and being as independent as possible through highly personalised strategies, working from each pupil’s strengths and preferences. 

The curriculum focuses on 4 key areas of learning opportunities, which include;

Communication and Interaction:

• Staff are trained in intensive interaction and are responsive to any subtle attempts students make to interact or communicate.
• Through a range of sensory activities, including story massage, Sensology, sensory stories, Tac Pac and music, pupils are given opportunities to respond (to objects) to interact (with others) and to communicate (express like/ dislike, request more and make choices).

Cognition and Learning:

• Pupils require support to explore and interpret the world around them. They need to experience activities that are, multi-sensory, interactive and engaging many times in order to learn and consolidate new skills. Students are encouraged to explore and to realise that they can control their immediate environment. Activities include resonance boards, music and switch work and What’s in the bucket.

Sensory and Physical:

• Postural support, positioning and physiotherapy are a core part of the Support Curriculum.
• Pupils are provided with opportunities to move independently and with support.
• Physical activities include body awareness, fine motor, gross motor and mobility.
• All pupils have a physiotherapy programme, which is identified by a physiotherapist and OT. These outline individual programmes of stretches, postural changes and identify equipment to be used to support and challenge pupils.
• All pupils have a moving and handling programme which is created by the class team with support from Physiotherapist and Occupation Therapy and a programme of body awareness which includes story massage, TacPac, rebound therapy and hydrotherapy, reflexology.
• Sensory activities incorporate vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch and include sensory stories and Sensology.
• Class staff work closely with a specialist teacher for the visually impaired and support students to make the most of their vision.

Independence:

• All pupils are encouraged to become as independent as possible and to exert their independence during all activities. Developing independence and self-help skills can be difficult for those with PMLD due to their complex physical and medical needs. Staff are innovative in their approach to independence and aim to support learners to be as independent as possible by developing communication, interaction and choice making through different augmentative communication methods such as eye gaze and eye pointing, using E-tran frames where appropriate.