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 __________________ Communication & Interaction

 

The Area of Development – Communication and Interaction i.e. Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing aims to enable all of our pupils to be effective communicators at their own individual level.

Pupils are able to put into practice all of these communication skills in a variety of contexts that are stimulating and engaging at every level. Communication, Language and Literacy is viewed the most cross curricular subject. Success within this curriculum area enables pupils to practise, consolidate and apply skills effectively across all areas of the curriculum, with increasing independence.

 

This curriculum area, we nurture a Total Communication approach by supporting individual needs to enable every child to be able to understand and be understood and by creating opportunities for communication throughout the day. This means staff and pupils use every available form of communication; it is not just about verbal communication and the ability to talk but the emphasis is on the importance of :

  • body language and  gestures

  • objects of Reference, Visual Symbols and Transitions

  • structured approaches to teachings

  • signing – Makaton

  • Aided Language Input

  • Communication Boards

  • how we model language for development

  • sensory Supporting Environment

  • intensive Interaction and adult-child Interaction

  • Attention Bucket

  • Pupil Communication Profiles and SLC plan

 

Phonics is taught at a time that is right for the pupil depending on their level of need and learning potential. When the pupils are ready for phonics learning, we follow the Read Write Inc. scheme produced by the Department for Education to ensure the systematic teaching of phonics. It aims to build pupils’ speaking and listening skills in their own right as well as prepare pupils for learning to read by developing their phonic knowledge and skills.  Our aim is to instil a lifelong passion for reading in our pupils by having daily DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) times and celebrating narratives from around the world. One of our biggest celebrations is World Book Day, when staff and pupils dress up and share their favourite stories as well as termly Literacy Days.

 

 We also believe that the learning of a Modern Foreign Language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience to pupils and raises their awareness of the multilingual and multicultural world by giving them an insight into their own culture and those of others. Our pupils are offered cross-curricular opportunities to learn another language in an enjoyable, fun and meaningful way by introducing children to simple vocabulary and structures which can be used in a variety of contexts in the normal school day, e.g. greetings, numbers, names, date, songs, classroom instructions; to raise awareness that languages other than English exist in our world; and encourage their curiosity about language whilst developing positive attitudes to other languages and cultures.