English

INTENT

At Amwell View, we aim to support all pupils to understand, explore, and interact with the world around them through the teaching of English. We aim to provide all our pupils with a means to express and understand themselves through individualised English outcomes informed by collaborative work between Speech and Language Therapists, English Subject Leads, Booster lead and class teachers.

IMPLEMENTATION

Each pupil receives three English lessons per week: Pre-Reading and Reading, Pre-Phonics and Phonics and an English lesson that covers pre-writing, writing and communication and interaction. Each class has a daily storytelling sessions and at least one session in the school library per week. Pre-Reading and Reading, Pre-Writing and Writing and Sensory Development frameworks have been created by Subject leads to support clear outcome setting, appropriate to developmental stages and need.

Each year, we hold an, ‘Amwell Book Week’ in which the whole school is immersed in a story/Author. Additional whole school activities are organised, across the whole curriculum, to foster ‘love for reading’ as we share in the experience together.

Reading is taught as a life-long skill, embedded across the curriculum. This is delivered through daily story-telling sessions, weekly sessions in the school Library, alongside a Sensory room session, to access the half termly sensory story. Opportunities for reading are interwoven throughout the school day across a range of lessons and topics. Classes have a half-termly focus story that influences cross-curricular learning, embedded in reading.

Every pupil has an individual Reading outcome set each half term. These outcomes are achieved across a range of topics, lessons and learning spaces to consolidate the skill. Pupils who are identified as Readers, have a 1:1 reading session with the class teacher and a reading record that records their progress.

Every class delivers a Pre-Phonics session a week to develop key listening and engagement skill that are required to access Phonics. The lessons focus on the six aspects of Pre-Phonics:

Aspect 1 – General sound discrimination – environmental

Aspect 2 – General sound discrimination – instrumental sounds

Aspect 3 – General sound discrimination – body percussion

Aspect 4 – Rhythm and Rhyme

Aspect 5 – Alliteration

Aspect 6 – Voice sounds

Pupils are set an individual learning objective around the development of their pre-phonics skills. Pupils who are accessing ‘Aspect 7 – Oral blending and segmenting’, will be assessed to see if they are ready to start on the Phonics programme. This will be done by the class teacher with support from the English leads.

Phonics is taught to selected pupils across the school who are already accessing Aspect 7 of the Pre-Phonics curriculum or have learnt to sight read and therefore it is being used to fill in gaps in their Phonic knowledge to support them with their decoding and segmenting of unfamiliar words. They have focused Phonics sessions with the class teacher and an individual learning objective around their current stage of Phonics which is reviewed half termly.

We have also created a, ‘Stages of English Guidance’ document to support teachers to identify the development of pupils’ English skills, as a tool to use to identify when pupils may be ready access specific reading and writing skills, such as pencil grip and phonics.

We have created and implemented Reading and Writing frameworks to support teachers to inform setting of learning outcomes in these areas.

In EYFS, we aim to determine pupils’ individual communication needs and level of understanding through collaborative baseline assessment by class teachers and Speech and Language Therapists. From this, a communication profile and snapshots are created to detail the needs and outcomes for that pupil.

Pupils who have been identified as higher attaining by English Subject Leads, attend regular English booster sessions with the class teacher in where they are supported to stretch and challenge their English skills. Within booster sessions, pupils have the opportunity to work in joint learning groups, to share discussions and work together with pupils of similar abilities. Booster sessions are delivered both in the classroom and in the purpose build booster room.

Instead of three distinct English lessons, the teaching of English-based skills is woven throughout the curriculum for pupils with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD), as this is most appropriate for their learning needs. Priority Objectives are informed by observation and assessment tools using appropriate frameworks, such as Routes for Learning, and are adapted to individual needs by class teachers. Pupils learn about very early reading, writing and communication and interaction skills through a multi-sensory curriculum. English is delivered for these pupils with the support of assistive technology including, EyeGaze, switches, E-tran frames and sound buttons. Teachers deliver multi-sensory storytelling sessions to create immersive experiences to provide opportunities for interaction, anticipation and choice-making.

In Post-16 and Community Classroom, the learning in English focuses on consolidation and contextualisation of communication skills. Pupils are given opportunities to practise these skills off-site and in the community to prepare them for transition to new settings. All plans are shared with professionals from colleges and new settings. Where possible, pupils complete visits to their new settings or are visited by a transition support worker to discuss their communication needs. Where appropriate, Pupils will continue to develop writing and reading skills and transfer the skill to activities that support them when in the community and in other settings. For example, they may be reading leaflets, writing shopping lists and reading bus and train timetables. The Community Classroom also visit the local library and those who have reading profiles complete their reading objectives here, with the others focusing on either communication or pre-reading objectives. This is all based on individual need and what will best support the pupils at this time.

IMPACT

English at Amwell View aims to develop our pupils’ communication skills through a range of means. The exposure to a range of books develops understanding and awareness of language and provides opportunities to explore a range of vocabulary in context. Pupils use this vocabulary, where appropriate, to communicate wants and needs; to express an opinion or to comment on an activity or their environment. Pupils who can read, develop their language comprehension through reading and writing sessions and they learn to transfer these skills to everyday life activities, for example reading signs in the environment, a set of instructions to follow a recipe or read a shopping list.

Through storytelling and reading sessions, pupils learn how to express preferences when exposed to a range of mutli-sensory props within sensory stories. They also develop other skills such as turn taking, sharing and making choices. Pupils experience a range of resources which help develop their skills to notice changes in inputs, understand a sequence of events and even develop their prediction skills. These skills are then generalised across a range of stories, activities, learning spaces and topics to consolidate them and support them to be transferable and meaningful.

English lessons are used to develop a wide variety of meaningful skills for pupils based on their individual needs and development. Pupils are exposed to and engage in a wide range of literature and they participate in shared learning experiences to develop reading and writing skills, which are then transferable across the curriculum and beyond school.

English Week 2023
English Week 2022
Communication
English
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ACTIVITIES

The leadership team has maintained the outstanding quality of education provided by the school since the last inspection.

You and your staff have the very highest aspirations for the children and young people who attend your school.
Ofsted Outstanding 2018