The Equals Semi-formal Curriculum is set in the context of Equals multi-tiered curriculum approach, recognising that differentiation from England’s (or indeed any) National Curriculum is NOT sufficient to meet the needs of pupils and students with profound, complex, severe or global learning difficulties.

For these populations, who are all working consistently and over time below or very near the start of their national curriculum, curricula NEED TO be different rather than differentiated, because the way such pupils learn is different, and often very, very different from neuro-typical, conventional developing learners for whom the national curriculum was designed.

Breadth and Balance. Whilst we accept the desirability of providing a broad and balanced curriculum, it must be wholly appropriate to the needs of each learner. Ongoing assessment may point to a need for concentration and intensity in one or two particular areas for some learners for a part, and sometimes a considerable part of their time in education

The aims of the Schemes of Work project have been:

• To build on the collaborative work of Penny Lacey and Swiss Cottage School
• To write outstanding practice schemes of work for non-National Curriculum ‘areas of learning’
• To involve outstanding teachers in good and outstanding schools throughout England and Wales
• To produce schemes of work that are available to all schools on a cost recovery (not for profit)
  basis through the Equals website
• To share best practice within a broad band of stakeholders, including both the DfE and Ofsted.

The general principles governing the schemes of work are that they:

• Are developmental in nature and open to personalisation – they start at the beginning of the individual pupil’s learning journey and aim for the highest level of independence possible
• Cover all stages of education from 2 to 25 (and beyond) but are not directly related to either age or key stage. Learners fit into them where they will according to their individual abilities, interests and learning journey
• Are not related to the National Curriculum, though the common language of the P scales is occasionally used for ease of understanding.