A Neurodiverse Learning Mentor Working in a Neurodiverse Setting: A Reflection of my Journey with Spaghetti Bridge – Jack Smith

A Neurodiverse Learning Mentor Working in a Neurodiverse Setting: A Reflection of my Journey with Spaghetti Bridge – Jack Smith

My Why

As a neurodiverse individual who attended mainstream education and felt unsupported, misunderstood and invisible within my experience, my goal has always been to support and change the negative educational narratives that often represent the experiences of other neurodiverse learners. Upon completion of my degree in BA Education in July of 2021, and successfully navigating through an interview with Spaghetti Bridge CEO Dan Alipaz a month later – both daunting yet rewarding experiences – I secured a role as a Learning Mentor at Preston Bridge School (PBS) in Paignton. Preston Bridge is a school setting that fosters the power of relationships that are created through PACE: playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy (Hughes, 2019), to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of students who I often share my unique identity with. Thus, the beginning of my ‘why?’ at PBS.

Overcoming My Barriers

As Preston Bridge has been my first and only experience of working in education, developing my understanding of professionalism and professional practice were the first barriers I had to overcome. Developing our culture of vulnerability, openness to exchange best practices, and a solution-based approach provided me with the confidence to confront and challenge these barriers, fostered by the unconditional advice, support and encouragement of my fellow, more experienced Special Education Needs (SEN) practitioners – values and practices that are still embedded within our culture today. Attuning my professional identity with our core Preston Bridge values through the professional relationships I have developed with my colleagues enabled me to feel safe enough to be my authentic self and share my neurodiverse identity with the team. Liberated and empowered by this experience meant that I had overcome my final barrier: fear of being judged by my peers for my neurodiversity. Being my authentic self has, and continues to be my biggest asset that I use when developing deep and meaningful relationships with our learners, which in turn is the driving force behind our connect and relate phase of our curriculum. As someone who is now proud of their unique identity, thanks to the culture developed at Preston Bridge, I am now open to sharing my label and lived education experiences with our young people as a way to empower them to celebrate their neurodiverse differences and inspire them to achieve their goals and aspirations – a goal that all of our practitioners share. 

Developing My 21st Century Skills

As Spaghetti Bridge continues to agitate and challenge the current education system’s rigid curriculum, policies, and practices, this has meant that our mission to change the world has offered me a healthy challenge to stretch my skill set, my practice, and my knowledge within key areas of SEN. Supporting the growth of my professional development are the variety of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) sessions that staff at Preston Bridge take part in: Friday Focus on a Tuesday (bespoke CPD sessions based on current needs or themes experienced at Preston Bridge), Wednesday morning skill-up bite-size training, and Thursday after school CPD sessions. Kindly provided by our knowledgeable and passionate subject leads and staff members with individual skill sets and knowledge bases, these sessions cover a plethora of topics that contextualise our practices of SEN education: curriculum planning & development, subject training, and the psychology of learning. Covering these topics within CPD sessions enables the staff team at Preston Bridge to enhance their professional portfolio to support our student’s needs holistically, in doing so, embodying true education inclusion. 

As these skill-up sessions focus on the holistic development of the staff team at Preston Bridge, there are opportunities for staff to independently pursue CPD opportunities that are of particular interest to them. My passion for sports was identified by our Senior Leadership Team and I have been supported to pursue CPD opportunities to develop my practice of PE in order to lead bespoke Multisport Sessions at Preston Bridge, which have been a success for our students. The high uptake of students who access this provision weekly also enables staff to naturally form relationships with their young people through sports and games, thus creating a positive environment of socialisation and competition amongst both students and staff. In doing so, Multisports supports three fundamental areas of our young people’s Education Health and Care Plan needs: communication and interaction, social/emotional/mental health, and sensory/physical need. Multisports has become a staple of our Tuesday and Thursday afternoons across both our Beachside and Harbourside campuses, thus demonstrating how the growth of an idea, and a belief instilled in me that despite being a Teaching Assistant, I am capable of leading such a positive and proactive provision, can become an integral part of PE at Preston Bridge. Whilst I am really proud of planning and leading Multisports, the growth and success of this provision owes thanks to the continued support and backing of all the staff team that attend and take part in the activities on offer, as well as the support in accumulating resources that are fundamental to the enjoyment of all Multisports participants. Multisports is an example of Preston Bridge Schools commitment to ensure that our young people access a bespoke curriculum that is tailored to their individual needs, which in turn, allows them to reshape their educational journeys through positive schooling experiences.

Becoming PBS Community Ready

As my journey with Preston Bridge began when the school’s doors first opened in September of 2021, I arrived as a fresh out of University graduate with little experience of SEN who on their first day arrived wearing overly smart clothing, who is now an established and valued member of the Preston Bridge community who now practically lives in the comfort of more traditional PE attire. During my journey, I have become more equipped with the knowledge, experiences and skills to support the needs of our young people, whilst utilising some of that new found knowledge and applying it to my neurodiverse self, therefore developing my own self awareness. As such, Preston Bridge School has ignited hope in me that whilst the current climate of education continues to be a political and social battleground that is summarised by Pink Floyd’s 1979 hit song Another Brick in the Wall, I am a part of a high performing team of skilled, knowledgeable and inspirational SEN educators who are educational innovators. 

Thank you Preston Bridge School for enabling me to grow as a professional and as a person. 

Thank you Preston Bridge School for being the disruptor that education desperately needs. 

Thank you Preston Bridge School for providing our neurodiverse young people with a playful, accepting, curious, and empathetic environment that enables them to access an education that is inclusive of their needs

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Our Services

TECHNOLOGY
AND DESIGN

The intention behind the Technology and Design Pillar at Spaghetti Bridge is to prepare students for the rapidly evolving technological world of the present and near future through providing them with the knowledge, skills and understandings that will enable them to thrive in this environment. A central aim of this area of the curriculum is to provide students with a challenging and rich programme centred on fostering an understanding of how the physical and digital world works, as well as supporting them to develop the critical thinking, problem solving, creative, and practical skills to be able to responsibly and effectively engage with and navigate these worlds. The Technology and Design Pillar will also stress the importance of understanding how our modern environment came to be through an emphasis on the decisions and values that informed this process and how these decisions have had impact on the lives of all of us in the present and will continue to do so in the future.Students will engage in hands-on, project-based learning, exploring technology, design, programming, and robotics. They’ll develop problem-solving, teamwork, and leadership skills while considering ethical, environmental, and safety aspects of digital and physical tools, including food technology.

SCIENTIFIC

Our intent is to inspire students to develop a lifelong curiosity and interest in the sciences. We want the students to have a love for learning and a thirst for knowledge. We want them to be inquisitive and creative and develop an enhanced picture of ‘self’, where they develop a better understanding about their own passions and abilities. Science changes our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, that is why at Spaghetti Bridge we aim to ensure that all students are taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. We want students to appreciate the achievements of science in showing how the complex and diverse natural world can be.. We aim to ensure that all students develop scientific skills and understandings as well as their knowledge through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.

We aim for them to develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries to answer scientific questions and we aim for them to be equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

PHYSICAL

The intent of the Physical Education Pillar at Spaghetti Bridge is to promote the overall physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of students, including supporting their acquisition of the skills, knowledge and understandings that will enable them to maintain their own and others’ wellbeing. This pillar combines sports and outdoor and adventure in order to integrate multiple areas that contribute to students’ wellbeing. The curriculum in this pillar is designed to help students develop their physical competence, improve their health and fitness, and support their acquisition of essential movement skills. In addition, the Physical Education Pillar enables students to participate in and learn about sports and games from different cultures and social groups. Students will also learn the conceptual framework around sports and games and their role in wider society. The Physical Education Pillar is constructed to enable students to participate in outdoor and adventure activities within the natural and built environments and to challenge themselves to navigate these spaces. The aim of this area of the curriculum is to foster in students an appreciation for and respect of the natural and human world, to develop personal skills alongside developing an awareness of emotional intelligence, mindfulness and managing their mental health.

HUMAN AND
SOCIAL

The intent of the Human and Social Pillar at Spaghetti Bridge is to ensure that each student’s curriculum provides them with the opportunities to have a broad, rich, balanced and deep experience of our shared social world, both that of today and in the past. Through this pillar, they will increase their understanding of the human world, including its diverse cultures, societies, and environments, and how these change and manifest over time. They will learn about the human experience at the individual and group level within the local, national, and global contexts. As part of this curriculum, they will be provided with opportunities to engage in skillful work using the tools of social scientists and learn the ways in which human societies are characterised, analysed, and celebrated. Each student through this pillar will encounter the rich diversity of the modern and historic world and come to understand the importance of experiencing and celebrating humanity in all its unique expressions. In addition, through this pillar students will engage with challenging and ambitious questions around what it means to be a responsible human being and a contributing member of a community while maintaining the importance of the uniqueness of each individual.

Accredited Learning

In addition to GCSEs and Functional Skills exams, Spaghetti Bridge students are offered a number of accredited occupational qualifications. These include NCFE Enterprise Skills, Business and Enterprise, and Occupational Studies for the Workplace qualifications and AQA Project Qualifications

PREPARATION FOR ADULTHOOD

The unique nature of Enterprise Learning, with its focus on real-world learning through a project-oriented curriculum that includes community activities, Industry Experts, and experience of work-environments, means that students are prepared for life beyond school throughout their time at a Spaghetti Bridge school. All students are also provided with Independent Advice and Guidance throughout their Spaghetti Bridge journey.

However, as they approach the time of their transition to a post school destination, it is important that our students’ curriculum begins to focus more on deciding and preparation for a specific post-school destination through our “Pathways to Adulthood” programme.

While each student’s wider curriculum continues, an interwoven Pathways to Adulthood programme focuses on students’ development of specific skills and knowledge in the areas of Continuing Education and Employment and Independent Living. At this stage, each student also has a transition plan that details the steps needed to successfully transition to their life after leaving school.

PSHE, SMSC,
RSE and FBV

The Spaghetti Bridge Three Phase curriculum and our Relational Approach ensures that PSHE, SMSC, RSE, and FBV are integrated throughout each student’s curriculum in an individualised and student-centred manner. In addition, we have developed a yearly PSHE and RSE curriculum, consisting of termly and weekly themes, a bespoke target cache, and group and individual sessions.

In order to ensure that our students develop their cultural capital, each school has a cultural calendar which links PSHE and SMSC themes to events and activities in their community.

Mathematics

Mathematics is about so much more than simply getting the answer right. Instead, we believe that mathematics can facilitate a new perspective on the world and foster creative and analytical thinking, a growth mindset, and confidence in one’s ability to learn. Therefore, our mathematics curriculum contains three areas: mathematical content, mathematical thinking, and mathematical mindset.

Mathematical content consists of the twelve areas of learning that form the conceptual structure of a mathematics curriculum.

Mathematical mindset is about how students relate to mathematics, are resilient in the face of mathematical challenges, view themselves as capable of mathematics, and see mathematics in a positive light.

Mathematical thinking is the way in which students use logic, reason, and divergent thinking to solve mathematical problems and how they apply their mathematical learning across the wider curriculum.

Spaghetti Bridge schools deliver mathematics both as part of Enterprise Projects and through discrete mathematics sessions. We believe in teaching mathematics across the curriculum as a key part of all subjects.

Spaghetti Bridge schools do not follow the National Curriculum in Maths, but instead have adapted this curriculum into our Mathematics Pillar, which allows us to assess, plan, scaffold and sequence each student’s individualised curriculum.

All students have the opportunity to pursue accredited mathematics outcomes, including GCSE and Functional Skills exams.

Spaghetti Bridge has developed our approach to mathematics through collaboration with the Jurassic Maths Hub.

LITERACY &
LINGUISTICS

At Spaghetti Bridge, we want our students to have a love of reading, the ability to understand and manage information, and communicate effectively. Our literacy curriculum contains content in five distinct areas: comprehension, word recognition, speaking and listening, spelling, punctuation and grammar, and writing. These content areas are supported by a vibrant reading culture and the fostering of a learning mindset. Literacy is delivered throughout the curriculum, is embedded in Enterprise Projects and is integrated into all subject areas.

Each student has an individualised Reading Plan linked to their relationship to reading.

Our literacy programme is supported by a comprehensive phonics programme based on the Ruth Miskin Trust Fresh Start programme. For students on a phonics programme, their phonics is delivered through a bespoke curriculum, which may consist of 1:1 sessions or be integrated into their wider learning.

Each school has a termly reading curriculum that is linked to the wider curriculum map with links to the PSHE curriculum and the Driving Question for the term.

The Spaghetti Bridge literacy curriculum provides opportunities for accredited learning, including GCSE and Functional Skills exams.

Spaghetti Bridge schools do not follow the National Curriculum in literacy, but instead have adapted this curriculum into our Literacy Pillar, which allows us to assess, plan, scaffold and sequence each student’s individualised curriculum.

Spaghetti Bridge has developed our literacy curriculum in collaboration with the Cornerstones English Hub and the Right to Read Programme.

EHCP Outcomes

Every student at Spaghetti Bridge Schools has an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) and this forms an integral part of their curriculum. Our schools take a student’s EHCP outcomes and break these down into achievable termly targets as part of each student’s Individual Learning Plan. These targets are then integrated into the student’s projects and wider curriculum and assessed on a termly basis.

A Knowledge Rich Curriculum

Children and young people today have inherited a world in which they have access to more knowledge than ever before; however, the knowledge curriculum is often delivered without context or sense of purpose. We have instead designed our knowledge-rich curriculum using Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy to support students to not just gain but apply and create knowledge. Our curriculum map covers the subjects of science, human and social, creative and aesthetic, physical, and technology and design education, with termly topics in each area. The curriculum spirals every three years, ensuring that students revisit and build on prior learning through a sequence of three progressive tiers of knowledge for each topic.

This curriculum structure allows us to build individualised pathways for each student that support ambitious progress across the curriculum in line with their individual strengths and needs.

Skills and Understandings

In addition to our knowledge curriculum, our pillars also focus on skills and understandings. Skills are specific abilities that are linked to a particular subject and understandings concern the role that a specific subject plays in our world. Our skills and understandings are sequenced vertically and horizontally as part of our curriculum map and built into Enterprise Projects.

Enterprise Projects

As much as possible, our curriculum is delivered in the form of Enterprise Projects. In these projects, each student creates a piece of Beautiful Work of which they are proud. The projects are oriented around a shared Driving Question, which makes them meaningful, and are completed through Project Steps, such as brainstorming, creating models, doing field work, and presenting to the community. Projects are supported through collaboration with Industry Experts, who are professionals within a particular field and support our students to complete their Beautiful Work according to industry standards.

It is helpful to look at Enterprise Projects as the vehicle through which learning is delivered. For example, in designing and building a garden, students can learn any number of topics, such as botany, engineering, mathematics, etc. Reading is woven into projects through such steps as researching. Projects also enable students to work toward their EHCP outcomes by enabling any number of areas of learning, such as teamwork and cooperation, emotional resilience, executive functioning, and creative thinking.

Enterprise Projects give students a sense of purpose in their learning and build strong connections with their community, both within and outside the school.

The Three Phase Process

Our curriculum is structured by the Three Phase Process, which allows us to adapt each student’s programme to their current level of need and sequence all future learning.

Overcoming Barriers – students develop their sense of trust, belonging, self-image as a student, and sense of their own potential.  

21st Century Skills – each student’s curriculum broadens to focus more on the skills, knowledge and understandings that will enable them to thrive in the 21st century. 

Community Ready – the student’s curriculum prioritises more the steps that need to be taken in order to successfully transition to their life beyond school.

The Three Phases Process ensures that each student’s curriculum is individualised and ambitious and that they are supported and challenged at the appropriate level on the way to becoming themselves and changing the world.