The aims and values at Foxwood School reflect the five outcomes for children with reference to “Every Child Matters”.

These outcomes are:

• Being healthy
• Staying safe
• Enjoying and achieving
• Making a positive contribution
• Economic well being

• Offering a wide range of educational experiences promoting the spiritual, moral, cultural, social, emotional and physical development within a broad, balanced and stimulating curriculum framework, in accordance with the National Curriculum.
• Maximising achievement within a safe and appropriate learning environment.
• Providing pupils with an education relevant to their personal needs and appropriate to the world outside of the classroom.
• Encouraging personal autonomy, a sense of responsibility and the ability to make informed choices and decisions, leading to a more independent lifestyle.
• Developing self esteem and personal worth in order to become a confident contributing member of the community.

Parents are encouraged to purchase school sweatshirts – Ocean Blue for Lower School and Navy Blue for Upper School. We recommend these are worn with t-shirts or polo shirts, dark coloured shorts, skirts or trousers or jogging bottoms. Children need to feel comfortable and be able to move easily.

If you wish to purchase these items please contact Peter Edwards, 44 Guildhall Street, Folkestone (Tel: 241571)

Parents and carers should provide clearly named clothing. You might feel it is useful to provide a change of clothing if a child may wet or soil themselves. Pupils of all ages will need a PE kit (shorts, tracksuit, plimsolls, T-shirt) and a swimming kit, in order to take part in the full range of activities. We ask that these are labelled too. Please talk this through with the class teacher, where appropriate.

Pupils who wear nappies should bring a stock of spares into school. Parents of pupils with disabilities can obtain free disposable nappies through the local health trust. The school nurse will advise if difficulty is encountered with this.

Foxwood School aims to provide a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum where progression and continuity are planned for all pupils. There is a particular emphasis on pupils gaining key skills – especially in improving independence, communication and providing for individual special educational needs.

We want to maintain and develop in pupil’s lively enquiring minds – to promote the ability to ask questions and seek to find out, to observe and watch and explore the things around them. We place appropriate emphasis on the importance of language and communication.

We want to ensure that when pupils enter the school we identify alongside parents and other professional, a pupil’s most appropriate method of communication – which for many may be signing, the use of symbols and other communication equipment and practical apparatus to support their learning.

We also want pupils to be able to advocate for themselves, to reach as much independence as possible and we encourage them to be more confident and self-reliant.

We believe that pupils need to develop personal and social skills, to learn about what is right and wrong, what has been passed down to us in terms of literature, stories and poems, music and dance, art and sculpture and to be valued for their contribution and participation in activities. Foundation Curriculum   Pre-school children enjoy the experience of a curriculum which is planned to encourage them to choose preferred activities but also encompasses all the areas specified in the Foundation Stage Curriculum guidelines (DfEE 2000)   There are 6 areas for learning in the FS curriculum guidelines that are planned, delivered and assessed by teachers and TAs.   The areas are:-   Personal, social and emotional development Communication, language and literacy Mathematical development Knowledge and understanding of the world Physical development Creative development   A record of the children’s development across all these areas provides a picture of the whole child at the end of the Foundation Stage.   The end of stage record is called the FS Profile; this evidence is shared with parents at the Summer Term Parents’ Evening.

The Lower School

The Foundation class is in the Children’s Centre. This is where Year N and Year R (2 – 5 year olds) are educated, observed and assessed. The pupils follow the Foundation Curriculum (introduced in September 2002) and receive specialist therapy input where necessary. Pupils may attend this class full or part-time, depending on their needs. A number of children attend solely on an observation and assessment placement or one to two days per week for one or two terms. The Children’s Centre building is jointly shared between the education, health and social services. This allows observation/assessment and joint agency planning to take place efficiently. A few children attend on a part-time basis because they also attend a mainstream early years provision (a playgroup or nursery) or a mainstream school. These are called split placements. Some children in Year R (Reception year) are full-time pupils and have usually followed the observation and assessment route through Year N (Nursery year).

Key Stage 1

Key Stage 1 pupils: that is Year 1 and Year 2 Children with physical disabilities enjoy the space of a large classroom in the Children’s Centre and physically abled children enjoy the multi room environment in recently built classrooms. All the pupils follow the Curriculum at a level that is matched to the individual’s needs. The children attend full time and some are supported with mainstream school inclusion opportunities. These placements are carefully planned with parents and all schools.

Key Stage 2

Key Stage 2 pupils: that is Years 3, 4 and 5 and 6 – are taught in an area of the school called Orchard and Bramble. The five classes are on one level and were established in April 2002. Pupils follow a Curriculum that is highly differentiated to meet the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum. Most pupils attend on a full time basis and some have opportunities to access mainstream schools for inclusion purposes. Some pupils are residential.

Key Stage 3

Key Stage 3 pupils: that is Years 7, 8 & 9 – are accommodated in an area of the school called the Teaching Block. The classes are on two levels and all pupils follow the National Curriculum differentiated to meet individual pupil need. All pupils attend on a full time basis and some are residential.

Key Stage 4

Key Stage 4 pupils: that is Years 10 and 11 – are also accommodated in the Teaching Block. Pupils build on existing skills learnt through Key Stage 1 – 3 and follow the Transition Challenge ASDAN Course of Study along with the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum.

The Norrington Centre

This is our specialist facility for 16 – 19 year olds based in Cheriton. Here we place a particular emphasis on gaining independence, on working as much as possible in the local community and learning personal, social and self help skills. We spend time at the local colleges of further education, take part in work experience and work towards our ASDAN Towards Independence (Nationally accredited) awards.

We have individual and group work programmes. Student pursue lots of practical activities, e.g. learn to shop, to use money and to prepare their meals. Students learn about communication and how to enjoy recreation and leisure time. A Record of Achievement is kept and is used to inform other people about what the students are able to do.