Personal Progress at Kingsweston School
Kingsweston School, Bristol, is a special school catering for pupils with learning difficulties and complex needs. Nikky Sheldrake, the Key Stage 5 Learning Manager, describes how she is using the ASDAN Preparatory Awards and the Personal Progress qualification to accredit the life skills curriculum for her learners.
“Kingsweston School has offered several ASDAN Awards very successfully for a number of years. At Key Stage 3, New Horizons forms the basis of the PSHE curriculum for approximately 30 pupils. Students at Key Stage 4 are working towards Transition Challenge, generating evidence for five units of the Entry 1 Qualifications in Personal Progress in the process.
"During the two-year course, they will cover units including:
- Developing communication skills (3 credits)
- Early mathematics: developing number skills (2 credits)
- Travel within the community: going places (3 credits)
- Developing learning skills: learning to learn (5 credits)
- Engaging with the world around you: objects (3 credits)
"This will provide them with 14 credits for a Certificate Qualification in Personal Progress. At the end of Key Stage 4, the students progress to the Post-16 Department for a further three-year programme of study, working on a number of Towards Independence modules, which also satisfy the requirements of different Personal Progress Units. To illustrate: the Towards Independence modules Independent Living and Meal Preparation and Cookery will provide a curriculum context to meet the requirements for the following Personal Progress units:
- Developing independent living skills: Being healthy (2 credits)
- Developing independent living skills: Having your say (3 credits)
- Developing independent living skills: keeping safe (2 credits)
- Developing community participation skills: Getting out and about (5 credits)
"The Post-16 students work on up to nine TI modules over three years. Where appropriate, students are building on previous credits accrued and working towards the Diploma Qualification in Personal Progress (37 credits). The students carry out their work in the life skills room (see photos), which means they can achieve practical skills in a ‘home’ environment. They are generating superb evidence for the new Entry 1 Personal Progress qualification through the Transition Challenge and Towards Independence Awards and it’s great that their work is being accredited with two different outcomes. They have folders for each course and the evidence is put into both with annotation and/or certificates. Each key stage has a different coloured folder for the Personal Progress Qualification so that students feel they are 'moving up' while continuing with the same course.
"ASDAN is the perfect awarding body for our school, as the courses offer accreditation of all of our students’ activities. The school is now considering introducing ASDAN’s Award of Personal Effectiveness (AoPE), which is equivalent to half a GCSE at Level 1, for the more able students.”