Teach Middle East Magazine Apr - Jun 2020 Issue 3 Volume 7 | Page 24

Featured School
to meet their new teacher and see
the classroom before the end of term.
Assessment was another area of
challenge. Since most of the pupils
were
working
below
National
Curriculum levels, we needed a
different tool to measure their
progress and attainment. This has
been provided by adopting the
Cherry Garden School Branch Maps.
A special school located in south
London, the team at Cherry Garden
School devised these documents
to meet their own assessment
needs and, recognising that they
could benefit others, made them
freely available. Hemam and Aquila
staff work together, in consultation
with families, to create a baseline
assessment that is then updated
regularly.
This school year we have strengthened
the partnership further by aligning
the start and finish times of the
school day for children attending the
Center with the main school, insisted
on school uniform for all pupils and
drawn up inclusion timetables of up
to 95% of the school day, depending
on the needs of the child.  Class
teachers view these pupils as Aquila
children and seek to involve them to a
much greater extent.  There has been
a significant shift in attitudes of staff
and we also notice that our pupils
see these children as their friends,
partners and companions.  They are
truly welcoming and inclusive and a
credit to us all. 
Children who attend the centre
have full access to the facilities at
school, including their own weekly
swimming lesson, two sensory
rooms, soft play and our hydroponics
farm.  They participate in PE and
music lessons, break and lunch times
alongside their peers in addition to
academic learning. A key element
of quality inclusive teaching is to
ensure that students with disability
have access to age- and grade-
appropriate content from the general
academic curriculum, as well as to
core content-area instruction. We
prepare a bespoke curriculum for
these children, many of whom are
non-verbal or have minimal speech,
and some also have physical and/or
medical needs. Evidence suggests
24
Term 3 Apr - Jun 2020
that communication and motor
skills develop most when learning
is embedded within structured
interaction
through
small-group
activities where students are learning
Class Time
together.
Wayne Howsen, Principal of The Aquila
School, is passionate about meeting
the needs of all learners. He said, “As