All pupils at Falkland House School follow the Curriculum for Excellence, which enables each young person to be a successful learner, confident individual, responsible citizen and effective contributor. They have a Key Teacher who is responsible for monitoring and guiding their progress, liaising with parents and professionals.
When a pupil arrives in the school, they will be supported in managing the routine of the school and getting to know their new peer group. We produce initial assessments which look at literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing as well as an assessment of the social skills of the pupils. These assessments are compiled and shared with everyone in the school along with some appropriate strategies to support the pupil.
Formative assessment is carried out with the Big Writing Assessments, York Reading Assessments for literacy and Tee Jay for numeracy.
Each pupil has a learning journey document which contains targets, evidence of learning and outcomes as well as personal achievements. We also have a comprehensive tracking and monitoring system and an Academic and Behavioural development framework. These documents are used to track and share progress and are applied in parallel with the SHANARRI care plan. All documents give a comprehensive and holistic view of the child which is used by the team around them.
“The outstanding outcomes achieved by pupils who attend Falkland House School in terms of attendance, academic qualifications, successful transitions to chosen future destinations and inclusion.”
National Autistic Society re-accreditation
We have an interdisciplinary approach to learning across the school. We work with a topic that inspires and motivates, and we cover many curriculum subjects within that theme. We will work as a full class on the same theme, and there will be differentiation through specific tasks or expectations.
We have an active and experiential approach to learning and highly value celebrating personal achievement. This is visually obvious in the classroom with lots of colourful, relevant and current wall displays celebrating the success of the pupils, motivating them to succeed and giving them ownership of their own learning environment.
The whole school works with self-regulation scripts to help promote positive behaviour; this is used in all classrooms along with a calm organised learning environment.
In all subjects and at all stages, a very practical project-focused curriculum is employed to ensure continued high levels of engagement and motivation. All teachers teach in context, using a thematic approach which creates tangible life examples of the subject content being taught.
Moving into the senior phase, all pupils are successfully achieving SQA awards. In this period of transition to the new National Award structure, we have over the last two years presented pupils in awards from National 3 to Advanced Higher. All current S4 and S5 pupils are on target to attain National 4 to Higher Awards in the following subjects:
- English
- Maths
- Biology
- History
- Administration and IT
- Music
- Personal Development Award
- Leadership
Additional options include:
- Chemistry
- Modern Studies
- Literacy
- Geography
A broad range of units are also delivered in topics that are Vocational, Cultural and Sporting in nature, which allows progression in the S4/6 phase to course awards in all of the above courses at an advanced level, up to Advanced Higher, as well as the introduction of the following:
- Physical Education
- CDT
- Skills for Work
- Digital Media
- Photography
Wider achievement is also recognised through the use of National Governing Body Awards.
We offer an elective programme each Thursday afternoon where pupils have the opportunity to choose the activity that they are involved in. This allows greater depth of study in a particular area of interest or strength, or provides the opportunity to try new activities. The elective options are offered to the pupils on a term-by-term basis. Elective options include:
- Cabin Construction
- Photography
- Curling
- Expedition and Hill Walking
- Ground Care and Maintenance
- Computer Programming and Game Design
- Rock Climbing
- Paddle Boarding
- Cycling