School Day

We know that in order for our students to succeed every part of the school day needs to be planned with meticulous detail. Our long-term, lesson, movement and daily plans enable us to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our students across the long, medium and short term. 

Although lessons are the most obvious place for learning to take place, we know that there are valuable opportunities to develop our students’ skills and understanding across the whole school day. Feasibly, EHCP outcomes could be addressed at any time. In other cases, it may be useful to give students opportunities to work towards learning objectives outside of the controlled environment of a lesson. Teachers should think creatively about how they enable their students to meet their likely diverse learning, social and emotional needs with the time at their disposal. 

9.00 – 9.30, The start of the school day 

Typically, the start of the day can be split into 2 parts: 

9.00 – 9.15: During this time students arrive in class and will ordinarily focus on developing their independence, greeting their classmates, completing their physio programme, having their personal care needs met, or having shared play time. 

9.15 – 9.30: During this time the class will ordinarily be together as a whole group, with the aim of building relationships across the class. As is the case throughout the day, we value every student by sharing and listening to everyone’s contributions and focusing on the development and functional use of communication skills. 

9.30 – 10:30, Lesson 1 

In line with the lesson plan for this session, the class team will deliver the planned teaching and learning for the hour. 

10:30 – 11:00, Break time 

At break time, students will tend to have a drink or a fruit snack. Following this, classes move to the playground or, on a day when the weather is poor, remain in their classroom or another space indoors. 

11:00 – 11:55, Lesson 2 

In line with the lesson plan for this session, the class team will deliver the planned teaching and learning for 55 minutes. 

11:55 – 1:05, Lunch time 

Lunch time is split into two parts:
Bardwell School Curriculum Framework 11 

11:55 – 12:30, Eating lunch 

During this time, students will eat their lunch with their class. These times are an ideal opportunity for students to develop their skills in eating and drinking, as well as a chance to communicate with their peers. 

12:30 – 1:05, Play 

Once the students have eaten their lunch, they will have the opportunity to have some time to play. Again, we view this time of day as an opportunity for students to develop and extend their learning and skills from the classroom. 

1:05 – 2:45, Lesson 3 

There is a certain amount of flexibility for classes in how they use Lesson 3. Ultimately, the third lesson of the day must last for a minimum of one hour. Beyond this, some classes may choose to extend said lesson until the very end of the day. Others may choose to use this time for Individual Work. Whichever option the class follows, there must be a plan which details the planned learning from 1:05 – 2:45. 

2:45 – 3:00, Choosing Time 

During this time, students will typically choose favourite toys, activities or peers to spend time with. Classes in the secondary school and The Lodge may opt to refer to Choosing Time as something more age appropriate such a ‘free time’. 

3:00, Home 

As with the beginning of the day, classes should focus on maximising student independence when gathering their belongings, reflecting on the day’s learning, and saying goodbye to their classmates.