The curriculum has been developed with consideration; to be ambitious and meet the needs of our pupils’, develop their skills and abilities to apply what they know and can do with increasing fluency and independence.

We have devised a bespoke curriculum which is carefully sequenced and interconnected; and which enables our children to develop their knowledge and understanding as they move through our school. Each curriculum area is organised in a two-year cycle, with topics of study being reviewed collaboratively by our teaching team at the end of each cycle.

The drivers for the curriculum are really important to us and we hope you agree that they are fundamental to your child’s current school journey and life beyond education:

Being connected- to nature; themselves; friends; family and society

Raising aspirations- so your child understands the purpose to what they are learning, alongside this helping them to see that they can have high aspirations for now and in the future

Overcoming adversity- all of our children have overcome adversity to be in a position where they are learning and making progress. If they can see how inspirational and influence people historically and currently, have overcome adversity, this may raise their aspirations and not limit their perception of what they have the potential to achieve.

Caring for the environment- we want our children to grow in to global citizens, but this starts in their immediate environment and expands as they progress. We want our children to feel a sense of belonging, take pride in their environment and care for it for themselves and others- developing empathy.

As with all areas of our curriculum, it is important to remember that all of our children have gaps in their learning due to the experiences that have brought them to MVFS. As explained in our Curriculum Policy (this will be added to the website in due course), this means that many of our children are working at a level below their chronological age whilst we support them to re-engage with education and enjoy high levels of interest and success, which help them to rebuild their self-esteem and start to value their own social and academic achievements.

Alongside the new MVFS curriculum, we can continue to offer:

• An increased number of PSHE (personal, social, health education), Protective Behaviours, RSE (Relationship, Sex education) lessons
• Speaking and listening opportunities embedded and integral to daily practice at MVFS
• Farm and allotment time
• Forest school session at least weekly
• Swimming lessons (2 half terms a year per class)
• Horse riding (1 half term of lessons a year per class)- currently impacted by COVID
• Peripatetic music lessons on recorder and/or clarinet
• Visits and trips to enrich educational and social opportunities
• Specific input from SALT, OT, Physio as outlined in a child’s EHCP.

We implement a Friday ‘Club’ morning. We want to provide an equal opportunity to clubs and hobbies to enrich opportunities and foster talents that could then be explored outside of school.