Curriculum & Subjects

We believe that teaching BSL as an enrichment subject not only aids communication between the wards but enables students to become more inclusive citizens in society. Young people will gain basic skills and confidence in production and reception of BSL on a range of topics that involve simple, everyday language use. Short term admissions will have the opportunity to learn the alphabet and key phrases and long term admissions can aim for accreditation in BSL Level 1.

We believe inclusion of BSL on our curriculum helps to build self-esteem and confidence in our young people, accepting other cultures and encouraging respect for others. Protecting people against discrimination because of protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act 2010. British Sign language is recognised as an official language in Britain, with the prospect of a BSL GCSE on the horizon. We believe in doing what we can to create an environment of inclusion and acceptance.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for British Sign Language

Click here to view the specification for the level 1 accreditation with Signature. 

Computers are ubiquitous with our current Information Age. Their use permeates every level of our society, every industry and touches on nearly all aspects of our daily lives. Our computing curriculum not only imbues learners with fundamental knowledge and theory on how computers work, but also equips them with the skills and mind-sets to be both proficient and conscientious users of the technology that is so much an integral part of their daily lives. At every level, learners are empowered to be safe, happy and confident as we teach them not to merely be consumers of digital tools and media, but architects of it also.

Our first goal for students at the Wandsworth Hospital and Home Tuition Service is to ensure students completing an accredited course in Computing make progress and enter accreditations in line with their peers. Our second goal is to have young people who are digitally literate, safe and confident users of technology and digital platforms. They will be given opportunities to not only be consumers of digital media, but to be creators, learning different skills and programming languages to make this a reality. As our students become more confident, their ability to problem solve, think computationally and logically will grow and become second nature to them. This ability will empower them in other areas of their education and life. Foremost, however, our students will leave our service with a greater understanding and appreciation of the skills and knowledge needed to be safe and measured in their use of the internet; able to reap its many benefits, navigate its nuances and remain kind and proactive citizens of the digital world.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for Computing

We aim to encourage engagement with English by creating a positive, open and purposeful environment. Individual learning plans, created from baseline assessments, ensure that we can pinpoint personal targets and begin work swiftly, whilst respecting individuality. We hope that an optimistic atmosphere and momentum of skills improvement enables students to confidently invest in their own progress and become more independent learners. Our aim is that, regardless of their term of stay, HHTS English curriculum should enable them to progress and recognise their own targets going forwards.

Our weekly lesson structure includes opportunities for an HHTS curriculum group session, home school curriculum work and assessing and teaching to gaps. We understand that the importance and relevance of these three strands will fluctuate during the young person’s time with us. These three curriculum strands are supported by high quality teaching, pertinent support in the classroom and 1:1 work with subject staff to encourage curriculum progress. Our model of assessing each learner on arrival, developing a bespoke curriculum in response to individual need and reviewing individual pupil progress ensures that each learner’s provision is monitored using the ASSESS- PLAN- DO – REVIEW model. We consider all our young people to have additional educational needs (AEN) requiring an individual approach. Additional strategies and resources for specific needs are recommended by our SEN team and utilised by the teaching team.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for English

Useful Resources:

Reading and Phonics 

Expressive Arts is a program developed specifically for the young people in our service and has become an important part of our enrichment program. It aims to give our students the opportunity to express themselves through a variety of different platforms, including: art and design, drama, music and creative writing. What makes these sessions different from curriculum focused creative subjects, is that participants are able to fully focus on their own self-expression and development, whilst at the same time learning new skills. We are aware of the wealth of literature illustrating the impact of the Arts on wellbeing. This subject forms part of our offer to ensure our students not only learn but recover and develop a strong and positive sense of self. By engaging in ‘Life Writing’ sessions and activities such as ‘Dream Space Model Making’, they can not only explore their own sense of personal identity and aspirations but also learn to communicate their emotions in more productive ways, therefore helping with their overall wellbeing.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for Expressive Arts

The Humanities at HHTS consists of Geography, History and Religious Studies. Each subject has something unique to offer the students, each one adding to a students’ understanding of their world and their place in it. In Humanities, the focus is to deliver a curriculum that encompasses a mix of experiences that include engaging activities both theoretical and practical. A range of topics are covered which link to national curriculum objectives and accreditations. Students gain a broad knowledge and understanding of matters linked to our planet, how we have evolved historically and tolerance and respect of other cultures. Issues that encompass spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are also included in our teaching. As a result, students become more globally aware.

Students develop the life skill of interpreting and understanding a range of cultural, economic, environmental, historical and social issues within the UK, Europe and the World. This equips students for their future pathways in whatever career they choose to follow.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for Humanities

As a core subject, Maths is an integral part of our curriculum. We strive to promote the enjoyment one can get from Mathematics and the vital role it plays in everyday life and future careers through individualised teaching and a nurturing environment. We aim to build confidence within our students, addressing specific gaps in knowledge in order for the student to progress in their continued educational or work setting. We aim to do this through:

– High quality teaching from qualified teachers who have many years of experience in mainstream and hospital school settings.

– Hands-on learning drives to develop authentic understanding and application.

– Use of manipulatives to create physical representations of thinking and reasoning, helping to solve problems, and make sense of mathematical ideas.

– Appropriate baseline assessments for individuals, linked to core mathematical skills, national curriculum progression criteria and accreditations

– Appropriate sequencing of skills and knowledge considered when planning lessons (learning journeys)

– Setting challenging learning aims which are regularly assessed and reviewed

– Inclusion of SMSC topics within the Maths curriculum to ensure learners develop an enjoyment and appreciation of the wider applicability of mathematics

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for Maths

Our school encourages all students to have a voice. Due to the difficulties they face, some of our young people feel unheard and unseen. School itself can be a challenging environment and being in a hospital can separate them from the world at large. We therefore advocate for open communication wherever possible. This lesson is an extension of those principles and one we are proud to include in our curriculum.

Students will learn how to express themselves fluently and grammatically through speech, using both philosophical dialogue and debating techniques. Everyone will be encouraged to engage, with more highly achieving or experienced students given opportunities to lead activities, thus empowering them further. We will use a variety of stimuli to ignite conversations, looking at world issues as they arise and encouraging critical thinking by exploring ethics, politics and popular culture.

We will teach our young people how to use and be aware of the use of rhetoric, giving them the tools needed to circumnavigate the world, by understanding the powerful influence of language. Emphasis will be placed on self advocacy and active citizenship, so the young people can leave our school ready to play a part and be effective in the outside world.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for Oracy

At Wandsworth HHTS we understand the importance of Physical Education and Sports in the overall development and well being of our young people.  We are delighted to work with Capital Kids Cricket, who overcome the barriers of pupils being in hospital and provide quality PE lessons at St George’s hospital, by the bedside and in the classroom, and also at our Springfield CAMHS site outdoors.  

The pupils really enjoy the sessions and we have witnessed great progress in the pupils’ Social, Emotional and Physical development.

PSHE is particularly relevant in our school because the personal and social development of our young people has often been influenced by their mental health issues and complex realities. We therefore follow the framework of the national curriculum for PSHE but place particular emphasis on raising the student’s self-esteem and ability to socially interact. We follow the government criteria for RSE education, giving the students the knowledge and tools they need to remain safe but also prepare them to be effective citizens, by exploring both personal and global responsibility. Oracy has become a major part of our PSHE curriculum, as we encourage our students to be able to advocate for themselves and find their voice in the world.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for PSHE

The Science Curriculum is designed to promote a love of science through exploring some of the key scientific challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. We aim to provide a positive learning environment in which increasingly confident students are encouraged to ask questions and are prepared to make mistakes.

We want to engage all learners through a wide range of varied practical activities which improve collaboration, communication and social skills. By building on what students already know we are able to design individual learning plans which allow them to maintain progress towards qualifications or prepare them for a future work setting.

We aim to challenge the most academic students through higher order tasks which develop their independence, resilience and critical thinking skills.

Newcomers or students not working to science qualifications are guided to tasks to promote generic STEM skills, numeracy and scientific literacy.

A highly qualified teacher uses a range of learning styles to maximise engagement and provides opportunities to allow students to demonstrate their understanding through creating presentations, models, films or artefacts.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for Science

The team at St George’s aim to create an exciting, creative and innovative learning environment that allows children to explore and consider a variety of different subjects. Through all our enrichment subjects we aim to:

– Foster a love of learning for pleasure, as well as academic progression
– Offer opportunities from specialist creative industries to enhance awareness about varying careers
– Develop essential skills for later life
– Provide personalised support and learning opportunities, including target next steps
– Regularly celebrate achievements
– Ensure seamless reintegration with home schools

We follow the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum, while recognising that our sessions must be highly personalised and responsive to each young person’s needs whilst they are unwell. Each lesson must be both self-contained and appropriate to all age-groups, and also sit firmly within a medium term plan that develops knowledge and skills over a half-term period.

At KS4 and 5, our termly units of work explicitly marry to assessment objectives for varying exam boards accreditations, and are adapted for those not taking this exam board’s qualifications. We regularly seek guidance from colleagues from across the service to ensure that learning is effective and we hope our students can feel confident in the relevance of their St Geroge’s learning to their homeschool curriculum.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for Enrichment in the St. George’s Classroom

The team at St George’s aim to create a positive, creative and innovative environment that stimulates children to interact and reflect upon a wide range of literature, to grow in confidence, to become sophisticated authors and to thoroughly enjoy this area of the curriculum under the guidance of subject specialists.

We follow the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum, whilst recognising that our sessions must be highly personalised and responsive to each young person’s needs whilst they are unwell. Each lesson must be both self-contained and responsive to all age-groups, and also sit firmly within a medium term plan that develops knowledge and skills over a half-term period.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for English in the St. George’s Classroom

Maths is an integral part of our curriculum. It is essential for everyday life, and we aim to practise the skills needed to think logically and to highlight the relevance of the subject by approaching maths through real life problems; developing skills to use in the future. The team hold high expectations, whatever a child’s prior attainment.

We explore Maths via the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum, whilst recognising that our sessions must be highly personalised and responsive to each young person’s needs whilst they are unwell. Each lesson must be both self-contained and responsive to all age-groups, and also sit firmly within a medium term plan that develops knowledge and skills over a half-term period.

Click here to view our Curriculum Rationale for Maths in the St. George’s Classroom