Implementing an Inclusive Life Skills & Foundation SEND Curriculum

Are you confident that your curriculum genuinely prepares pupils with SEND for life beyond school — not just academically, but socially, emotionally and functionally?

Many schools recognise the importance of life skills, personal development and foundation learning for pupils with SEND, yet struggle to define what this looks like in practice, how learning should be sequenced, and how progress can be evidenced in meaningful ways. This training offers clarity, structure and confidence.

The Briarwood Life Skills & Foundation Curriculum has been purposefully designed to meet the needs of pupils with SEND, including those with complex learning profiles. It provides a coherent, ambitious and highly practical framework that ensures pupils develop the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to thrive as individuals, citizens and future adults.

Alongside the foundation curriculum domains, My Functional Life Skills is delivered as a dedicated curriculum area, supporting pupils to develop functional life skills, independence and real-world application of learning.

This training focuses on implementing a broad, balanced and fully inclusive foundation curriculum, while exploring how My Functional Life Skills complements and strengthens learning across the curriculum to support preparation for adulthood.

The Life Skills & Foundation Curriculum includes:

• My Fuctional Life Skills – developing functional life skills, independence, decision-making and real-world application across learning
• Myself – developing self-awareness, emotional wellbeing, mindfulness and strategies for self-regulation
• My World – building understanding of people, places, beliefs and future pathways
  Science – fostering curiosity, exploration and cause-and-effect understanding through experiential learning
• My Creativity – enabling expression, communication and identity through creative media
• My Body – supporting physical development, health, movement and sensory regulation
• Technology – equipping pupils with digital, assistive and real-world technology skills

Rather than focusing on isolated lessons or activities, this training explores how these foundation domains are sequenced, adapted and assessed across SEND pathways, ensuring learning is purposeful, progressive and rooted in independence and preparation for adulthood.

What the day will cover:

• How to implement a structured Life Skills & Foundation Curriculum that is ambitious yet accessible
• Understanding curriculum pathways and the graduated response within foundation learning

• Embedding My Functional Life Skills as a core driver of curriculum planning and classroom practice

• Making personal development, wellbeing, independence and careers learning explicit and teachable

• Embedding mindfulness and self-regulation within everyday curriculum practice

• Evidencing progress where development is small-step, non-linear or highly personalised

What you’ll take away:

• Ready-to-use Life Skills & Foundation Curriculum handbooks

• Clear progression frameworks and assessment guidance

• Practical examples of what learning looks like in real classrooms

• Confidence in articulating your SEND foundation curriculum to Ofsted

• A 1:1 follow-up session with a Briarwood curriculum lead to support implementation in your setting

This CPD is ideal for school leaders, SEND leaders and teachers who want clarity, consistency and confidence in delivering a high-quality SEND foundation curriculum beyond English and Maths.

If you are interested in implementing our Early Years Curriculum, Briarwood Core Curriculum, or Briarwood Life Skills & Foundation Curriculum, please book via Eventbrite. If you need to be invoiced for this, please reach out to kate.williams@bristol-schools.uk.