At Oak Tree,  we ensure all our pupils have access to a high quality Science curriculum, including those with SEND. Our provision triangles ensure support at the right level for each individual.

Keeping our expectations high: teachers have the same aspirations for all students. Students are encouraged to access the same objectives as their peers and are given support by the TA/T and/or through the use of resources such as visual aids, scaffolds, prompts, vocabulary banks etc. The aim is to support the SEND pupil to be included, achieve and make progress.

No ability groups: mixed ability and flexible grouping allows for collaborative learning, peer support and extension. Children may be moved to groups according to their knowledge and skills of the area of Science being covered. Flashbacks, key questions and AfL techniques ensure support is swift and purposeful.  We foster success in all pupils.

Communication-friendly classrooms: This benefits all our children. The Department for Education noted that speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) is now the most prevalent area of SEND, accounting for 23 per cent of needs. The language of learning can be technical, can be specific and can be completely unintelligible to a growing number of our children with communication difficulties. We create a positive atmosphere where it is normal and accepted to ask for help and make mistakes. Strong teacher questioning, use of sentence stems and the development of articulate succinct answers with specific technical vocabulary, all support our SEND pupils.

Outdoor learning opportunities: Our curriculum has planned in opportunities to take our learning outside the classroom.  We use our extensive school grounds to support and enrich our science curriculum through the use of the school garden, pond area and forested area.  Forest school provision underpins our long term, sustainable approach to outdoor learning which builds confidence and independence in children through the exploration of, and experiences in the natural world.