Apollo Room

Apollo Class: Semi-Formal Curriculum Pathway

The name ‘Apollo’ is derived from Greek mythology, where Apollo was a god associated with music, arts, knowledge, and healing. By choosing this name, we draw inspiration from the qualities and attributes of Apollo and recognise the unique potential and abilities of the pupils within this class. Apollo was often seen as a symbol of enlightenment and knowledge, who represents hope and growth. The name Apollo therefore signifies our commitment to providing a nurturing and intellectually stimulating environment, wherein our pupils can progress, develop new skills, and overcome challenges.

Learners on this curriculum pathway will usually have severe learning difficulties with co-occurring speech, language and communication needs, social communication difficulties or other sensory impairments. Pupils are usually working at a pre-key stage level and may need support with their interpersonal skills, self-help, language and communication, as well as with their learning.

The primary intent of our Apollo provision is to offer learning opportunities and a learning environment that meets the unique needs and abilities of each pupil, with an approach that focuses on developing the practical application of skills and knowledge. Our provision centres around the development of student voice and choice, fostering positive social and communication skills and supporting the development of receptive and expressive language and comprehension. Pupils will have access to assessments by both a speech and language therapist and an educational psychologist, in order to guide staff with personalised planning that recognises individual strengths and areas of development.

Semi-formal learning requires a high level of adult support and a highly adapted and personalised curriculum offer. A semi-formal pathway provides pupils with experiences and opportunities that promote the development of functional skills, communication, emotional well-being, confidence, and independence. At the heart of our approach is the awareness that our pupils learn differently, so whilst we accept the desirability of providing a broad and balanced curriculum, it must be wholly appropriate to the needs of each learner. Pupils are developing emergent skills and require personalised input but may also be able to access aspects of the National Curriculum (with adaptations and support).

Within our Apollo provision we follow a thematic- based approach using the ethos of the Early Years – unique child; positive relationships; and enabling environments. Our curriculum is developmental and not specifically linked to age or key stage. Learning is skills, knowledge and context based and provides pupils with language rich opportunities that continually foster the development of interpersonal skills, communication, and independence. Carefully planned continuous provision further provides pupils with the freedom to explore and become independent in making choices and generalising their learning. Where pupils are able to access content from the early stages of the National Curriculum they are supported to do so, taking account of their individual learning needs, styles, and preferences.

Pupils within our Apollo provision may also access individual support in the form of speech and language therapy, Lego Therapy, Colourful Semantics, Lexia,  Nurture Group sessions or Social Skills groups. Staff are trained to deliver targeted interventions such as Intensive interaction, Attention Autism, TEACCH approaches, Lego Therapy and Colourful Semantics, in addition to being proficient in first aid, Team Teach, Makaton, and PIVATS.

We have close working partnerships with parents, professionals, and school subject leads, to ensure that our approach considers pupils’ development holistically. We strongly believe that taking a holistic approach is necessary for our pupils to reach their full potential and to become, happy, satisfied, and independent young people. Pupils are supported to make academic progress and are also supported to be able to express their emotions, develop friendships, take care of their bodies and to foster a lifelong love of learning. Developing the use of functional expressive communication is a key objective with vocabulary development underpinning all aspects of the provision.

Assessment outcomes will typically reference Pre-Key stage standards as part of our statutory assessment. In addition to this, we use  PIVATS assessments on an ongoing basis as our ‘in school’ assessment measure. PIVATS allow us to track the smaller steps of progress our pupils make and provides a tool to measure progress in areas such as personal and social development.

We recognise that pupils who have severe learning difficulties and other developmental or sensory challenges will require a high level of additional support and highly adapted teaching to reach their full potential in all areas of their development. That's why we have developed a tailored approach specifically designed to meet the needs of these pupils and support them on their educational journey.

Our Apollo Provision is currently at capacity. Places are allocated from the current school roll following assessment, professional advice, and collaboration with Parents, SENCo and SLT. Parents of pupils not already attending Beam are not able to request a place within our Apollo provision.

Apollo Provision