Blue Pathway Curriculum
Pre-formal learning at Highfield Littleport Academy
How do we identify students for the Blue pathway?
• Students require a higher level of adult support for their learning, communication and personal care needs. They require sensory stimulation within their curriculum.
• Learning is broken down into small steps and focusses on enhancing and maintaining skills with repetition in a variety of learning experiences.
• Blue learner characteristics include:
• Emerging intentional communication
• Emerging social awareness
• Emerging contextual awareness
• Possible learnt responses to familiar routines
• Beginning to develop joint attention
Core areas of Learning in the Blue Pathway
Personalised curriculum’s generated based upon EHCP outcomes, areas of engagement and the Blue Pathway next steps framework.
Core learning areas in the Blue Pathway
• Along with the 5 key learning areas communication and independence are fundamental development elements essential to our students.
• Creativity is a key part of our curriculum and students encounter sensory experiences through art and music and often use this as a method of accessing other learning.
• There is a strong focus on use, maintenance and application of skills where progress is observed through students levels of engagement within learning activities. The Engagement Model is used to track progress. The spiral approach to the curriculum uses reinforcement and repetition to build upon knowledge and skills.
The Blue Pathway within whole school learning and the wider academy
Facilitating engagement – exploration, realisation, anticipation, persistence and initiation
English, Maths, Science
Creativity (Art, Music, Dance)
World (History, Geography, RE, MFL)
Technology (Food Tech, DT, ICT & Computing)
Areas of learning are broadly similar but there are differentiated next steps within each pathway. The area that is not covered in the blue pathway is My World because everything the students experience is about the world around them.
Students can cross between the pathways according to their needs and abilities within their whole school learning journey however this is rare for learners on the blue pathway due to their profound and multiple learning difficulties.
Blue Pathway Planning – Identifying Next Steps
• Highly individualized and each student has their EHCP targets at the centre along with Blue pathway outcomes to inform next steps.
• The curriculum is underpinned by the Engagement Model and HLA Blue framework which sets out learning experiences in each of the 5 curriculum areas. Learning is delivered through a topic based approach with themes that engage student’s interests and promote engagement.
• There are 6 half termly themes each year Animal Kingdom, My Imagination, Around the World, People and Communities, Plants and the Environment and Past, Present, Future. These topics are adapted in accordance to student’s interests. Topics are flexible and in some circumstances may be moved and adapted throughout the year in response to students current interests as this will have the biggest impact on promoting engagement in learning.
Blue Pathway Teaching Approaches
• TacPac - Tacpac is a sensory communication resource using touch and music. Tacpac helps people with sensory impairment, developmental delay, complex learning difficulties, tactile defensiveness, and limited or pre verbal levels of communication.
• Attention Autism – Attention Autism is an intervention model designed by Gina Davies, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist. It aims to develop natural and spontaneous communication through the use of visually based and highly motivating activities.
• Intensive Interaction – This teaches and develops the fundamentals of communication, attainments such as use and understanding of eye contact, facial expression, vocalisation leading to speech and taking turns in conversational exchanges.
Blue Pathway Teaching Approaches
• Sensology - Sensology’s aims are to wake up the five basic senses (see, hear, touch, smell, taste) and also movement related sensory systems: the vestibular (balance, head movements and gravity) and the proprioceptive (body positions, body mapping and planning movements). The senses are stimulated and introduced individually and a familiar song/rhyme is used to cue in the session as well as children looking at themselves in a mirror.
• Jabadao – Students need five kinds of movement play to help them build both their body awareness and their physical skill. The activities focus on upright play, halfway play, spin tip play, push pull play and floor play.
• Sensory Massage – promoting engagement, communication and enjoyment through positive touch.
Learning opportunities are fortified in every moment of the day including lessons, playtimes, snack and lunchtimes, and trips out in the community including journey time. Every topic has at least one ‘Wow’ event which brings learning to life. This ensures that whilst students have individual learning pathways social opportunities are maximised and there is a broad exposure to the world around them.
Blue Pathway Preparing for Adulthood
• We recognise that as students move into adulthood this is a time for significant change and students need to be prepared for this. Through our curriculum we aim to prepare students for this transition whatever age or ability.
• Learning is embedded within the curriculum but grouped under these four areas:
Independent Living – Feeding and drinking, toileting and personal care, real word experiences, making choices, assisted care and life skills.
Community – Social interaction opportunities, interaction and connection with others and the environment.
Employment – development of following instructions, adapting to new environments, transitioning from place to place, reaction and anticipation of events, experiencing the world
Health – Development checks, statutory health checks, experiences of body change and development, physical opportunities.
Blue Pathway Assessment
• Teachers and teaching assistants assess learning through observations, photo evidence and collection of work. This is recorded through an electronic system Evidence for Learning which enables us to simultaneously assess against individual EHCP targets and the Blue pathway framework to use a formative assessment cycle to plan the next steps.
• Progress is evidenced by students engagement in learning evidenced by the 5 areas of engagement; exploration, realisation, anticipation, persistence and initiation. This ensures even the smallest amount of progress can be evidenced. The assessment information then feeds into regular pupil progress meetings between teachers and senior leaders each half term where we use a RAG system to show students’ progress for curriculum and individual targets.
• This process allows us to identify what’s going well and highlight areas where extra support may be needed providing early interventions.
Learning Values and Behaviours
• Our ethos of preparing students for the next step is underpinned by our five key learning values. Each area encompasses qualities we nurture and develop in our students on a daily basis.
• Independence, Resilience, Thinking, Creativity, Team Work, Kindness
• All of these qualities are utilised in every day life. Through our teaching and learning we identify and practise these values so that students are able to recognise and apply them when they leave Highfield.
• Each value has an associated character to aid recognition and association.
• We use puppets in Blue Pathway to represent each of the learning value characters
Blue Pathway End Points and Transition
Outcomes for learners in the blue pathway varies according to the individual progress they make in their time at Highfield through the curriculum frameworks and against their EHCP outcomes. All students are entitled to leave with qualifications or recognition drawn from their studies within the 5 areas of learning in the blue pathway. In the blue pathway we use ASDAN Personal Progress as recognition of achievement and qualifications.
Learners in the blue pathway are likely to stay on Highfield roll until the end of the year they are 19, unless there is an alternative placement that would suit the individual's needs better than continuation at Highfield. Discussions on moving on begin at the same time as learners in the yellow and green pathways, from at least the year 9 annual review. Our Careers strategy on the school's website has more detail.
Learners can transition onto LINC 19 - 25 subject to Local Authority admissions processes if the individual's needs are best met there. Other options are to move to a mix of social care funded settings, direct payment support to access the community and Learning Disability Partnership input to meet health and care needs. If the learner transitions to a social care funded package or placement, the EHCP ceases. Transitions onto FE or social care placements that build on their progress within the Blue Pathway.
