Rosstulla Baker Days: Staff Exploring The Equals Curriculum with Peter Imray
🌟 Rosstulla Special School Newsletter: Exploring the Equals Curriculum 🌟
Dear Parents and Carers,
We’re excited to share an important development in our school’s journey to provide the very best learning experiences for your children. As part of our ongoing commitment to meaningful, inclusive education, our whole staff team recently took part in a training day with Peter Imray, the designer of the Equals Curriculum—a curriculum specifically designed for learners with a range of learning difficulties.
We were delighted to attend this training alongside our colleagues from Hillcroft Special School, and we’ll be working together in the coming months to explore how this curriculum can enhance teaching and learning across both schools. This partnership will allow us to share ideas, reflect on practice, and strengthen our approaches to supporting every learner.
🧠 What’s Different About Equals?
- It’s needs-led, not age-led
- It focuses on how children learn, not just what they learn. Engagement is the priority!
- It includes areas like Communication, Play, Physical Well-being, Independence, and Outdoor Learning.
These areas are tailored to support learners in becoming confident, expressive, and engaged individuals.
🎲 Why Play Matters
One of the most powerful messages from the Equals Curriculum is the central importance of play and engagement. For children and young people with learning difficulties, play is not just a break from learning—it is learning. Play helps learners:
- Build relationships and social skills; Develop communication and emotional understanding; Exploring and learning about their senses, bodies and surroundings; Practice problem-solving and creativity; Most importantly—have fun!
“Play is not time out from real work; it is the most intensive developmental work you can do.”
We’re currently trialling aspects of the Equals Curriculum across the school, with a particular focus on Play and Leisure:
- In our Primary Department, we’re exploring elements of the Informal and Semi-Formal Curriculum, using play as a key driver of learning.
- In our Secondary Department, we’re focusing on Play and Leisure through the Formal and Semi-Formal Curriculum, helping learners discover activities they enjoy and may continue into adulthood.
🤝 What This Means for You
We understand that this may seem a new direction, and we want to keep you fully informed and involved. We believe this approach will be hugely beneficial for our learners, and we’re already seeing positive engagement and joy in the classroom.
To support this, we’re planning a Parent Workshop where you’ll have the chance to:
- Learn more about the Equals Curriculum
- See examples of how play is being used in learning
- Ask questions and share your thoughts
We’ll send out details soon—please keep an eye out!
Thank you for your continued support. We’re proud to be on this journey with you and your children, and we look forward to sharing more as we grow together.
Warm regards,
Ruaidhri Owens
Curriculum and Assessment Leader
