ABSTRACT
Ensuring that all pupils, including those with PMLD, have access to a broad and balanced curriculum relevant to their individual needs is an ongoing challenge which requires regular review of curriculum content, teaching approaches, management of the classroom, equipment and support staff and criteria for the planning and delivery of lessons. The introduction of the National Curriculum which resulted from the Education Reform Act of 1988 was the catalyst that helped teachers to significantly broaden a curriculum that had become increasingly narrow, in many special schools, because of an over-emphasis on the development of communication and independence skills (Sebba et al. 1993). However it soon became evident that instead of supplementing individual skill-based learning, an adapted National Curriculum was favoured by many schools and some special schools lost their direction. A number of LEAs and educational working parties independently started to draft a series of curriculum documents, such as Hampshire County Councils' Working Within Level One of the National Curriculum (1993); Northern Ireland Curriculum Council's Stepping Stones (1991) and Kent Curriculum Services Agency's Crossing the Bridge (1995) and Crossing the Bridge II (1996). These curriculum documents were generally designed to aid special schools in their quest to provide an appropriate curriculum for pupils with Severe and Profound Learning Difficulties. There was, however, little effective interchange of ideas between practitioners and, although some good practice developed, special schools often felt isolated. Some schools developed curriculum and assessment materials appropriate to their pupils, but this state of affairs contributed to a lack of consistency in curriculum delivery and assessment materials.
