Literacy
Literacy skills are developed across all pathways at all ages and stages.
Our learning environments promote reading and storytelling with the aim of developing a lifelong love of reading in our pupils.
We use a wide range of strategies across our pathways to read and tell stories in an accessible manner for all. Regular opportunities for reading are embedded in all classrooms.
Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) is used with learners who are ready for it. We use the Little Wandle platform and resources for this. This is predominantly used in Cove and some Bay classes as appropriate.
Many of our learners on our Shore & Reef Pathways are working towards and within Stage 1 of SSP and so are developing their awareness of sounds and sound discrimination as well as exploring body percussion, rhythms and rhymes and the different sounds they can make.
We have a number of pupils on our Bay Pathway who use a whole-word & symbol approach to reading, as Phonics has proven to be ineffective in developing word-reading skills.
Pupils work on gross & fine motor skills across the curriculum and are taught to mark make and write if and when it is appropriate to do so.
Staff are proficient in using a wide range of Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) equipment to support all pupils to communicate in ways which are meaningful and preferred by them.
