Big Bear Bespoke Education Ltd
09/09/2015
Learning, Play and Assessment Policies
Play policy
We see play as an integral part of learning and we encourage play both as a therapy and
learning tool throughout our curriculum. This may involve specific games in a subject like
maths, small world style play for those who need it, drama play or for older students time
for playful banter and silly games to let off steam. A feeling of ‘play’ should be present
within the centre at all times, and humour is used regularly as a way of reducing anxiety. In
addition every student engages in sensory processing activities which are often play based.
We believe that play supports children to develop key life skills such as sharing,
determination and creativity.
Teaching & Learning Policy
We deliver bespoke learning sessions based around each individual child’s learning style and
needs. All students (day clients, after school clients, governess contracts) will have their
learning style assessed to some degree by observation, careful questioning, paper tests or
exercises. Many of the students we take are very vulnerable mentally and so traditional
testing can’t be used as a baseline. As well as the student’s learning style we take into
account their mental health needs and anxiety inducing aspects of their current situation.
We aim first and foremost to reduce learner anxiety and promote positive mental health
which in turn creates students with resilience, perseverance and the skills to learn. We
encourage students to learn about themselves and their preferred ways of learning as these
are key skills that will help to make them lifelong learners. We aim to celebrate and
promote success, focussing on student interests and natural skills as the starting point to
gradually introduce concepts or subjects that they may be struggling with.
We aim to develop social, personal and emotional skills within all our sessions including 1
hour tuition slots and all our teaching has a mentoring/coaching style. All staff see
themselves as facilitators in a shared journey. Within after school tuition and where working
alongside school attending clients, we follow the UK National Curriculum. For day time
sessions we follow the National Curriculum of Finland which has a stronger focus on holistic
learning and developing soft skills alongside academic ones. Where appropriate we will
blend the curriculum for example within history and geography we follow UK National
Curriculum topics but take our objectives from the Finnish system as there is a more definite
link to ethics, philosophy, self awareness and responsibility. By GCSE age (Lukio) we return
to following the UK system and mainly follow Edexcel and OCR GCSE courses, although we
can provide after school tuition for all exam boards.
Big Bear Bespoke Education Ltd
09/09/2015
Student Groups
We run ‘after school’ well-being and learning classes for students aged under 8 and parents
attend with their child
For children over 8 there is also the possibility of 1:1 tuition out of daytime hours when their
usual school day finishes.
Daytime hours refer to the sessions for young people aged 8-19 which take place between
10 am and 3:30 pm. These sessions can be booked in blocks of a morning or afternoon, or as
individual sessions. There are a mixture of tuition, therapy and well-being slots on offer.
Students are broadly divided into groups, but tuition is usually never in more than a group
of 6. The overall ratio at the centre is usually 1:2 adults : students and there are always at
least 4 and usually 5 or 6 qualified teachers on site. The young people who are available to
attend these sessions are either home educated or ‘Education Otherwise’
The three broad groups are:
Kinder – Based on Finnish practice, a nurturing play based structure for students aged 8 – 11
who, due to high anxiety or lower academic ability, require more of a KS1/2 curriculum but
delivered in a way that would feel similar to EYFS. The adult ratio is high, usually 1 adult to
1.5 students.
Pereskulou – Within this is a lower group (8-9) and an upper group (10 – 11) This is for
children in year 4 to year 7 and a slightly more structured range of tuition is available.
Session 1 is a non-negotiated task session, session 2 is arranged to be a task where there are
negotiated options. Afternoon sessions are much more free and topic based, with lots of
negotiation around what children would like to learn. In addition session 3 is always wellbeing or therapy in nature, plus during any session well-being strategies are applied at the
point of need. The adult ratio can be 1 to 4.
Lukio – Lower (year 8 – 9) Upper (GCSE and beyond) These sessions always last the full 45
minutes and there is gradually less well-being and therapy on tap. The sessions tend to
alternate between intensive tuition and sessions which have been influenced by student
choice. The adult ratio varies, depending on the intensity of the tuition being provided, but
for some sessions such as art and sport the ratio can rise to 1:6. Most GCSE tuition is 1:2 or
1:3 supporting our students to make rapid progress.
Big Bear Bespoke Education Ltd
09/09/2015
Literacy
In literacy we follow the principle that strong verbal skills developed in pre-kinder follow
naturally into a heavy focus on reading in upper kinder. This then means that students are
ready to write, with greater success by age 6.5. Through development of a strong pencil grip
and correct positioning at an early age (we use dolphin aids, wrist exercises and writing
supports as standard in our kinder classes for activities like line following, colouring and
initial writing) we encourage students physical development prior to the requirement to
write for longer periods of time. In addition, in line with changes to the Finnish Curriculum
in 2014, our daytime students are no longer taught joined cursive script but rather touch
typing.
The heavy focus on verbal confidence continues throughout the English curriculum with
students being encouraged to read – experience- discuss- then write. This promotes quality
writing for purpose; quality as opposed to quantity/frequency. Students cover all genres
found within the UK curriculum and in addition produce writing linked to entrepreneurial
projects and philosophy.
For students who are writing phobic, we take a complete step backwards and build in a
crash sensory kinder course – literally re-teaching them to engage with writing. Where it is
felt that the child is suffering physical pain or extreme mental distress, to a level where they
will meet the criteria for a scribe at GCSE, we re-focus entirely on touch typing with physical
assistance aids as necessary.
For students with very severe memory issues, trauma induced memory loss or physical brain
injury subjects such as reading may require the use of assisted technologies in order to
ensure that they can access texts at an appropriate level and engage with them
purposefully. Again, we follow a more Scandinavian philosophy in such circumstances
encouraging verbal engagement with the text for enjoyment and debate.
Mathematics
We try to make our mathematics sessions as purposeful as possible, creating real life
situations and discussing real life applications – especially for topics like algebra where
sometimes the ‘point’ can be rather lost on students. We link mathematics across the
curriculum to science, life skills, business skills and art. Again, we follow the Finnish
curriculum, whilst running it alongside UK topics; we find that the same content is covered
but again in a more relevant way.
In mathematics we promote problem solving as an essential skill, and students will often be
presented with the answer as opposed to the question then have time to investigate. We
ensure that students use physical models and apparatus to investigate at all age levels.
Big Bear Bespoke Education Ltd
09/09/2015
Mental maths skills are worked on daily, as they are key building blocks to wider concepts.
Students are all enrolled into maths IXL an intuitive online maths programme that follows
UK age levels and gives a very strong indication of levelled ability. They also use mental
maths books, and practise mental maths through real life situations they encounter such as
paying for their lunch at the cafe.
Topic approaches
We follow a more topic led approach all the way through to the end of Key stage 3. Students
are actively involved in the direction in which they would like to take topics. Through the
use of topics the students experience a greater amount of over learning. Within the topics
we cover a much wider range of subjects than the UK curriculum as philosophy, ethics and
morality studies, ecology, craft, personal interests are all on the Finnish curriculum as
subject areas. We do not however teach R.E as a discrete subject – rather we discuss issues
of tolerance and citizenship, touching upon religious practices as appropriate.
Relationships and sex education – please see separate policy
Teaching Style – please read in conjunction with ‘rules for tutors’
During the day we deliver tuition blended with therapy at the point of need. Therefore
students may be in the middle of a maths task for example, show signs of rising anxiety, and
will complete a therapy input either alongside the maths or in a different space. Therapy
input is generally relatively short and the student is able to re-join and access the session
again. In this way learning is less disrupted, anxiety levels are kept lower overall and physical
restraint does not become necessary. We will NEVER push an academic objective at the
expense of the student’s mental health. We would rather leave the concept for later in the
day, than create a situation where the student is so angry, confused, frightened and
frustrated that they can’t access any learning for the rest of the day.
Whilst we like our staff to be enthusiastic, it is important that teaching is ‘measured’ and
low voices, and muted facial expressions are used. Staff need to be flexible as we use a
negotiated learning approach, and whilst staff will have planned the initial part of a session
it will be taken in a variety of directions by the students. Negotiated learning is key – there
will be non negotiable within the day, but students must have the freedom to interpret and
develop the subject whilst still meeting the non negotiable element of the task.
Teachers are expected to have a coaching and mentoring style. Ideally they will either
already have, or be willing to develop, a therapeutic repertoire alongside their academic and
teaching qualifications. Teachers are expected to support the learning style in their use of
the learning environment – many of our daytime students are ‘school phobic’ and need an
Big Bear Bespoke Education Ltd
09/09/2015
environment that supports learning but feels more homely and relaxed. Creative use of the
village and outdoor spaces found locally is actively encouraged, both for education and
mental well-being purposes.
We do not require our teachers to deliver three point lessons, or to produce formal lesson
plans. Objectives are set by directors at the start of each term, and staff plan topic webs
with the students in order to create purposeful and relevant learning activities. The quality
of the sessions is monitored by the centre managers and the company directors, who sit in
sessions weekly and work supportively, and collaboratively with staff. Teachers are
expected to be open, reflective and team players; our aim is to support our young people to
achieve their potential in the face of often very challenging circumstances.
Assessment Policy
For day time students we will happily carry out SAT assessments if requested by parents, but
as a company we share the Finnish philosophy of no formal testing until GCSE age.
We use work samples and photographs to form a record of student achievements. We
encourage students who are ready mentally to engage in constructive review and use a
‘what went well’ and ‘ideas for improvement’ model, however for some of our students it
can take quite a lot of time before they are ready to engage in this way.
Teachers, tutors and mentors all spend the last half hour of the day discussing the students
and recording significant progress (mental health, social, academic) into the assessment
books which we hold for each child. In the morning these books can be read by any staff
who were not in the previous day to ensure that they adjust their planning to meet the
student’s current needs and self-esteem levels. These books, along with diagnostic
assessments, OT assessments, psychiatric and therapy assessments form the basis for
deciding the progress reported within the end of term reports.
As well as the end of term reports we use a process similar to IEPs within a school to ensure
that staff are focussing in on the key skills each child needs to develop. The process is
available to read within a separate policy document. Within reports we will also use the
current UK grade descriptors which in turn means that students getting ready for transfer
back to school have a smooth transition into the UK assessment system.
For LEA funded clients reports are written each term, with a formal annual review (using the
LEA format) usually in the summer term. For home schooling clients an annual report is
included within the basic fee and further reports can be purchased if required.