OUR CURRICULUM

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🌟 Willow Park School – Teaching & Learning Overview 🌟
At Willow Park, we believe every child is unique and learns best through play, relationships, and sensory experiences. Our curriculum is designed to help children communicate, explore, and grow in confidence.

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🧭 Our Learning Pathways
We offer three pathways to match each child’s needs:

•    🌱 Curious Pathway (Pre-Formal)
For children at the earliest stages of learning. Focuses on sensory play, trust-building, and early communication. Activities include music, movement, and exploring textures.

•    🌿 Engaged Pathway (Informal)
For children developing independence and communication. Learning is play-based and sensory-rich, helping children build relationships and express themselves.

•    🌳 Flourishing Pathway (Semi-Formal)
For children ready for more structured learning. Combines life skills, early reading and maths, and real-world experiences to support independence and confidence.

🗣️ Communication is Key
We use many tools to help children communicate with adults and friends, including:
•    Makaton signs
•    Picture boards (PECS)
•    Now and Next boards
•    Visual timetables
•    Personalised AAC tools
These help children make choices, express feelings, and join in with others.

🧠 What about reading and maths?
We do teach early reading and number skills—but not in the same way as mainstream schools. Instead of formal lessons, we use real-life, playful moments to introduce these ideas. For example:
•    Counting scoops of sand in a tray 
•    Spotting numbers on a walk 
•    Exploring books through touch, sound, and pictures 
•    Singing songs with rhymes and rhythms
These small, meaningful steps help children build understanding in a way that feels natural, fun, and achievable.

🎲 Learning Through Play
Play is at the heart of everything we do. Children learn to:
•    Explore on their own
•    Play alongside others
•    Share and take turns
•    Work together in group play
Staff gently guide children to build these skills through fun, meaningful activities.
 

🧩 Supporting Children with Autism
Children with autism often learn in a different way. While most people build understanding through web-like connections (called schemas), autistic learners may develop more rigid, ladder-like schemas. This means they might learn something well in one setting but struggle to use that knowledge in a different situation.
For example, a child might learn to count to 100 using counters, but if you ask them to count 8 cups, they may not be able to do it—because their learning is tightly linked to the counters only.
At Willow Park, we understand this. That’s why we:
•    Teach through repetition and routine
•    Use real-life, hands-on experiences
•    Support learning across different settings
•    Focus on generalising skills (using them in more than one place)
This helps children build flexible understanding and apply what they’ve learned in everyday life.