Our Curriculum

We use a range of integrated approaches throughout the day to enable children to access the curriculum and maximise their learning potential.  

 

These approaches include:  

 

SIGN SUPPORTED ENGLISH  

 

All staff use Sign Supported English throughout the school. We use this form of sign language alongside the spoken word to provide visual support to help children with their understanding of language. It also provides a mode of communication for those children who find talking difficult. Click here to find out more about Sign Supported English.

 

JOINTLY PLANNED AND DELIVERED STORYTELLING AND LITERACY LESSONS 

 

Literacy and storytelling are jointly planned and delivered by the teacher and therapy teams. Occupational therapists advise on how to adapt equipment and present worksheets and displays, and speech and language therapists help to plan the sessions so that literacy is delivered at the right level and incorporates specialist approaches.  

 

VOCABULARY TEACHING APPROACHES  

 

We use Word Aware to support children’s vocabulary development. This is a whole class approach which helps children learn the words they need to access the curriculum.  

 

BLANKS LEVELS OF QUESTIONING  

 

Our speech and language therapists use the Blanks Model to assess pupils’ ability to understand questions. This model involves using different levels of questioning that increase in complexity. Questions are pitched at an appropriate level for each pupil, enabling them to answer and show their learning.  

 

SOCIAL SKILLS GROUPS  

 

All pupils receive weekly social skills groups to support their attention and learning behaviors, social interaction skills (interacting and communicating with others) and emotional literacy skills (ability to understand and express feelings).  

 

ZONES OF REGULATION  

 

The Zones of Regulation is a whole–school approach that helps children to understand and recognise their emotions. There are four Zones that are named the Green, Yellow, Blue and Red Zones. Each Zone includes a range of emotions. We teach children specific emotional vocabulary, the Zones and strategies to use as they progress through the school. This provides a consistent way for children to identify and share how they are feeling.  

 

Zone boards are displayed throughout the school and we encourage children to refer to them throughout the day. As well as sharing how they are feeling, we support them to identify and use strategies to help themselves be ready to learn.  

 

Please click on each icon to read the curriculum subject intent.