Curriculum

Set in rural Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, Maben House School provides a specialist, primary school model of education to children and young people aged from 5 to 19 years with additional support needs including trauma, social, emotional and mental health, and those who are neurodivergent.

We work with the Curriculum for Excellence and aim to cover all aspects of the broad general education. Maben House School is located in a beautiful rural setting, it is a wonderful location for learning as well as exploring the outdoors.

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).  We tailor learning to suit each one of our children.

Experiences & Outcomes

To achieve the incremental progress defined in Building the Curriculum 3, pupils attending Maben House School are offered a range of experiences which provide them with personalised, group and whole class opportunities for new learning, consolidation and challenge. Wellbeing, literacy and numeracy are at the core of our offering, along with the collegiate commitment of all staff across the service to foster that learning. Our pupils also have a clear voice in determining their learning journeys.

There is an emphasis on active learning, across a range of locations and differential approaches. The experience offered at Maben House is tailored to the individual needs of our pupils and reflects the principles of curriculum design in Curriculum for Excellence.

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

Relevance

Relevance is a key hallmark of the learning opportunities experienced by pupils at Maben House School. Disengagement from learning – both formal and informal – is often a central issue for the children and young people who join our school. At the point of transition to Maben House School, the initial objective of all staff is to explore potential avenues to secure their engagement in learning.

Curriculum

Small class sizes (maximum of 6 pupils per class) mean that we can provide intensive support to our pupils, and they benefit from lots of one-to-one support and small group work. We have teachers, teaching assistants and care workers on site to ensure that our pupils are fully supported, and the adult to pupil ratio is particularly beneficial when supporting those who may be demonstrating distressed behaviours and those who have a variety of other barriers to their learning.

We deliver a range of learning experiences and activities to ensure our pupils are engaged in the learning process. We place an emphasis on the importance of well-planned, inter-disciplinary learning, and our pupils enjoy the range of topics we cover. Our planning is personalised to each pupil, ensuring consideration of their social, emotional and sensory needs.

We ensure that learning takes place throughout the day and ensure that our breaks and lunches are utilised to provide opportunities to develop many Health and Wellbeing outcomes and experiences.

We always support children to access a mainstream education where appropriate at Maben House, and we work hard to provide pupils with knowledge and skills, along with a robust transition to mainstream where possible.

To find out more about our school, you can download our prospectus by clicking here.