Foundation Pathway

Express your creativity through art and design, photography and digital skills.

Learn about different types of music, make choices and express preferences. Practise and perform a piece of music alongside other learners for an end of year showcase.

Learn employability skills one day a week trying out a number of areas. Learn to work with others, communicate with unfamiliar people, money skills and interpersonal skills. For example, in breakfast club students take orders from staff and students and prepare food in our industry standard training kitchen. Employability skills are also developed through projects such as Avon, breakfast club, sweet treats and photography.

Learn skills to be independent out in the community, using money, cooking, looking after the home, making choices and communicating needs.

In PHSE students learn to look after themselves and find out about healthy diets, staying fit and the importance of relaxation.

Increase your skills in reading and writing, and work towards personalised targets.

Gain accreditation in maths (if appropriate), increase your skills in numbers, shape, money and everyday maths, and work towards personalised targets.

Group projects working with other learners on a performance and showcase opportunities throughout the year.

Try and play various different sports and games and learn about the importance of keeping fit.

Foundation Plus is a practical skills programme which aims to increase independence, communication and social skills for young people with autistic spectrum condition who are presenting with a learning disability (working towards Entry Level 1 or Entry Level 2) and high sensory needs.  

All students are placed on a bespoke programme with therapeutic support provided as part of their timetable.

Foundation Plus is taught in a separate purpose-built area away from the main college building and with its own access route. This is a secure building with fob entry and a fence is currently being installed around the grassed area directly outside the building to create a secure outdoor space.

The building consists of a classroom, fully functioning kitchen, dining room, disabled toilets, a lounge area and breakout rooms and a 1:1 teaching space.  

Each student has his or her own breakout room which would not be used by any other student. This provides a space to use as a sensory breakout area or to do activities in a calm and quiet space to meet the student’s personal interests, likes and sensory processing needs.

Students will work as part of a group and individually. Teaching is provided on a 1:4 teacher/student ratio with 1:1 support throughout lessons, breaks and lunches and for escorting to and from transport. 2:1 support can be provided when out in the community and 1:1 teaching can be provided if a young person is unable to study with peers.

Foundation Plus is a total communication environment using signs, symbols, objects of reference and augmented assistive technology. 

All staff receive mandatory training annually and are provided with bespoke training on an individual’s needs by the college multi-disciplinary clinical team.  This team includes an autism practitioner, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist and educational psychologist.  

Our clinical team work alongside teaching staff and contribute to the way we work with these young people with complex needs. Staff will also work closely with the college’s Social and Emotional Development Support Team to develop strategies and work with learners to support self-regulation skills.

Core elements of the Foundation Plus study programme  

• ‘Settling in’ time to review the individual student’s plan and routine for the day. 

• Sensory circuits in outdoor space as well as individual activities at own workstations to support the development of independence, problem solving, fine and gross motor skills.

• Social time in shared areas (kitchen, dining room, lounge) as well as the wider campus if appropriate to the individual.

• The use of TEACCH strategies to support the embedding of structure and routine.

• Regular and frequent movement and learning breaks.

• Outdoor learning in the form of nature walks and activities in the forest school area.

• Independent living skills are taught as part of a group, or individually, and may include: cooking skills; healthy living; personal hygiene; trips to use facilities in the local community and engagement with other areas and activities in the wider college.

• Access to the college sensory room and the student’s own breakout room. Staff work with students to develop effective strategies for self-regulation.

• Development of communication through everyday tasks.

• Access to a fully equipped gym and multi-use games area

We encourage Foundation Plus students to engage in activities in the main Foundation Pathway, wider college community and trips into the local community as and when the individual student is ready to do so.

Foundation Blended is a starting point for young people working from Pre-entry to Entry Level 2 who need a nurture curriculum tailored to their needs in order to make a successful transition to college. It is also a progression route for those who started with a higher level of support in Foundation Plus.

This is a one year study programme and we would aim to move the student into our main Foundation Pathway after the first year if felt appropriate.

We understand that for some young people Foundation Blended is more suited to their needs therefore some young people may return for a second year in the provision where they will work on more challenging targets to further develop their skills.

The base room is in a purpose-built area away from the main college building and with its own access route. This offers a calmer, quieter space to meet the student’s sensory processing needs and reduce triggers for dysregulation. It is a secure area with fob entry to create a secure outdoor space for those needing unplanned movement breaks.The building consists of a large classroom, independence area, a sensory breakout room and secure outdoor sensory space.  

Once settled at college, students are supported to access all areas of the campus and to join peers across our different pathways for social and enterprise events. We encourage Foundation Blended students to engage in activities in the main Foundation Pathway, wider college community and trips into the local community as and when the individual student is ready to do so.

Students will work as part of a group and individually. Teaching is provided on a 1:6 teacher/student ratio with a standard of 1:2 support throughout lessons, breaks and lunches and for escorting to and from transport. 1:1 support can be provided if this is identified as a need in the EHCP.

Foundation Blended is a total communication environment using signs, symbols, objects of reference and augmented assistive technology. Staff utilise Makaton to support verbal language and a ‘one voice’ approach is used to support understanding and processing.

All staff receive mandatory training annually and are provided with bespoke training on an individual’s needs by the college multi-disciplinary clinical team.  This team includes an autism practitioner, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist and educational psychologist.  Our clinical team work alongside teaching staff and contribute to the way we work with these young people with complex needs. Staff will also work closely with the college’s Social and Emotional Development Support Team to develop strategies and work with learners to support self-regulation skills.

 
Core elements of the Foundation Blended study programme

• ‘Settling in’ time to review the individual student’s plan and routine for the day.

• Sensory circuits in outdoor space and tray activities at individual workstations to support the development of gross and fine motor skills.

• Social time in shared areas both within the provision and around campus

• Regular and frequent movement and learning breaks.

• TEACCH strategies are used to aid understanding, processing and independence and to support the establishment of routine and structure.

• Outdoor learning in the form of nature walks and activities in the forest school area.

• Independent living skills are taught as part of a group and may include: cooking skills; healthy living; personal hygiene; trips to use facilities in the local community and engagement with other areas and activities in the wider college.

• Access to the college sensory room and the Blended break-out room. Staff work with students to develop effective strategies for self-regulation.

• Development of communication through everyday tasks alongside a discrete communication session supported by the college speech and language therapist. 

• Access to a fully equipped gym and multi-use games area.

• Involvement with wider college and local community.

Learning for Life is a personalised multisensory programme for students with profound and multiple learning disabilities. It has a strong focus on communication, physical and social skills, and independence.

A total communication approach is used, and all staff are trained and experienced in using intensive interaction, PECS, Makaton, objects of reference and sensory and audio cues to support the development of cognition, communication and independence. 

The person-centred programme enables students to be fully involved in their own learning, to demonstrate what is important to them and learn through activities that are important for them.  

Our LfL programme is situated in the heart of the college and students are supported to access all areas of the wider campus. The average class size is one teacher to six students and support is provided in line with a young person’s EHCP.

LfL students access physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy through activities embedded in the study programme as well as through direct input from a fully qualified therapist if funded through the EHCP.

Every student is allocated a dedicated Progress Coach who will oversee reviews of progress and liaise with the team around the young person at college: teachers; support staff; mentors; nursing; clinical team; therapies; safeguarding and job coaches.  

The Progress Coach will organise and attend EHCP reviews, liaise with any external agencies or professionals continuing to work with the young person and, most importantly, acts as a single point of contact for the family.

Core elements of the Learning for Life programme 

• Daily ‘wake up sessions’ designed to embed a young person’s physio and OT targets into learning activities.

• One day per week, accessing the community to have an opportunity to explore hobbies that will add enrichment to adult life eg. visits to Transport Museum, Garden Centre and Café. Social stories are used to prepare students for trips out and about and scrapbooks are used to reflect on the day’s activities.

• One day per week sensory arts with creative themes linked to celebrations or planned community activities, e.g. growing plants from seeds linked to engagement with the local garden centre. 

• One-and-a-half days per week, independent living skills where students are provided with opportunities to go out in the community and take part in life skills activities at college such as cooking, shopping and household chores.  Communication is developed through everyday activities - washing up, drying up, bagging up, choosing snack and paying for snack. Students will also develop their use of assistive technology in the home eg. use of switches to learn about cause and effect and to support making choices.

• Daily access to a sensory room where experienced staff will use intensive interaction approaches, sensory massage (Flo Longhorn) and TACPAC to develop communication and choice-making skills. Students can access deep pressure massage and use weighted blankets to help with regulation and provide proprioceptive feedback. 

We will routinely engage students in:

• Sensory walks designed to encourage learners to be more independent in mobility; if appropriate, e.g. self-propelling a wheelchair or using a walker.

• Sensory stories using the interactive whiteboard, PECS, objects of reference and sensory cues to develop communication and choice making skills.  

• Use of switches and the interactive whiteboard with ‘Help Kids Learn’ to develop problem solving and concentration in learning activities.

• Repetitive learning to enable tracking of progress against engagement levels, anticipation and choice making.

Go to our Learning for Life page to see a short video, download a brochure and find out more information.