Reframing Curriculum Access for Learners with PDA Profiles

Underley Garden School

Designing curriculum access around safety, autonomy and connection

Underley Garden School explored what happens when curriculum access is designed around safety, autonomy and connection first.

The inquiry focused on learners with demand-avoidant profiles. The school introduced protected connection time with trusted adults, meaningful choices about activities, timing and spaces, and greater alignment between teaching, speech and language therapy and clinical practice.

The learning informed the development of the school’s Buttercup pathway, a curriculum route structured around autonomy, motivation and readiness to learn. The findings highlighted the importance of safety, autonomy and trusted relationships in increasing access to learning.

Key insight: Connection is not an addition to learning. It is an access strategy.

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