ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network), COPE (Certificate of Personal Achievement) and AOPE (Award of Personal Achievement) are taught in conjunction with other subjects but with a greater emphasis upon developing key ‘life skills’. Pupils complete a number of different challenges which contribute towards a credit. Each credit will take approximately 10 hours to achieve. Each pupil receives a Personal Development Record Book and a folder for their evidence.
- learning key life skills such as planning trips using timetables and tickets
- learning about healthy living and eating by promoting pupils to be more independent in their thinking in terms of snacks and lifestyle
- arranging functions and meetings by making invitations, preparing and serving food and drink, and entertaining guests
At key stage 4, the curriculum splits to allow differentiation in the targets to be met. The different options are:
ASDAN Lower ability and more dependent students work to achieve their Silver Challenge Award. The Key Skills are: teamwork, learning something new or doing something better, coping with problems, use of Maths, use of English, and use if Information Technology. Pupils have to complete 6 credits and three ‘plan and review’ challenges.
COPE and AOPE More independent learners, having achieved their Bronze ASDAN Award, move onto COPE or AOPE, which is equivalent to a GCSE. With COPE, the skills developed are: working with others, improving own learning and performance, problem solving, research, discussion, and oral presentation. The pupil must Plan, Do and Review for each key skill, as part of their Personal Development Record. Pupils taking AOPE need only to complete four of the key skill but do the same work.
All work is continually assessed as modules from the Record Book by the teacher, after the relevant criteria has been met and evidenced.
Parental support is crucial to enhance pupil learning. Parents can help their child by:
- getting their child actively involved in activities within the home, as the evidence can go into the Independent Living’ section of the booklet
- recording any trips or organisations attended outside of school, as this evidence can go into the ‘Sport and Leisure’ or ‘Expressive Arts’ section of the booklet
- encouraging their child to be aware of their own environment and promoting greater self-confidence