THE QCA plans to publish curriculum guidelines for students with learning difficulties in late spring 2002. The guidance will contain general planning advice for curriculum managers which sets out key principles for planning the curriculum in this age group. Another key component will be balancing access to a wider range of opportunities, commensurate with maturity, with the need to meet very specific individual priorities.
The guidelines, which will be published on the internet, are intended to be used in general FE colleges, specialist colleges, specialist training providers and in post-16 units of special schools. The QCA is working alongside key partners with expertise in this area to develop the guidelines. Once students leave compulsory education, we see increasing diversity in terms of their abilities, the settings where they are taught and the programmes which they follow. Taking account of this diversity, the guidelines will highlight the importance of involving the learner and building on individual strengths and aspirations.
It is clear that there is a need for guidance which helps practitioners plan progression through a range of age-appropriate learning opportunities in a range of settings. We know, for example, that the majority of such learners will at some stage attend FE college. In 1999, there were 15,000 post-16 students with statements in schools, but 138,000 registrations at entry level or below in FE colleges.
The QCA published Planning, Teaching and Assessing the Curriculum for Pupils with Learning Difficulties earlier this year. These guidelines, designed for five to 16-year-olds, are based on the national curriculum. Schools are free to use this guidance as they wish, but it is not designed to be used for learners out of the intended age groups. However, it does include general principles for planning the curriculum, and skills development which will be developed for post-16 learners. The new materials will give guidance on planning age-appropriate opportunities for skills development. This will include skills for daily living, recreational skills, basic and key skills.
Qualifications alone do not provide an appropriate foundation for planning a curriculum for these learners. Many other factors need to be taken into account, such as what the learner already knows, what they may need to learn again and the individual’s preferences and priority needs.
For some learners, especially those with profound and multiple learning difficulties, qualifications may not be suitable at all - but other methods of accreditation and programme design are not always explored. Similarly, the assessments undertaken through qualifications may not provide sufficient information to plan for an individual student’s assessment for learning which takes place in the classroom or workplace on a regular basis, actively involving the student or trainee. This will be highlighted in the materials as a major tool for curriculum planning.
A final section of the guidance will examine the important issue of vocational learning. Some of these learners, with appropriate support, will progress through these routes into employment. Others, such as students with profound and multiple or severe learning difficulties, will have very different needs. The guidance will show how vocational learning can be used to meet individual priorities and to provide opportunities to develop and consolidate a broad range of skills.
The curriculum guidelines will be aimed at students and trainees aged 16 to 24, reflecting the fact thatstudents with learningdifficulties may follow a longer progression rate in post-compulsory education and funding arrangements and provisions change for such learners at 25.
John Brown is team leader for equal opportunities at the QCA, 83 Piccadilly, London W1J 8QA. Tel: 020 7509 5555. Web: www.qca.org.uk
