One of the biggest differences you will notice between Odyssey House School and other schools is how learning occurs.
At Odyssey House School, the curriculum has been developed specifically to remove any barriers to learning that students may have due to their prior poor educational experience. The full policy can be viewed on the school’s website: www.odysseyeducation.org.uk.
Our offering at the school includes small class sizes – with a maximum of 6 students in a class, ongoing support, careful planning, flexibility in the delivery of lessons, and, as necessary, the provision of interventions. We emphasise mindfulness and resilience in everyone. We do not fit the students to our curriculum and provision; we tailor our curriculum and provision to fit the students. At times, this will require a flexible approach to the timetable, for example, those students who might previously have refused to attend school, may be offered a transition programme with a graduated increased attendance into full-time education. This will be reflected in the student’s personalised learning pathway.
However, the overriding objective is for the students to leave Odyssey House School with a higher level of self-esteem, confidence in their ability to learn and develop further, and to be able to engage positively and productively in their next higher educational setting or in employment.
Each student’s personalised programme of study will include areas of learning that meet their needs. These might include, for example, subjects for GCSE such as English, Maths, Science, History and Art, and BTech subjects allocated for that academic year. As an all through school, from the start of key stage 2, we follow an adapted national curriculum and carefully tailor a programme of learning adapted to either the pupil or their groups need.
With the guidance of the staff team, students will learn to analyse complicated problems, develop workable solutions, and effectively communicate their learning to others. This may be enhanced by visits to enrich their learning in a subject or topic. After each visit, they will return to Odyssey House School to reflect on, document and present what they have learned. Gradually, the complex issues they have been studying are brought to life while their understanding becomes deeper and more connected.
Odyssey House School recognises that each student is a unique individual with their own strengths. We provide a challenging curriculum for each one, but do not try to provide a ‘one size fits all’ educational experience. We work closely with the parents/ carers and the student to agree the program of study. Whilst we have high expectations of all our students, we will always ensure that they are able to achieve their maximum potential.
Children will be entered for accredited qualifications including GCSEs and BTech qualifications, based on:
• Teacher assessments
• Attendance and engagement in lessons
• Working to achieve their academic goals to the best of their ability
Our curriculum aims to provide our learners with the independence to achieve their goals, providing them with the skills to self-regulate and harness their talents, thus providing them the freedom to pursue their passions and goals. With this in mind, our curriculum is focused around each individual pupil and the group they are in so that our students do the absolute best they can, academically and personally, during their time with us.
As a school there are different learning pathways and students will be able to explore learning through the curriculum, through their interests, and within the local area where they are educated and go to school. Our personalised learning pathways restore students love of learning, fill in gaps and ensure students make progress. There is a strong focus on promoting students’ personal development, interaction, life skills and introducing co-regulation. The focus her is to engage students with increasing amounts of academic learning to prepare them for their future learning. This approach is prevalent for students in all key stages. Throughout the curriculum students consider their next steps in education or employment and how to achieve it. Teaching therefore focuses on academic and vocational learning, employability, independent regulation and life skills. Through our registered exam centre the school offers a range of examinations and qualifications including GCSEs, Entry Level Courses, BTEC and functional skills.
Our registered age range extends to 18 years of age which enables students to stay at the school longer, if necessary, to take exams or to gain additional qualifications that they did not achieve at Key Stage 4, due to any learning barriers they may have faced
