Independent Living

Students focus on independence skills, whether that be household chores, budgeting or living independently.

The curriculum is tailored to be age and ability appropriate.

Independent Living – Outdoor Education

At Hollinwood Academy we understand the importance of community access and ensure that all students, no matter their individual pathway, have the opportunity, confidence and appropriate support to access their local community safely within our exciting Outdoor Education curriculum offer. Students have the opportunity to access their local community on a weekly basis.

Independent Living – Food Technology

Food technology is taught to secondary pupils. Key life skills are well understood by students, enabling them to be as autonomous as possible.

Skills include:

– Food Safety, where students learn about safe food preparation and storage, how to prevent pathogens from causing food poisoning by controlling temperature, and the advantages of microorganisms in food production.

– Dietary Choice, where students gain knowledge of the factors that influence their food choices. learning about and comprehending dietary choices based on culture, religion, and morality. Gain a thorough understanding of both British and foreign cuisine.

Independent Living – School Excursions

All students at Hollinwood Academy are encouraged to take part in school trips and are given the opportunity to do so. Disney Land Paris, DofE outings, farm visits, and reward trips are among the school excursions.

Independent Living – Access Arrangements

All of the staff at Hollinwood Academy receives training on the many access options available to pupils. In order to accomplish their personal best in external exams and to remove any learning barriers, students will employ these access arrangements as their regular method of learning.

The following accommodations were made available during the 2021–2022 exams: 25% additional time, word processors, white noise, scribes, readers, prompts, and rest breaks.

Independent Living – Communication Strategies

Apple has granted Hollinwood Academy Distinguished Status. Each student and member of staff has an iPad. The iPad’s features help pupils overcome in-class communication and learning limitations.

Technology for Adulthood

Technology can develop our students thinking skills and enable them to think creatively through encouraging research, independence and can peak their engagement. It can also develop our students reading skills by teaching them how to skim read, scan information quickly and to retrieve information that they need. Technology can encourage engagement in preparing for adulthood as we can use the accessibility features of the iPads to encourage learners with a variety of additional needs to overcome their barriers to learning and this practice can be mirrored in other curriculum areas.