Leisure and social skills involves students spending half a day a week in the community. However the roots of these skills are firmly embedded throughout many other subject areas and further still in the ethos of the school. Learning the skills and having the opportunity to explore real life situations is fundamental to students’ independent development and will support them in becoming active members of the local community. Student will plan and organise social activities and will also experience managing money. It is essential that the students are provided with age appropriate and socially relevant situations which require them to learn and display the necessary attributes needed for everyday living, both in and out of the home. The students will not only learn the practical skills for living, but will also develop the understanding of why and when to best use them and how to do so safely.

These sessions will focus on learning how to move safely and efficiently around the town either on foot, school transport or using public transport, or ordering a taxi. It will also involve learning the social etiquette that is required in the library, museum, shopping centres, cafes, parks, Post Office, leisure centre and bank. It is about learning how and when to queue, be polite or even complain. The students will make informed choices about services and products that they require, perhaps ordering from a menu in a restaurant or waiting for turns in a park. In essence, the students will learn how to be an active citizen in their own community.

Students will also be given the opportunity to experience leisure pursuits through leisure and social skills. It is our aim that the students will recognise that although a number of leisure pursuits require a certain amount of exertion, the aim is not necessarily to increase physical fitness. Instead the focus of the session is to promote a feeling of fun and relaxation in a less formal and stress free environment with their peers. By enabling positive social interaction to take place in a community setting away from school, it is hoped the students will independently choose to frequent leisure facilities later on in life.

Accreditation

Leisure and social skills links perfectly with functional skills and therefore provides rich opportunities for communication, numeracy, PSD and ICT to be developed in real life situations and will support a number of AQA and ASDAN Towards Independence Units.