Summer Conference 2014 < Dr Viv Hinchcliffe

A Broad and Balanced Curriculum

Broad and balanced or highly personalised?

In the presentation, I will propose that for children with the most complex needs, a broad and balanced curriculum is of secondary importance to professional teams working with families to prioritise learning and experiences that meet children’s individual needs. I will argue that we need to spend quality time on “the things that matter” for children and their families. Our teaching needs to be “unswervingly personalised” so children and young people actively and meaningfully engage in learning. I will talk about children’s holistic needs and the benefits of teachers and therapists working in transdisciplinary ways, putting the child and family at the centre.

Viv Hinchcliffe has been working in special education since the 1970’s. He started teaching children with severe and profound learning difficulties and was Head Teacher of Rectory Paddock School and Riverside School in Bromley. His first writing was to contribute to ‘In Search of a Curriculum’, published by Staff of Rectory Paddock School in 1983. His book ‘What Teachers Do’ (1995), written when he was senior lecturer in special education at Brunel University, celebrates the innovative work of teachers in mainstream and special schools. His latest book “Curricula for Teaching Children and Young People with Severe or Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties”, written with Peter Imray, was published this year. Viv is Executive Headteacher of Drumbeat School and ASD Service in Lewisham.