Curriculum

Students at the Lighthouse School follow an individualised curriculum that provides a variety of learning opportunities specially planned for that student. A strong emphasis is placed on learning communication and social skills. Many of the students also need to learn how to cope in a school environment and how to learn in a school setting, including maintaining attention, listening to instructions in a group, completing tasks, working independently, coping with change. The teacher gives individual instructions or instructions in small groups and she/he also works with the whole group during circle time, in social studies and arts.

Three Little Ships Curriculum

Lighthouse Curriculum

Individual Education Plans

Students who attend classes at the KSS location, as part of an integration programme, will experience the HSV curriculum, including the International Primary Curriculum. More information can be found on the links below:

International Primary Curriculum (IPC)
HSV Curriculum Framework

Three Little Ships Early Intervention Curriculum

The Three Little Ships curriculum is play-based and designed to stimulate the development of communication skills, social skills, fine motor skills and early literacy and numeracy skills, if the students are ready for these. There is also an emphasis on independence skills and self-help skills. Students are encouraged to manage their own personal hygiene and eat and drink independently.

Play is important for young children to learn skills that are crucial for daily life. Through different sorts of play, such as constructional play, fantasy play, messy play and play guided by the teacher, communication, social and emotional development can take place.

Many activities are organised to enhance speaking and listening, including  Circle Time and sharing books together.

There is a monthly theme and many activities during the month are based on this theme. Art and music activities take place through the week and help to reinforce langauge skills, as well as creativity and motor skills.  There are also some special trips and dress-up days linked to the theme.

Special Dutch cultural days such as Sinterklaas, Christmas and King’s Day are also celebrated in school.

Children who require individualised small-step teaching will also work on an individual basis with one of the preschool staff, often using the STAR program

The Three Little Ships Pedagogical Policy  gives more information about the preschool and details can also be found on its own website

School Curriculum for 5-13 year olds

The school curriculum places an emphasis on the acquisition of the basic skills of communication, reading, spelling, language and maths. The programme is based on the English National Curriculum and the International Primary Curriculum (UK), cross referenced with the stated learning outcomes for the Dutch Primary Education Curriculum.

Each student works on their own individual learning goals and a range of educational material is available, including the Edmark Reading Program and Numicon.

Opportunities for play are built into the daily routine. Outside Playtime is organised together with students from the HSV International Department next door. Emphasis is placed on socio-emotional and physical development.

The curriculum is enriched through studying topics and many of the creative and play opportunities are linked to the current topic. Trips and life skills are also linked to the topics. The older children participate in the outside classroom at the local city farm. Cultural activities, such as trips to a museum or visits by musicians also take place during each school year.

Special Dutch cultural days such as Sinterklaas, Christmas and King’s Day are also celebrated in school.

The students’ learning is enhanced through the use of iPads. Each child has an iPad that is set up individually to enable them to only access apps that are appropriate for their learning. The teaching staff can change these apps and the level of access that the students have, as they make progress.

Individual Education Plans

In order to systematically monitor students’ progress, the staff discusses every child individually and the group as a whole on a regular basis.

An Individual Educational Plan (IEP) is designed for each student, based on his/her specific educational and emotional needs. The planning of the IEP is led by the class teacher and by the Learning Support Co-ordinator. Teaching assistants, therapists and parents also contribute to the IEP, so that there is consistency of approach in as many settings as possible.

Twice a year the student’s IEP is reviewed and new goals are set. In this way, the student’s progress can be monitored and new interventions can be put into place, if necessary. A copy of the IEP is kept in the student’s confidential file in the school office and a copy is also given to the student’s parents. it is also accessible to the school therapists that work regularly with the student.

International Primary Curriculum (IPC)

The delivery of the IPC is based on up-to-date neurological research about the brain and how we learn. Consequently the school aims to provide a ‘brain-friendly’ environment in which the learning process is optimised for all children. Another unique element of the IPC is the concept ‘international-mindedness’ which underpins the entire curriculum; this global perspective promotes international awareness and understanding as a fundamental characteristic of every HSV pupil. The subject, personal and international goals of the IPC are organised into the following mileposts: Early Years : ID Reception; Milepost One: ID1 and ID2; Milepost Two : ID3 and ID4; Milepost Three: ID5 and ID6.

Early Years Programme (Reception)
The activities in the reception class are based upon the IPC Early Years Programme and the UK Early Learning Goals for Communication, Language and Mathematics. The IPC learning goals are divided into the following strands: Independence and Interdependence; Communication; Exploring and Healthy living. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected through the specific IPC topics. The teachers provide a stimulating, fun environment where play forms a basis for learning. Learning takes place on the carpet or in a circle where song, rhyme, discussion, books and games are the order of the day. The children also work together in small groups with adult support and have the opportunity to direct their own learning through a range of learning activities on offer in the class. Much emphasis is placed on playing together and developing social skills and independence.

Mileposts One to Three
In ID1 the objectives from the Early Learning Goals are further developed and dovetail into the teaching objectives for Literacy, Numeracy and the International Primary Curriculum (IPC). The frameworks of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies contain sets of yearly teaching programmes illustrating how literacy and numeracy skills can be developed from IDR through to ID6. The IPC learning goals are split into four age bands covering the primary years from IDR through ID6. Within each age band there are three strands of Learning Goals: Subject Goals, Personal Goals and International Goals.

As the majority of the pupils have not had the same educational experiences, the class teacher will constantly review the learning of the pupils. This ensures that pupils will not be held back in their learning if the learning of certain objectives has already taken place; similarly, pupils who have missed previous objectives will gain access to the learning support that is needed to remedy the situation. Pupils will be supported in taking risks that allow them to become individual learners, they will be allowed to explore different ways of learning and learn to understand how they can maximise their own learning. Pupils will bring topic assignments home, at their own level, that allow them to find out more about their own family traditions and culture so that this can be shared with their teachers and peers.

HSV Curriculum Framework

Literacy
The Framework of the National Literacy Strategy – NLS (UK) ‘sets out teaching objectives for Reception (IDR) to Year 6 (ID6) to enable pupils to become fully literate’. It ‘covers the statutory requirements for reading and writing in the National Curriculum for English and contributes substantially to the development of speaking and listening’.

Numeracy
The Framework of the National Numeracy Strategy – NNS (UK) contains a set of yearly teaching programmes illustrating how numeracy skills can be planned and taught from IDR through to ID6. The objectives in the yearly teaching programmes cover all aspects of the National Curriculum for numeracy. The ‘Abacus’ materials published by Heineman UK are used to support the delivery of the programme. Our aim is to promote confidence and competence is using mathematics to solve everyday problems.

Music, Expressive Art and Physical Education
The HSV places a major emphasis on the development of music, expression and physical education (PE). All pupils have a minimum of one lesson per week of music, handicraft and PE. From year two these lessons are given by specialist teachers.  For the older pupils at NSL, these lessons are given in half classes with the Dutch parallel class. Music and PE lessons are given in Dutch, thereby increasing the opportunities for learning and using the Dutch language.

Information & Communications Technology (ICT)
All classrooms have a computer linked to the school network. Computer skills are taught from the reception class onwards. A range of skills are taught that support learning throughout the curriculum. All classrooms have an interactive screen with Internet access to support learning. Every class has access to the use of iPads.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)
English as an Additional Language (EAL) is taught to all children who do not have English as a mother tongue and whose command of the English language is not sufficient for them to access the curriculum with ease. Children from all classes, IDR to ID6, can be eligible for EAL.

Host Country Language (HCL)
Dutch is taught to all children whose English is at a level which allows them to fully access the ID curriculum. The focus of the Dutch lessons is to be able to communicate and feel at ease in daily situations, where the Dutch language is required, both in and out of school. The lessons are interactive, and cooperative learning skills are used to encourage the understanding and speaking of Dutch. Our aim is to provide a safe environment to explore and enjoy Dutch as an additional language. Lessons are differentiated to accommodate the diverse needs of our pupils.

Social & Emotional Curriculum
The IPC goals and circle time are an important part of our social and emotional curriculum. The personal goals embody the skills that we want to develop in our pupils.