At Currimundi Special School we value student learning and develop caring, safe and successful learners. The teaching staff at Currimundi Special School develop age-appropriate, relevant and meaningful curriculum programs to ensure a quality education is delivered to each student.
We implement the school’s key priority areas of Communication and Numeracy using the Australian Curriculum, C2C for Students with Disabilities and the General Capabilities. Our pedagogical framework is based on Productive Pedagogies (seven guiding principles).
Our school curriculum is sequentially planned and supervised by our Primary and Secondary Heads of Curriculum in conjunction with teaching staff. Individual student data analysis drives curriculum decision making for each of our students.
Student learning and communication is facilitated through a range of Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) Systems including Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display (PODDS); Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS); personal electronic communication devices, in particular Proloquo2Go; and Key Word Sign.
As well as learning in the classroom, students have the opportunity to acquire and practise meaningful life skills in a range of local and broader community environments. Classes access community based learning using the school’s buses and public transport.
Currimundi Special School comprises of two subschools: Primary and Secondary. This structure supports student learning to be individualised, as well as developmentally age appropriate.
Primary school
Primary school students at Currimundi Special School are students from Prep to Year 6 inclusive.
Our primary school curriculum is focused towards individual student needs and is based upon baseline data, prior learnings, observations and understanding the learning styles of each student. Focus in the Primary school is on developing individual communication skills and behaviours to support learning; literacy and numeracy skills (embedded within all Key Learning Areas); self-help skills; perceptual motor skills; and personal and social skills.
Secondary school
Our Secondary school students at Currimundi Special School are students from Year 7 to Year 12 inclusive.
Students in Secondary School continue to build their academic achievements, spend additional time learning about themselves as teenagers, develop leadership skills and access the community for a variety of experiences. They have the opportunity to participate in both internal and external work experience programs, post school option visits and vocational education and training.
Students in their senior secondary phase of learning complete a Secondary Education Training Plan (SET Plan) with key staff and their family to embed their future post school pathways into their individual learning goals. This plan focuses on consolidating skills previously established and transferring these to a range of environments with the goal of a successful transition to post school life. Each student’s senior schooling curriculum is tailored to support the attainment of the Queensland Certificate for Individual Achievement.
Assessment and reporting
Students from Prep to Year 10 have an Individual Curriculum Plan (ICP) for English and Mathematics linked to the Australian Curriculum, as well as curriculum access goals for other Key Learning Areas and communication identified in their Individual Learning Plan (ILP).
Parents and caregivers are invited to meet with teachers twice each year and are encouraged to have input into the ICP and ILP for their child. The ICP process provides structures for ensuring students with disabilities are engaged in the Australian Curriculum. The ICP records curriculum decisions, learning expectations, teaching strategies and parent endorsement.
The ICP and ILP goals provide an important focus for reporting to parents. Reporting student achievement to parents can also be facilitated through student work samples, parent/teacher meetings, communication books, iPads, student self-assessment and QCIA portfolios. Report cards based on ICP and ILP goals are sent home to families at the end of each semester.