Southlands School Curriculum
At Southlands School, we aim to provide consistent, diverse, fun and structured learning opportunities through a waking day curriculum, seven days a week.
Southlands School offers exceptional support and a personalised multi- disciplinary approach to education which enables us to, provide individualised learning and support for our young people.Working together we are empoweredto work with our young people to meet a wide range of complex needs, so that they are enabled to thrive and achieve greater independence.
The outstanding setting of Southlands, on a large site in the New Forest, enables us to offer a variety of opportunities to inspire and support our young people to develop strategies and increase their independence as they move towards adulthood.
Our teams work together in a holistic way across Education, Care and Clinical Well-Being to ensure best outcomes for our children.Our multi-disciplinary approached includes Speech and Language Therapy, Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Holistic Therapy, Physiotherapy and Behaviour Support. Much of this work is embedded/integrated into the curriculum and staff practice, with direct timetabled sessions where students have a specific identified need through assessments/ EHCP’s.
We understand that not all children/young people will learn new skills at the same pace. Our curriculum caters for students with a wide range of needs, regardless of the speed of their progress.
At Southlands School we have adapted the National Curriculum to meet the needs of our learners and ensure the children benefit from a broad and balanced curriculum offer throughout their time at Southlands School. To meet the needs of our learners the core curriculum across the school consists of English, Maths, Science, PSHRE, Social Thinking and Outdoor Learning. We are able to take a flexible approach and timetables are adapted to meet the needs of the individual learner, including sensory breaks and regulation activities.
Our curriculum offers a range of options in Years 9 to 11 that can lead to external accreditation and qualifications including AQA awards, Entry Level, Functional Skills, City and Guilds and GCSE qualifications. We use ASDAN to evidence Life Skills progress and students can gain a range of awards.
Qualifications we offer include:
- GCSEs
- ASDAN qualifications
- British Computing Society ECDL Level 2 GCSE Equivalent
- Level 3 Extended Project Qualification (A Level Equivalent)
- AQA Unit Awards
- Entry Level / Step Up to English
- Functional Skills
- Duke of Edinburgh's Award
- BTEC Levels 1 and 2 Home Cooking
- Sports Leaders Award
- British Safety Council
- Sailing RSA Certificate
- John Muir Award
Supporting young people to thrive
Meet James Watson, Regional Care Lead covering Cambian Southlands School. James James explains how Cambian Southlands School supports young people to thrive to achieve their personal best in the video interview.
Helping every student to achieve
Meet Claire Bartlett, English Teacher at Cambian Southlands School. Claire shares her goal of every student leaving Southlands with an English qualification.
Consistent teaching takes place over a longer period than in mainstream day schools. Class groups are small, allowing for individual programmes of study. Alongside the formal curriculum, behaviour management strategies and the development of social skills are also an integral part of every lesson on the timetable.
Find out more about our Classrooms and Teaching spaces, Independent Life Skills and our Approach to Phonics below.
We work particularly closely with our sister College Cambian Wing College, in Bournemouth to support transition for the next stage of education in a specialist post-16 setting, as well as other specialist settings and mainstream colleges.
Our Approach
Our Approach to Phonics
Southlands School uses a combination of Ruth Miskins' Read Write Inc. (RWI) model in secondary and Decoders from Twinkl in primary. Both are an organised and systematic approach to phonics that emphasises on teaching pupils to understand words correctly and develop excellent reading abilities.
These methods involve introducing pupils to phonemes (the smallest sounds in language) in a carefully sequenced manner, beginning with simple, easily blendable sounds and progressively proceeding to more complicated patterns.
When pupils first arrive at Southlands School, phonics trained staff will identify them for a phonics assessment. Staff will then review the pupils accessing phonics and give 1:1 or small group learning as needed.
We acknowledge that certain pupils with ASD and associated disorders struggle with repetition, which is why at Southlands, our entire staff understands of our phonics schemes and have a fundamental understanding of them thanks to our onboarding training.
Staff who work closely with pupils accessing phonics receive RWI training and have half-term meetings with our phonics lead, but all staff are free to seek assistance wherever they believe it is required.
Classrooms and Teaching Spaces
Within our education block, we offer purpose-built, comfortable classrooms with equipment and technology to support learning and development, such as white boards, overhead projectors, computers, and comfortable seating.
We have a dedicated Design Technology workshop style classroom with all the required machinery and tools students may need, and an Art Room containing all the resources students may need such as canvases, paints and tools.
We also have a dedicated Music Room offering modern and traditional musical instruments such as keyboards and guitars, plus kit to include speakers, amplifiers and microphones.
Connecting our classrooms, we have bright, colourful corridors and interesting visual displays, including hand painted wildlife art, for students to enjoy admiring as they transition through their school day, in between lessons.
Independent Life Skills
Independent Living Skills are the skills required to meet the challenges of daily living, including time management, dressing, personal care, eating, cooking, and household management.
These skills are key to student achievement, independence, and success in life.
At Cambian Southlands School, learning and empowerment through Independent Living Skills are at the forefront, and staff are dedicated to teaching skills for life, that for students to embrace during their time at the school, and beyond.
