The ‘automatic doors’ approach to curriculum planning

Dear colleague

I’ve been revisiting the conversations John Tomsett and I had with colleagues for SEND Huh.

All of them, without exception, made the case that all pupils, regardless of their barriers to learning should be entitled to access an ambitious curriculum.

I had a conversation with Gary Aubin, the SEND lead for a multi-academy trust and he had this to say about an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including those with additional needs:

“It’s worth touching on the evidence for what works for pupils with SEND, and it can best be described as an ‘automatic doors’ approach.

There are things that teachers can do that are useful for all pupils, while being particularly useful for some.

And it’s helpful to consider this through an example: if we imagine someone coming out of Sainsbury’s, and she’s got bags full of shopping, and when she comes out of the store, that automatic door is useful for her.

Or we could imagine a man going into Sainsbury’s with his hands in his pockets, perhaps it’s a cold day, and so those automatic doors are useful for him because he can keep his hands warm.

However, if the next person coming out of the store is a wheelchair user, then those automatic doors are particularly useful for them.”

I’ll be doing some webinars on ‘Supporting pupils with SEND to access the curriculum’

I will be drawing on research from Daniel Willingham, Julia Sutherland and Jo Westbrook to show that it is possible for pupils, including those with additional needs, to access an ambitious curriculum.

I’ll be taking Gary Aubin’s ‘automatic doors’ approach and show how we can use it to open up the curriculum for all our pupils in geography, history and RE.

The webinars will be live and recorded and each session will include a draft planning unit for KS1, KS2 and KS3.

• Thursday 6th March 4-5pm - Supporting pupils with SEND to access the geography curriculum

• Monday 10th March 4-5pm - Supporting pupils with SEND to access the history curriculum

• Monday 17th March 4-5pm - Supporting pupils with SEND to access the RE curriculum

The webinars are live and recorded and available with an annual subscription to Myatt & Co.

It’s just £150 a year (with a 7 day trial) and you’ll also get access to over 500 CPD films, including the popular primary and secondary subject networks.

Until next time

Mary