Campus Pathways

Sherwood Foundation School - Sherwood Hill Campus is a specialist school for autistic learners aged 3 - 19 years who have multiple and complex barriers to learning, requiring high levels of support to access education and learning around their peers.  Many of our learners may also have severe learning difficulties and /or struggle to maintain a regulated state for learning.

We have specific pathways for learning on each campus which enables us to group learners with peers who have similar strengths and needs to them creating a feeling of belonging and opportunities for developing social partners and friendships; and to ensure that all learners have equal opportunities to access and thrive within the curriculum offered, with learning tailored to their needs with appropriate stretch and challenge. Most of these pathways are tracked through the school, with classes in the lower, middle and upper school.  However, one pathway on each campus identifies learners who have significant barriers to learning which prevent their ability to access learning in full on the other pathways. Learners on these pathways are placed in classes on pathways appropriate to their academic ability/ learning style, however they require additional highly specialist accommodations, adaptations and approaches to support their access to learning in class. This additional support pathway on the Sherwood Hill Campus is the Juniper Pathway (see details below). Some learners remain in the same pathway throughout their school journey, whilst other learners move between pathways based on their progress and/ or changing needs. 

Willow 

Oak 

Juniper 

Summary

Learners on the Willow Pathway learn through sensory-motor exploration, intensive interaction and repetition. Their regulation and social differences mean they require high levels of support to work alongside others and build on previously learnt skills.

Learners on the Oak Pathway generally cope with learning as a class group but they

require high levels of adult support to regulate, engage in learning and interact with their peers as part of a social group. With this support they are able to generalise skills across learning contexts.

Learners on the Juniper Pathway have significant difficulties coping with stress affecting their ability to feel safe and comfortable within their own bodies, their environment and around others. This means they struggle to learn around others and require a highly individualised learning offer.

Learners Needs

Cognition & learning

This cohort is learning to engage in activities outside of their interests. They are beginning to engage and show interest in a wider range of activities through exploratory sensorimotor and relational based activities. The learner’s curiosity of the world is not yet driving their learning experiences and their sensory motor preferences often have an impact on their engagement in a wider variety of learning opportunities. They can maintain attention on a limited range of highly preferred activities for short periods and are beginning to attend and attribute meaning to activities linked to areas of interest. Learners are beginning to develop emergent literacy and numeracy skills and apply these skills through functional activities that are motivating to individual students. They are beginning to develop an understanding of core learning through practical learning experiences.

Cognition & learning

This cohort is able to attend to adult-led learning tasks across a range of subjects and curriculum areas when given time to regulate and spend time on their preferred activities. Attention to learning tasks varies throughout the day depending on the individual learner's motivation and interest. Learners can readily engage in novel learning experiences, consolidating previously learnt skills whilst also developing new ones. They are beginning to generalise skills across contexts and may begin to show inference around learning. Learners have an understanding of routines and sequences throughout their day when scaffolded with transactional supports. Some learners are developing early numeracy and literacy skills but many are conventional literacy numeracy learners. They are beginning to be able to apply their numeracy and literacy skills to functional tasks and generalising these skills in a range of learning activities both in school and the community.

Cognition & learning 

Learners find it challenging attending to and engaging with their everyday learning environment and the world around them due to high levels of stress. They can demonstrate sustained attention but this is significantly impacted by their ability to regulate from moment to moment. They enjoy self-directed activities and can find it difficult to focus their attention on tasks or learning opportunities that are outside of their personal preferences or are adult-directed, where they demonstrate fleeting attention for very short periods of time. 

Communication & Language

Learners are beginning to attend to and attribute meaning to activities linked to areas of interest, however they often present with fleeting attention and therefore need repetition and support to sustain interactions to expand on learning concepts. They have an emerging understanding of the purpose of communication and some symbolic vocabulary around familiar routines and motivating activities through the use of communication systems, body language and/ or speech. 

Communication & language

Learners are beginning to use increasingly multimodal conventional communication. They understand the purpose of a communication system and use this with increasing intention and skill with adult support. They intentionally and conventionally communicate (total communication) for a wide range of early communication functions but may have limited higher level language skills. They have a consistent yes/no, are able to make choices and are able to open and close several circles of communication to initiate and maintain an interaction. These skills may not be present yet in new social situations or when experiencing stress.

Communication & Language

Learners often understand the purpose of a communication system and often use this with adult support when regulated, however, they revert to unconventional communication at times of stress. This means that even those with conventional communication (speech, AAC use) predominantly communicate unconventionally and for a narrow range of communication functions. Communication can often involve the use of maladaptive stress behaviours.  Learners rely heavily on attuned adults who know them well to understand their communication attempts, interpret these and model adaptive communication strategies as an alternative. 

Social, Emotional & Mental Health

Through cause and effect and the support of attuned adults, learners are beginning to understand their role as a social partner. They require support, modelling and repetition to engage in circles of communication beyond highly motivating activities and people, this makes social interactions more challenging with their peers. Learners need high levels of adult support through co-regulation to develop their ability to attain and maintain a ‘calm’ regulated state for learning. Learners in this cohort often do not recognise a regulated state and have a small toolkit of strategies to support regulation. They require the support of highly attuned adults to enable them to access the toolkit.  This cohort can often self occupy in relation to their own self interests, however they have limited awareness of when engaging in these have become a stressor when engaged in for long periods, or when transitioning away from them. 

Social, Emotional & Mental Health

Learners can intentionally communicate for a wide range of early communication functions and continue to progress towards  later developing communication functions (e.g. negotiation etc). Learners mostly show increasing interest and friendships with peers but often  have difficulties with the shared problem solving required for sustained play & to resolve conflict. They are generally able to explore and engage in a range of play and leisure interests with adult scaffolding and are beginning to explore new activities when presented with the opportunity. Learners are generally comfortable with parallel and shared play and be open to new play and leisure ideas being modelled to them. This cohort have an emerging awareness of stress within their body and are beginning to engage with known regulation strategies when supported by familiar attuned adults.  They are beginning to advocate for their own regulation and wellbeing needs in an adaptive way.

Social, Emotional & Mental Health

Learners are starting to build trusting relationships with adults, developing their understanding that adults can be there to help. They may often be aware of their peers but do not yet have the intent to interact with them, in part linked to high anxiety levels that are often heightened by social interactions. Learners find it challenging to understand and express a range of emotions conventionally and therefore learners are building on their ability to sustain circles of communication with trusted adults whilst remaining regulated. Learners have significant difficulties with self-regulation.  They are stuck in the stress cycle and living in allostatic overload which means they have significant difficulties with recognising, attaining and maintaining a regulated state for learning and resting often leading to difficulties with sleep, digestion and good health. They have few adaptive regulation strategies and so are dependent on highly skilled & attuned adults to develop their ability to recognise what ‘calm’ really feels like. Learners are developing their regulation toolbox through exploring a range of adaptive regulation strategies with attuned adults across the five domains through explicit but mainly implicit teaching. Learners often find it challenging to identify and reduce their own stressors and need adults to understand when their stress levels are high and their energy levels are depleting and to recognise what strategies will work for them from moment to moment. 

Physical, Sensory & Physical Health

This cohort has sensory differences that have a significant impact on their regulation, attention, engagement and motor development.  Gross and fine motor skills /  development are often impacted by the learner’s difficulties with motivation and therefore sustained practice of tasks.  Learners often need support to generate motor ideas and scaffolding and repetition when learning how to plan and sequence new motor tasks. Some learners may have additional physical and / or sensory impairments and additional health needs that also impact their ability to access activities requiring additional specialist support.  

Physical, Sensory & Physical Health

This cohort has a range of sensory differences that have a significant impact on their engagement and ability to sustain learning activities and social interactions. Learners are generally able to complete several step sequences but may require adult support and scaffolding due to limited praxis and motor skills or to support them to maintain attention and motivation for the task. With support learners can access a range of physical activities inside and outside of school. These are often preferred activities such as swimming, walking and PE games. Some learners may have physical / sensory impairments that also impact their ability to access activities, requiring additional specialist support. 

Physical, Sensory & Physical Health

This cohort has sensory differences that regularly trigger a stress response, significantly impacting on their regulation, engagement and ability to sustain learning activities and social interactions. They often display difficulties with interoception, in part linked to their high stress levels.  Learners struggle to maintain the active flexion postures required for many learning activities so often struggle with seated tasks. Their motor skills, ability to plan motor tasks and follow a sequence and steps are often impacted by their attention and interest, regulation or the cognitive stress caused by completing the task. 

Independence

Learners initially need high levels of support for all personal care activities however over time they are able to engage and achieve tasks, learning through repetition. They require support from adults to structure and scaffold learning and provide physical support where required.  Learners often require support with toileting; they may have interoception awareness at times (e.g. during the day) but may still have accidents or require support at night. Their understanding of safety is significantly impacted by their regulation, attention and social awareness.

Independence

Difficulties with interoception and motor skills may impact awareness of and independence in many self care activities. They are increasingly independent in activities of daily living; requiring individualised support from adults for scaffolding, problem solving, and persistence through tasks. Learners are developing an understanding of basic safety concepts such as the use of kitchen appliances and road safety. They are able access a range of school and community locations safely with adult support.

Independence

Learners in this cohort are fully aided by adults for all aspects of daily living activities, mainly to support their regulation and facilitate task completion. They require close adult supervision and support to keep them and others safe across contexts.