Science at Elms Bank Specialist Arts College
Our school A generic special school serving the borough of Bury 160 students aged A wide range of SEN including PMLD, SLD, MLD and ASD, physical needs, HI and VI February 2010 maintained Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ rating. Achieved outstanding across every category except for 1 Deployment of staff
Our journey Before: In house schemes of work Entry level accreditation AQA unit award scheme Generic room with gas taps, sockets and sinks
Our journey After: Updated in house schemes of work Pre-entry level award trial OCR Entry level OCR 21 st Century Science GCSE Science lab. with gas taps, sockets and sinks attached to rise and fall accessibility for students with limited mobility Link with EPRU + mainstream links
The future New schemes of work Whole school PMLD thematic approach Whole school assessment documents Pre-entry level award BTEC First Certificate in Applied Science
National Science and Engineering week For the past 3 years an annual event 5-day programme of events including in- house workshops with collaborative working between local primary and secondary schools and external providers Science trips Competitions Feedback from pupils and staff and all involved
Differentiation Prior knowledge Setting meaningful targets P-levels New progression guidance: between levels P1-3 expected 2 sub-levels progress, at level P4 and upwards 2 whole levels progress expected over the key stage Graphs
Graphs/pictograms
Non-specialists teaching science Initially given a science pack containing all relevant information for their class and for science across the school Trial experiments with myself/technician Sharing good practice Risk assessments document produced by technician using CLEAPPS guidance Monitoring and feedback e.g. lesson observations with learning classroom in the near future, work scrutiny, target setting and evaluating, levels, reports, advice.
My journey For pupils on the autistic spectrum: use of timelines, PECs and the power of being non- verbal – emerging communicators Use of sensory activities – profound learning experiences Baselines / Starting Points Evidence in different forms – enjoy and achieve
Contact details Farzana Shah, Assistant Headteacher Elms Bank Specialist Arts College Telephone