Curriculum

Closeburn House school provides education and care for children and young people with complex additional support needs related in the main to social emotional and behavioural difficulties.

We have been celebrating the hard work of two of our young people as they have received their SQA exams results this year. Well done both and we all wish you the best for your next chapter.

The curriculum aims to provide children with rich experiences which will meet their complex additional support needs and comply fully with the expectations of Curriculum for Excellence, aligned with the requirements of GIRFEC (now at the core of the Children and Young People’s Act).

Experiences & Outcomes

To achieve the incremental progress defined in Building the Curriculum 3, the children and young people attending Closeburn will be offered a range of experiences which will provide them with personalised, group and whole class opportunities for new learning, consolidation and challenge. At the core will be the children’s wellbeing, literacy and numeracy and the collegiate commitment of all staff across the organisation to foster that learning. Children will have a clear voice in determining their learning journeys.

In both the Broad General Education and Senior Phase there will be an emphasis on active learning, across a range of locations and differential approaches. The experiences offered at both schools will be tailored to the needs of the children and young people and will reflect the principles of curriculum design in Curriculum for Excellence.

• Challenge & Enjoyment
• Breadth
• Progression
• Depth
• Personalisation & Choice
• Coherence & Relevance

Relevance

Relevance will be a key hallmark of the learning opportunities experienced by the children and young people.  Disengagement from learning – both formal and informal – is often a central issue for the children and young people who are placed with us. At the point of transition Closeburn the initial objective of all staff is to explore potential avenues to secure their engagement in learning.

Curriculum Planning

Teachers and the education team plan within the 4 contexts for learning: Inter Disciplinary Learning, Subject and Curriculum Areas, Personal Achievement and the Ethos and Life of the School. All of which are underpinned by a clear focus on Health & Wellbeing. Our young people benefit from our therapeutic and trauma informed approach which help to support them in managing their often complex behaviours and emotions.

An Interdisciplinary Learning Approach (IDL) provides the overview to ensure that the relevant Experiences & Outcomes are being addressed. Teachers and the wider education team support the delivery of the curriculum through skilled differentiation, by expectation, by resources or by approaches.

The core elements of literacy, numeracy and wellbeing will be integrated fully into every learning activity. They will also feature as discrete elements as appropriate in individual and where appropriate group learning plans.

We provide a variety of SQA qualifications as well as wider achievements such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Our pupils grow in self esteem and confidence with our electives programme which includes jewellery making, War hammer and Drama and Speech.

We have well resourced classrooms with small numbers allowing young people to benefit from a rich learning environment, one to one support and an exciting outdoor learning environment on the doorstep.

In the senior phase, young people are supported to achieve to their fullest potential through a personalised pathway. We have young people who volunteer in the local community, this helps them gain the confidence and skills they need for their next steps in life. We aim to always ensure our young people leave Closeburn and go on to positive outcomes, we work hard to ensure that transition is as smooth as possible in order to set them up for success in their future.

In the broader context of the 24 hour curriculum, all colleagues will be alert to the learning opportunities and consequent pupil acquisition of skills and knowledge afforded in the residential setting and during recreational activities.