ABSTRACT
A curriculum can only achieve credibility when it serves the needs of the pupils but the small numbers in special schools can be restrictive, especially in relation to the number of staff available for deployment. As part of the new curriculum some special school pupils attended courses at the local college of further education. In the special school pupils and teachers were conditioned to the presence of support teachers, non-teaching assistants and students. A decision had to be reached about who was to be interviewed. Sampling was considered but was dismissed in favour of an attempt to interview all who were direct participants in the Leavers' Curriculum – teachers, pupils and those who had a professional or personal interest such as careers officers and parents. A curriculum however is more than content; it is concerned with how that content is organised and delivered to a changing school population.
