A SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR SEND LEARNERS AGED 11-19
At Beatrice Tate School, the Creativity and Design curriculum area encompasses Art, Music, Drama, and Design & Technology.
It is designed to provide a rich, inclusive and meaningful experience for all learners, offering diverse opportunities for creative expression, collaboration and personal growth.
We believe creativity is a powerful tool for communication, self-expression and emotional wellbeing. Through exploration of the arts and design, learners build confidence, develop essential life skills, and discover their unique identities and talents.
Develop self-expression and identity
Enable learners to explore their ideas, feelings and experiences through a range of creative mediums. Learners are encouraged to express themselves confidently and authentically, developing communication, emotional regulation and resilience.
Promote cultural engagement
Introduce learners to a wide range of artistic and cultural traditions from around the world. Through exposure to music, art, performance and design, learners gain empathy, respect for diversity and an appreciation of shared human experience.
Encourage community participation
Provide opportunities for learners to engage with their local and wider communities through exhibitions, performances and collaborative creative projects. Participation in these experiences fosters teamwork, communication, and a sense of belonging.
Develop practical and transferable skills
Support learners to develop fine and gross motor skills, coordination and spatial awareness through music, drama and creative making. The curriculum also supports functional and employability skills such as problem-solving, planning, and teamwork.
Enrich experiences and nurture talent
Offer a wide range of enrichment opportunities including visiting artists, creative workshops, performances and trips. Learners are supported to explore new creative pathways and develop confidence through discovery and achievement.
Our Creativity and Design curriculum is guided by the values of inclusivity, empowerment, community and aspiration.
It reflects the whole-school principles of accessibility, belonging and personal growth, ensuring that every learner can participate in creative experiences that are meaningful and rewarding.
We value creativity as both a process and an outcome — a means of communication, self-discovery and connection. Learners are encouraged to take creative risks, explore ideas, and celebrate their achievements, building resilience and confidence along the way.
By embedding creative learning across subjects, the curriculum strengthens learners’ sense of identity and promotes wellbeing, independence and cultural awareness.
As a secondary special school for learners with Severe and Profound Learning Difficulties, our Creativity and Design curriculum is flexible, accessible and responsive to individual need.
Teaching is differentiated across the school’s three curriculum pathways:
Pre-formal learners access creative exploration through sensory art, music, movement and multisensory experiences.
Semi-formal learners engage in structured creative activities that build functional and expressive skills through art, music, drama and design.
Formal learners participate in more subject-specific projects that encourage independence, planning and collaboration, preparing them for adult life.
Creativity and Design activities are integrated into wider curriculum areas, including Work-Related Learning and Preparing for Adulthood, ensuring that learners develop transferable skills relevant to their lives beyond school.
Progress is monitored through the STARRS platform using MAPP dimensions—independence, fluency, maintenance and generalisation—to capture holistic growth and celebrate achievement.
Through participation in the Creativity and Design curriculum, learners at Beatrice Tate School:
express themselves confidently through a range of creative mediums;
develop fine motor, communication and teamwork skills;
appreciate diversity and cultural traditions through exposure to the arts;
gain practical skills and confidence to contribute to their communities;
build self-awareness, resilience and wellbeing through creative success.
Our goal is to ensure that every learner leaves Beatrice Tate School as a confident, expressive and self-aware individual, equipped to lead a fulfilling life and to engage meaningfully with their community and the wider world.
