Our Curriculum: Focused on Recovery and Growth
At The Wildings, our curriculum begins with recovery and builds towards growth. We understand that for our young people to learn successfully, they first need to feel safe, connected and understood.
Our approach is built around the Roots, Shoots and Fruits model.
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Roots focuses on recovery, safety and emotional regulation — helping young people to feel grounded and ready to learn.
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Shoots supports growth and confidence, encouraging curiosity, self-awareness and developing key learning skills.
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Fruits represents readiness for independence, achievement, and preparation for life beyond The Wildings.
Our curriculum makes full use of our beautiful setting — outdoor activities, green therapy, forest school and gardening are embedded in daily life. Time in nature helps young people to self-regulate, reduce stress and build resilience through experiences that nurture both mind and body.
Reading is central to everything we do. We work with Read Write Inc. and Fresh Start to support reading recovery and early literacy, and work with pupils to build confidence and a lifelong love of reading.
As young people progress through recovery and growth, they move towards formal learning and nationally recognised qualifications — including Functional Skills, BTECs, Vocational Awards, and GCSEs — following personalised pathways that prepare them for the next stage in life, education or training.
You can find out more about our curriculum and pathways below:
RSE and Health Statement
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At The Wildings, we are focused on our values, connection, equality, democracy and self-awareness. These values run through all our curriculum areas including RSE and Health education. We are focused on trauma recovery and helping to build resilience in our young people. We understand that it is fundamental to a young person’s social, emotional and growth to support them to form positive connections with themselves and others. A high quality Sex, Relationships and Health education promotes our values and fosters tolerance and understanding that also equips young people with tools and skills to keep themselves healthy and safe and to be able to develop healthy relationships, within school, at home and within wider society.
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The teaching of RSE and Health education can help to prepare young people for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. It allows us to promote the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and physical development of young people.
The majority of RSE and health education is compulsory, however there are some parts of sex education that is not classified as health, relationships or part of the science curriculum that parents/ carers are able to withdraw their child from up to and until three terms before a young person reaches 16 years of age. Colleagues are happy to discuss any concerns or worries and parents/carers will have access to the RSE and health curriculum and RSE and health school policies.
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We have an obligation to provide young people with high-quality, age and stage-appropriate exploration of these subjects. Our young people's social and emotional development will be assessed and monitored so that they have access to an appropriate RSE and Health curriculum. The RSE and health policies outlines how the school’s RSE and Health education curriculum will be organised and delivered, to ensure it meets the needs of all our young people.