Austin Duxbury

I have worked at Piper Hill Specialist Support school for twenty years and have a well established background in supporting and teaching young people with SEND.

I have worked across all age ranges and taken a lead role in curriculum development in each of these.

For the past 8 years I have worked in the Post 16 department where I have led on developing a functional curriculum that has Independent Living as its focus. I have written three core curriculum teaching programs

• Independence in the Home
• Independence in the Community
• Independence in the kitchen

Each of these has a range of attainment targets aligned to the curriculum content designed specifically to address the learning needs of young people with SEND as they move towards adulthood. This has been implement and outstanding progress rates are at 95% for all students. External inspections consistently find the offer to be of the highest standard and that it is exceptional in meeting the needs of young people with SEND

• Developed modules for the Independent Living curriculum and linked these to ability appropriate accreditation pathways for SEND pupils
• Set up and resourced the Independent living hub to give the opportunity to learn functional skills relating to home, kitchen and work for SEND pupils
• Achieved outstanding progress results for 95% students who access the Independent Living curriculum, all of whom have an EHCP and statement of SEND
• Implemented an on-site work experience offer for SEND students in hospitality and horticulture.
• Developed partnerships with external work experience providers including the National trust to give SEND students experience of real-life job opportunities.
• Embedded employability targets in the curriculum and link these to modules and work experience targets to support SEND students transition into adult life.
• Supported teachers with the planning and delivery of the SEND Independent Living lessons and in writing and assessing students targets and progress to ensure accurate and relevant expectations are set for SEND pupils
• Organised the whole department teaching timetable to give every independent group a day in the independent living centre to work on their functional skills
• Worked across the Trust to share good practice with colleagues in other schools and advise them on how to develop their own Independent Living skills curriculum

Contribute to the writing of leadership reports and presentations for LGB and QA visits where required.