Curriculum in Action: Intent, Implementation, and Impact
with Richard Hirstwood, Nick Sheffield, Carol Allen, Bev Cockbill and Dr Sarah Moseley.
We are announcing our first 2025 conference: a day focused on your curriculum’s intent, implementation, and impact on learners with severe, complex or neurodiverse learning needs, examining the foundations of an effective and robust curriculum. We examine five key foundations of an effective and robust curriculum:
How to develop a lasting and impactful curriculum that creates a legacy of successful learning with Nick Sheffield
This session focuses on developing a lasting and impactful curriculum that creates a legacy of successful learning for your pupils and staff. Nick will discuss implementation strategies to ensure your curriculum is effective and robust, including:
sequencing a curriculum
demonstrating progress
managing your team
workload management
creativity and ‘in the moment’ planning
Maximising the pivotal roles of metacognition and working memory for successful learning with Dr Sarah Moseley
In this session, Sarah examines the pivotal roles of metacognition and working memory and how they support learning for pupils with severe, complex, or neurodiverse learning needs. These often overlooked cognitive processes are key to successful learning, and Sarah shares practical strategies for creating more inclusive learning environments by linking metacognition and working memory.
Using the Engagement Model to monitor progress, support personalised learning pathways, and evidence engagement meaningfully with Bev Cockbill
In this session, Bev Cockbill shares how to use the Engagement Model as an effective framework to assess learning in pupils with complex needs. She will provide practical guidance on using the model to celebrate small but meaningful steps in progress, support personalised learning pathways, and evidence engagement in a meaningful way.
Using effective strategies and practical ideas to reassure, support and re-engage anxious pupils with Carol Allen
An anxious pupil is not ready or able to engage in effective learning. This may present in many forms, which mask the underlying anxiety, such as challenging behaviour. In this session, we will examine the sensory issues and physiological barriers to learning that may inhibit the anxious pupil. Carol will consider how to elicit the information needed to support these pupils and their families, which can often be problematic, yet without clarity, well-meaning support can often create new barriers. She will highlight a range of effective strategies and practical ideas to reassure, support and engage these pupils.
Creating classroom environments to support successful learning with Richard Hirstwood
Getting classroom environments suitable for learners with severe, complex, or neurodiverse learning needs is important. Richard will offer a simple, affordable, and flexible ways to create sensory-rich spaces that help learners focus, engage, and thrive in an inclusive setting. Richard explains how you can create your own sensory space: what you need, what you don’t need, what to splash the cash on, and where to save!
9 am Admissions and a virtual tea or Coffee to start the day!
9.05 am Welcome, introductions and a warm-up activity.
9.15 am Introduce yourselves: What’s the big issue regarding your curriculum’s intent, implementation, or impact?
9.30 am Session 1: Creating and sustaining a robust curriculum – Nick Sheffield
10.30 am Session 2: Creating classroom environments to support successful learning with Richard Hirstwood
11 am Coffee
11.30 am Session 3: The Engagement Model and Assessment of Learning – Bev Cockbill
12.15 pm Recap: Questions and light-bulb moments from the morning’s sessions
12.30 pm Lunch
1.30 pm Session 4: Hidden Barriers: Supporting the anxious learner – Carol Allen.
2.15 pm Session 5: Making Learning Stick: the role of metacognition and working memory – Dr Sarah Moseley
3 pm Plenary, thank you and close of day!
Richard Hirstwood
Nick Sheffield
Dr Sarah Moseley
Bev Cockbill
Carol Allen
This conference will be appropriate for classroom practitioners from special schools and colleges, mainstream settings with specialist SEN provision and early years settings, and those working with pupils with autism, and severe/complex learning needs or both.
The recording of this event will be in your account at online.hirstwood.com. You will access this using the email address on the booking form and your password (instructions for creating your password are in the joining information).
Here you will find:
a digital recording of the event
a transcript of the Zoom chat
These will be available for 10 days after the event.
£249 plus VAT per place
You can pay by credit card for this booking or request an invoice on the booking form.
