What we do in Alternative Curriculum Education...

As a department we offer ‘sanctuary’ to students who may have alternative learning style requirements and may not achieve their full potential through the formal GCSE route.

We offer several different routes to success and achieving qualifications through:

ASDAN (AWARD SCHEME DEVELOPMENT ACCREDITATION NETWORK)

ASDAN courses are available to all year groups from Year 8 to Year 11.  Year 8's ASDAN Key Steps, Year 9 ASDAN Bronze, Year 10 and 11 Level One and Two CoPE.  Also available to students are ASDAN short courses delivered by our school Connextions advisors.  Many of the challenges undertaken by these students involve exploring different aspects of the wider curriculum. The students learn to interact positively with members of staff in the ACE team. Through building a rapport with the students and eliminating the fear of failure associated with examinations we are able to produce an environment of success and achievement. The students relish each ASDAN challenge and the variety of tasks these courses involve.

The ACE team enjoy celebrating each individual’s specific talents and skills - promoting these extra-curricular activities as part of the ASDAN experience. ASDAN (CoPE) carries a qualification equivalent to two GCSEs when completed in conjunction with Wider Key Skills.

ASDAN is established as a registered charity for "The advancement of education, by providing opportunities for all learners to develop their personal and social attributes and levels of achievement through ASDAN awards and resources.”

ASDAN aims to:

• Encourage, engage and motivate learners to reach their full potential
• Promote active and experiential learning
• Raise the expectations of learners
• Reward a range of learning styles and contexts
• Use assessment to further learning
• Make learning relevant and transferable
• Promote the worth and value of all our qualifications

ALANS: 

(ADULT LITERACY AND NUMERACY)

Adult Literacy and Numeracy Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications (Edexcel)

This qualification is open to Years 10 and 11. Edexcel provide Literacy and Numeracy workbooks for the students to complete with teacher assistance prior to being entered for Level 1 or 2 examinations.

The Level 1 certificate offers students an incentive to achieve. Whilst Level 1 is not a direct parallel for a specific qualification it leads onto a Level 2 ALANs which is the equivalent of a ‘C’ grade GCSE.

The examinations and practice tests are very user friendly and designed to enable the students to succeed. They are timed onscreen during the examination, working on individual computers in exam conditions supervised by staff. Because of the online nature of the examination we are able to inform the students shortly after completion of the test what their results are.

For many students ALANs is a chance to achieve qualifications in Basic Skills to a GCSE equivalent level – something which is recognised by educational establishments and employers alike.

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