English

Learners with Autism can face distinct challenges when learning to read and write. Autism is a spectrum, so the range of challenges is different for every learner. But for many young learners with Autism, it affects the development of foundational language and social skills. This impacts reading readiness, comprehension skills, and their overall approach to learning.

At The Pines Special School, we recognise that English skills underpin all elements of the school curriculum, and are an essential life-skill. Considering the fundamental importance of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing in everyday life, we are driven by the need to develop each learner’s ability to their full potential and provide our learners with the knowledge and skills they need to gain accredited qualifications or the skills to be able to live as independently as possible.

The English curriculum aims to offer a broad and balanced gateway to a range of literary and non-fiction texts. It encourages creative thought and mastery of the craft of writing. It aims to engage and inspire our young people to visit other realms and paint pictures with words. The pathway may lead to GCSE and Entry Level exams but as important is the chance to experience great novels, to feel the emotion of poetry and to develop a love for creativity, writing and reading. By exploring a range of texts, we hope our pupils will be able to learn about people and places, develop independent thinking to interpret and evaluate society, and grow the confidence to communicate openly and fairly about a range of topics. From the fields of Flanders, to the farms of the American mid-west during the great depression, great stories reflect life and life should offer stories. Accreditation in ASDAN, Entry Level and GCSE opens the world to further access for our children and higher aspirations.

The school’s English provision is recognised by the achievement of the nationally recognised ‘Primary English Quality Mark’, which the school currently holds at silver level.

At The Pines we enable all pupils to access a fun and exciting reading curriculum and aim to instil a love of reading for our learners. The curriculum is progressive and relevant to children’s interests and needs and carefully builds on the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding. At The Pines School we are passionate that all children develop their reading ability to the full, through sensory experiences, first-hand experiences in real life settings and through motivating and fun reading activities across a number of different contexts to enable our learners to generalise their skills.

Implementation:

At The Pines, reading is taught daily within each year group in accordance with the National Curriculum. Outcomes are carefully differentiated to the needs and abilities of the learners. Every learner is given opportunities to practise their reading skills throughout the day and across the curriculum. We encourage reading for pleasure through regular access to classroom book corners, library visits and daily story/reading time.

For learners working below National Curriculum expectations, Reading is often sensory based and aims to develop learner’s awareness, engagement and functional reading skills to equip them for life after Pines. This is taught through Attention Autism, sensory explore and learn activities and key texts to ensure a broad coverage. Class staff provide a language rich environment to develop communication skills and to increase vocabulary learning. We provide our learners with opportunities to practice pre-phonic skills to enable them to make steps towards reading readiness. Learners are also given opportunities to explore and experience letter shapes and sounds to enable them to begin making connections. Our learners take part in 1:1 reading sessions to give them focussed experiences of handling books, exploring text and pictures.

For learners working at National Curriculum expectations, the curriculum is designed to raise standards but also to immerse our learners in a variety of poetry, performance and prose. The exposure to classic literature and a range of different genres offers them a rounded and exciting opportunity to develop their reading skills. A huge emphasis is placed upon learning and understanding new vocabulary to enhance skills in reading which is taught through Word Aware vocabulary sessions, shared reading, guided reading, 1:1 reading opportunities, reading comprehensions activities and phonic learning through Read, Write, Inc. Reading for both pathways builds upon skills that have been learnt in the previous year which is clearly shown on the English Knowledge Overview.

Impact:

The successful approach to teaching reading at The Pines results in a fun, engaging, high-quality reading education, that provides learners with the skills and knowledge they need in later life. Our practical, creative and well-planned curriculum ensures that our pupils learn through a differentiated approach so all learners reach their full potential. Our learners have the option to achieve qualifications in KS4 to allow them to further their skills in collages, sixth form or apprenticeships. When our learners leave The Pines they will have the skills they need to enable them to access the community as independently as possible.

Intent:

At The Pines we enable all pupils to access a fun and exciting writing curriculum. The curriculum is progressive and relevant to children’s interests and needs and carefully builds on the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding. It encourages creative thought and mastery of the craft of writing to help to develop a love for creativity and writing. At The Pines School we are passionate that all children develop their writing ability to the full, through sensory experiences, first-hand experiences in real life settings and through motivating and fun writing activities across a number of different contexts to enable our learners to generalise their skills.

Implementation

At The Pines, writing is taught daily within each year group in accordance with the National Curriculum. Outcomes are carefully differentiated to the needs and abilities of the learners. Every learner is given opportunities to practise their writing skills across the curriculum.

For learners working below National Curriculum expectations, writing is often sensory based and aims to develop learner’s fine motor control, creativity and engagement to equip them for life after Pines. This is taught through Attention Autism, sensory explore and learn activities and key writing activities. Class staff provide a range of adult modelling, exciting and engaging activities and opportunities to practice writing through different mediums. We provide our learners with opportunities to practice prewriting skills to enable them to make steps towards writing readiness. Learners are also given opportunities to explore and experience letter shapes to enable them to begin making connections. Our learners take part in 1:1 writing activities to give them focussed experiences of writing. We also provide our learners with opportunities to think creatively through sensory stories based on key texts and role play. Even at these very early stages learners are exposed to narrative and non-fiction texts to help them experience writing in different forms.

For learners working at National Curriculum expectations, the curriculum is designed to raise standards but also to immerse our learners in a variety of imaginative and non-fiction writing. The exposure to a wide range of literary and non-fiction text offers them a rounded and exciting opportunity to develop their creativity and gives them a purpose for writing A huge emphasis is placed upon learning and understanding new vocabulary and writing organisation to enhance skills in writing which is taught through Word Aware vocabulary sessions, shared writing opportunities, creative writing, handwriting and spelling practice through Read, Write, Inc and opportunities to write for different purposes.

Writing for both pathways builds upon skills that have been learnt in the previous year which is clearly shown on the English Knowledge Overview.

Impact:

The successful approach to teaching writing at The Pines results in a fun, engaging, high-quality writing education, that provides learners with the skills and knowledge they need in later life. Our practical, creative and well-planned curriculum ensures that our pupils learn through a differentiated approach so all learners reach their full potential. Our learners have the option to achieve qualifications in KS4 to allow them to further their skills in collages, sixth form or apprenticeships. When our learners leave The Pines they will have the skills they need to be able to access the community as independently as possible.