Sensory curriculum - An Adapted pathway                

Curriculum

Our Sensory Curriculum is an adapted learning pathway that sits alongside our main curriculum, enabling children to access the same broad themes, experiences and opportunities in ways that are meaningful and achievable for their individual stage of development.

Designed to support children from birth to five, it takes a holistic, sensory-rich approach to personal, social, emotional, physical, cognitive and communication development. We recognise that development is not always linear and that some children need learning to be broken down into smaller steps, repeated more frequently, experienced through their senses, or supported through alternative ways of communicating.

The curriculum is informed by approaches including PEIC-D (Play, Engagement, Interaction and Communication – Developmental), Attention Autism, Total Communication, the Derbyshire Celebratory Checklist and Dingley’s Promise SEND Steps, alongside our understanding of sensory processing, Gestalt Language Processing and child development. Advice from professionals working with individual children, including Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Best Start in Life Advisors, is incorporated into their learning and provision.

This enables us to maintain high aspirations for every child while recognising that progress and achievement may look different for each individual child.

Teaching

Our Sensory Curriculum follows progressive developmental stages from Emerging through to Phase 7 – Expert and encompasses all areas of the EYFS: Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Communication and Language; Physical Development; Literacy; Mathematics; Understanding the World; and Expressive Arts and Design, with sensory development woven throughout.

Practitioners provide carefully planned opportunities for children to explore, engage, communicate, connect and become increasingly independent. Learning may include tactile, visual, auditory, vestibular and proprioceptive experiences alongside movement, music, intensive interaction, sensory circuits, Bucket Time and targeted communication activities.

We use a Total Communication approach, drawing upon spoken language, signing, objects of reference, photographs, symbols, gestures and visual supports according to the needs of the individual child. Practitioners adapt the environment, resources, pace, level of adult support and expectations so that children can participate meaningfully rather than simply be present alongside their peers.

Children's interests and motivations remain central to teaching. Observations, our Sensory Curriculum developmental statements, PEIC-D, individual plans and advice from external professionals help practitioners identify children's next steps and evaluate progress.

Achievement

Within our Sensory Curriculum, achievement is recognised in the small steps that make a big difference.

This might be a child beginning to anticipate a familiar routine, tolerating a new sensory experience, communicating a choice, sharing attention with another person, remaining engaged for longer, regulating with support, initiating an interaction, joining a group experience or becoming more independent in their everyday routines.

Over time, children are supported to develop their communication, engagement, confidence, self-regulation, physical skills, independence, relationships and early thinking skills. These foundations enable children to participate more fully in nursery life and access an increasingly broad range of learning experiences.

Progress is observed and celebrated from each child's individual starting point rather than through comparison with their peers. Strategies are also shared with families and, where appropriate, other professionals, helping to provide consistency between home, nursery and the wider professional team and supporting successful transitions into the child's next stage of learning.

Approaches and Professional Guidance Informing Our Curriculum

• PEIC-D – Play, Engagement, Interaction and Communication – Developmental

• Attention Autism / Bucket Time approaches

• Total Communication

• Speech and Language Therapy guidance and individual therapy programmes

• Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy guidance

• Best Start in Life / Early Years professional advice

• Derbyshire Celebratory Checklist

• Dingley's Promise SEND Steps

• Gestalt Language Processing

• Sensory processing and sensory integration principles

• Music, movement and physical development approaches

• Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and personalised outcomes

• Children's interests, observations and individual developmental starting points