At Orchard Manor School, we are committed to providing a curriculum that is ambitious, meaningful and carefully matched to the individual needs of every pupil.

Why we introduced Learning Pathways

In 2025/26, we introduced three learning pathways—Explore, Discovery and Investigate—to help us match teaching, environments, staffing and resources to pupils with broadly similar learning profiles. This allows us to provide the right balance of communication, personal development, life skills, physical development and academic learning. Every pupil remains an individual, and provision is personalised through assessment, professional knowledge and their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

Introducing our Developmental Anchors

In 2026/27 we are introducing a developmental curriculum called the Anchors. They sit alongside subject learning and connect each pupil’s EHCP outcomes with purposeful teaching, carefully chosen support and opportunities to practise important skills throughout the day. We call them Anchors because these essential developmental skills provide a stable foundation for learning, keeping the wider curriculum connected to pupils’ individual needs and preparation for life beyond school.

The Anchors cover key areas including communication and interaction, independence, physical and sensory development, cognition and learning, and social and emotional development. Each is broken into small, carefully sequenced steps, so pupils can build securely on what they already know and can do.

How PLGs connect the Anchors and Wider Curriculum

Each pupil will continue to have Personalised Learning Goals (PLGs): manageable steps drawn from their longer-term EHCP outcomes. The Anchors identify the relevant developmental focus, the pathway guides how it is taught, and the wider curriculum provides opportunities to practise it through lessons, routines, play, interventions, and other experiences such as residential experiences and community learning.

Staff will look for meaningful change—for example, clearer communication, fewer prompts, greater participation, improved transitions, increased independence or using a skill in a new setting. PLGs will be reviewed regularly so that teaching and next steps remain appropriately ambitious.

What this will look like across the Pathways

• Explore: Anchors will be integrated throughout the day, emphasising communication, engagement, sensory regulation, physical development, personal care and early independence.
• Discovery: Anchors will support functional communication, social understanding, emotional regulation, independence and life skills. Where appropriate, pupils may follow Entry Level qualifications, Functional Skills or BTECs.
• Investigate: Anchors will complement academic learning by strengthening self-advocacy, relationships, regulation, independence and preparation for adulthood. Pupils will follow appropriately challenging routes, including qualifications up to GCSE level where suitable.

The time, support and teaching approach will vary across pathways and between pupils. This is intentional and ensures that accreditation and academic learning sit alongside—not instead of—the developmental skills each pupil needs.

What you may notice as the approach develops

As the approach develops, families may notice:

• Clearer links between EHCP outcomes, PLGs, Anchors and everyday learning;
• More consistent strategies across lessons, routines and settings;
• More opportunities to practise and apply important skills;
• Progress described through meaningful changes, such as fewer prompts or greater independence;
• More focused conversations about progress and next steps.

Changes may initially be small, but they are important building blocks for future learning and independence. What families notice will vary according to each pupil’s pathway, EHCP outcomes and starting points.

How can you help at home?

You do not need to recreate school lessons. The most useful support is to practice relevant skills naturally through familiar routines:

• At the next parent’s evening, talk with the class team about current PLGs and agreed strategies;
• Offer choices and encourage communication and independence;
• Use consistent words, visuals, communication systems or regulation approaches;
• Notice and celebrate small changes and share successes or concerns with school.

Home practice should feel manageable, positive and appropriate for your child. The class team will be happy to suggest ideas. You can find out more about our learning pathways, Developmental Anchors and wider curriculum by clicking on the links to the right.