Curriculum

NCCA Guidelines

This school follows the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) Guidelines for Pupils with General Learning Disabilities. These guidelines have educational aims for all pupils:

  • To nurture each child in all dimensions of his/her life

  • To enable each child to live a full life and to realise their full potential through access to a broad and balanced curriculum

  • To ensure that all pupils' needs, and abilities can be addressed, the curriculum guidelines specify three levels of attainment:

  • Attending – pupils who are learning to attend, listen and watch

  • Responding – pupils who are learning to respond and react to things they feel, hear, see etc.

  • Initiating – pupils who are learning to do things on their own

The subject areas laid out in the curriculum are:

  • Communication and Language

  • Mathematics/ Thinking skills

  • Social, Environmental and Science Education (SESE)

  • Music/ Visual Arts/Drama

  • Physical Education

  • Social, Personal and Health Education

Below is a brief outline of the main aims of each subject area of the curriculum

Communication and Language

  • to learn to use the senses to become more aware of people, objects and activities in the environment

  • to learn to indicate needs and desires

  • to learn to communicate with intention

  • to make everyday choices

  • to learn to use a functional or augmentative system of communication e.g. Lámh signs, objects of reference, picture-symbols etc

Mathematics/ Thinking Skills

  • to learn to act purposefully on the environment

  • to understand the idea of cause and effect e.g. “I made that happen”

  • to develop an awareness of sequence in activities, the daily or weekly routine

  • the beginning of awareness of numbers and patterns

  • early problem-solving

SESE (Social, Environmental and Science Education)

  • History:

  • sense of passage of time throughout the day, week, year

  • sense of own personal history

  • learning to recall special personal events through stories, photos and video

  • Geography:

  • Activities to help find way around familiar environment

  • to learn to associate different places with different activities

  • to develop an awareness of weather and seasonal changes

  • Science:

  • to develop an awareness of plants and animals in the environment

  • to develop an awareness of elements such as hot and cold, bright and dark, heavy and light

Visual Arts

  • to have fun and explore a variety of attractive materials and equipment

  • to use the senses to explore and appreciate the beauty of the natural environment

Music

  • to listen to and appreciate sounds in the environment

  • to enjoy making sounds and performing

Drama

  • to participate, take a turn and cooperate in group activities

  • to improve sensory awareness through experiencing a wide range of costumes, props, stories and poetry

Physical Education

  • to control and coordinate body movement

  • to learn to use new fine and gross motor skills

  • activities include physiotherapy, cycling, walking, standing, stretching, holding, reaching, dancing, swimming etc.

SPHE (Social, Personal and Health Education)

  • Myself – how I look and what I can do

  • Myself and Others – my family and my friends

  • Myself and the Wider World – my school, my local community

 

Junior Cycle

NCCA Junior Cycle Level 1 Learning Programmes

Level 1 Learning Programmes (L1LP) will target the very specific group of students with general learning disabilities in the range of lower functioning moderate to severe and profound categories. The programme will be capable of personalisation to suit the individual needs of the target group of students.

The Level 1 Learning Programmes are made up of six Priority Learning Units (PLUs) which explicitly identify and develop the key areas of learning needed to prepare the students for their future lives.

  • Communication, Language and Literacy

  • Personal Care and Wellbeing

  • Being part of a Community

  • Numeracy

  • The Arts

  • Physical Education

This programme is currently being trialled in a small number of schools for Pupils with Severe & Profound General Learning Disabilities/p>

https://www.ncca.ie/en/junior-cycle/level-one-and-level-two-programmes

 

Junior Cycle Level 1 and 2 Learning Programmes

NCCA Junior Cycle Level 1and 2 Learning Programmes

Level 1 Learning Programmes (L1LP) will target the very specific group of students with general learning disabilities in the range of lower functioning moderate to severe and profound categories. The programme will be capable of personalisation to suit the individual needs of the target group of students.

The Level 1 Learning Programmes are made up of six Priority Learning Units (PLUs) which explicitly identify and develop the key areas of learning needed to prepare the students for their future lives.

  • Communication, Language and Literacy

  • Personal Care and Wellbeing

  • Being part of a Community

  • Numeracy

  • The Arts

  • Physical Education

https://www.ncca.ie/en/junior-cycle/level-one-and-level-two-programmes

Thmatic  Planning

Each month the school chooses a specific theme and uses that theme to teach the strands of the curriculum. This is a whole school approach. The students' achievements are celebrated through photographs, artwork and weekly recognition awards at our assembly.

Communication with Parents

Regular communication between home and school plays an important part in the education of all pupils. Parental involvement is welcomed and encouraged through an ‘open door’ policy.

Parents are welcome to visit their child’s classroom and are also free to contact their child’s teacher over any matter. However, due to teaching commitments, it is not always convenient for the teacher to respond immediately to such visits or phone calls. Teachers are happy to arrange for parents to visit the class, and will always return a phone call if they are not free to talk at the time. The school nurses are available to take phone calls on medical and care issues.

Home/School Diary

Each pupil has a Home/School Diary to keep parents informed about what has happened in the classroom each day. Information is also included on eating and personal care. Nurses and Clinicians also use the Home /School diary to communicate relevant information to parents. Parents are also encouraged to write in the Home /School diaries in order to keep their child’s teacher informed about any aspect of their child’s welfare. Any queries or concerns that parents may have can also be raised in the diary. Additional news, such as what happened at the weekend, or what other members of the family are doing is always welcomed so their news can be shared at Assembly and celebrated during circle time.

Communication Platforms

Aladdin

The school may use Aladdin to communicate with parents. To this end we would encourage parents to download Aladdin Connect onto their phones. Through this platform the school can text or email multiple parents at a time for school announcements, reminders or unforeseen circumstances such as Covid-19 or Snow. It is also possible to pay voluntary contributions through this application.

Seesaw

We are using the Seesaw App as a means of digital communication between teachers and families. It is a lovely interactive and safe way to share news, photos and videos between home and school. Many families prefer using Seesaw over Home/School diaries and yet others prefer to keep the diary as the main form of communication. We will use the system that works best for each family.

 

Assessment

Assessment Policy - add policy here

Individual Education Plan

An IEP is done for each student in the first term of school. This is done with the teacher and parents. Goals are chosen based on teacher assessments, information from parents and from clinicians when applicable.

 

back to top