Kirkham Pear Tree School

Our Sixth Form building is separate to the main school building and is designed to bridge that gap between school aged students and adult life. The post 16 curriculum is bespoke to meeting the individual needs of each student and their transition into adulthood. Each student has a personalised timetable centred around the options that they have elected to take for the academic year and as part of this access courses at local colleges within their chosen vocational areas. All learners participate in learning about the world of work with formal work placements being provided to meet individualised needs and aspirations of those that this is appropriate for. Alongside the Sixth Form curriculum, our learners may also need specialist provision in physio, OT, hydrotherapy, sensory integration, communication, rebound therapy and sensory learning. Within the Sixth Form we continue to adopt a multi-agency approach to meeting the teaching and learning needs of our learners. The curriculum is designed to prepare each learner for adulthood. The personalised curriculum is responsive to the needs of each student and changes at the start of the academic year based on the vocational options that students make. The Sixth Form curriculum places an emphasis on independence and preparation for adulthood by developing skills for: ### Employment and future options It is important that students are aware of the positive options that they have available to them and their future. To prepare for this all students experience two full days a week of vocational options each year which allows them to tailor their own learning. Communication is central to this focus and students work on team work, health and safety and problem solving in order to promote this. ### Healthy lifestyle As students transition into adulthood it is essential that they have an understanding of what makes a healthy lifestyle. They learn about e-safety, personal safety, sex education and how to form positive relationships. Students also access sports and leisure activities within the community to enable them to develop an understanding of how they can keep themselves fit and healthy as they enter adulthood whilst allowing them to develop new hobbies interests. Students continue to access a weekly swimming session either in the school hydrotherapy pool or at the local swimming baths as part of a group depending on their ability. ### Being a part of the community In preparing for adulthood students learn that they are part of the school community but also that they are a part of the local, national and international community too. They develop skills to keep themselves safe as they transition into adulthood by learning to travel by foot and on public transport. The school’s travel training co-ordinator works on a personalised programme with each student to enable them to access the community safely and appropriately. This learning is then applied to the daily life of the Sixth Form as students access the community and the people within it, understanding that they are a part of the wider world and how to care for their environment. ### Life at home As learners transition into adulthood, some will look to move into residential college, others into independent living and many seeking to live in their family home with greater independence. The curriculum develops independence within the home by providing opportunities to participate in weekly meal preparation sessions as well as students learning how to look after the home, themselves and their finances. For more information about our Sixth Form provision, please do not hesitate to contact our sixth form teachers Tom Simpkins and Alex Haley or our deputy headteacher, Rebecca Warnock

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