English at The Redway School
The power of language, communication and literacy is immense and profound; English skills and knowledge are vital to all children whatever their needs. We understand the imperative for our young people to express themselves creatively and confidently, to give ‘voice’ to their wishes and wants and to openly communicate verbally or non-verbally with others whatever the social situation or environment. We share the wellbeing and joy that comes from being heard, and from listening, and from learning. We convey the cultural, emotional and spiritual enrichment that literature brings to pupils’ lives.
Here, pupils gain the knowledge they need to communicate in ways essential to their requirements, becoming confident in communication, speaking, listening, reading and writing (in whichever ways those skills are carefully interpreted within our specialised learning pathways). Through adaptation and modification when needed, we meet National Curriculum objectives through discrete and cross-curricular teaching in a communication-rich whole-school approach where speech and language therapists also work alongside classroom staff to surmount communication barriers. Phonics also plays an important role in all of our learning.
Our Curriculum is split into pre-formal, semi-formal, and formal.
Pre-Formal: Pupils on our pre-formal pathway are at the earliest stages of learning, and often have more complex needs. They require a consistent approach, with repetition of experiences and immersion in sensory learning. They will access high levels of adult support to meet their learning and personal care needs. English and communication at a pre-formal level is provided through a total communication environment. This means that pupils experience communication through gesture, emotional cues, objects of reference, symbols, photos, music cues and intensive interaction. Activities focus on immersion in familiar and new communication experiences, such as songs and rhymes, sensory stories and sensory exploration.
Semi-Formal: The semi-formal curriculum allows students to continue with a total communication approach; developing their receptive and expressive communication stills. The semi-formal curriculum relies on an experiential approach, in which pupils can develop their understanding of the world. As pupils develop their social skills, and abilities to self- regulate, they will experience more guided learning and group work. Activities focus on exploratory play, story time, listening experiences, early letter reading and mark making.
Formal: The formal curriculum builds on the skills and understanding gained through the semi-formal curriculum. It links closely with the National Curriculum and requires students to have active listening skills, methods of expressive communication and the ability to learn in a variety of situations. Learning activities focus on developing more formal expressive communication, word reading, comprehension and writing.
As learners progress through the semi-formal curriculum, they will be assessed for their readiness toaccess teaching and learning through our chosen systematic, synthetic phonics programme; ‘Essential Letters and Sounds’.