Literacy

Literacy Overview

Intent

Our broad, balanced, and ambitious literacy curriculum offers an individualised learning experience which covers reading, writing, phonics and communication. Our curriculum is dynamic and individualised, ensuring learners are supported to reach their full potential. Our three core values of Achievement, Equality and Independence are embedded throughout our literacy curriculum.

Our literacy curriculum also offers learners fun, immersive and engaging reading opportunities through, sensory stories, whole school events, trips to local libraries and the use of role-play, music, and drama. It promotes an ethos of reading for pleasure and provides exposure to a wide range of authors, genres and reading materials.

An emphasis is placed on the teaching of vocabulary which in turn supports learners across a range of curriculum areas. The teaching of vocabulary is supported by a breadth of individualised communication strategies and enables learners to learn and retain new words, which can support them functionally and allow them to express ideas and knowledge effectively.

Our literacy curriculum is supported by a phonics scheme and intends to teach reading at an appropriate level to each individual. The scheme supports learners in their early understanding of sound, progressing to more formal reading and writing. Phonics is used to enhance communication skills such as listening and attention and expressive language.

Our literacy curriculum enhances learning experiences across our entire curriculum as it teaches essentials skills that can enable learners to respond to questions, share their experiences and document ideas and knowledge. Learners will thus develop their confidence, independence and develop a love of learning.

The intent of our literacy curriculum is for all learners to experience and engage in multisensory learning that includes elements of reading, writing, phonics and communication throughout their education. Our broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum covers all key concepts of literacy to facilitate all learners to achieve their full potential.

Underpinning our literacy curriculum are our three core values of Achievement, Equality and Independence.

Implementation

Literacy at Hope School and College is delivered in a creative, stimulating way through themes and topics whilst also being functional, supporting independence in everyday life.

Our literacy curriculum utilises three frameworks – Birth to 5 Matters, The Engagement Curriculum and The National Curriculum. These frameworks underpin our learning intent for all learners across our bespoke pathways. Our pathways ensure a highly individualised and ambitious approach. Learners individual Education, Health and Care Plan outcomes are also a key priority when it comes to planning and implementing our literacy curriculum.

The implementation of our literacy curriculum takes a holistic approach and focusses on each learner’s unique starting point, abilities and potential. The curriculum is organised to embed prior knowledge and build upon what learners already know in small steps of progress.

Reading at Hope School and college is implemented, recognised and celebrated in its broadest sense and includes but is not limited to the following:

• Looking
• Tracking
• Recognising and transferring gaze
• Engaging in stories and texts of all kinds in a multisensory approach
• Exposure to and comprehension of a range of genre
• Recognising print/ symbols/objects/ people
• Reading words, sentences (applying phonic knowledge)

Writing at Hope School and college is implemented, recognised and celebrated in its broadest sense and includes but is not limited to the following:

• Body and hand awareness
• Gross Motor skills
• Fine motor skills
• Mark making
• Making meaningful marks
• Drawing
• Letter formation
• Writing words and sentences (applying phonic knowledge)

Our literacy is curriculum delivered using some of the following strategies and activities:

Impact

Our literacy curriculum ensures that:

• All learners achieve their full potential in all aspects of literacy.
• All learners will have a vocabulary that enables them to use their ‘voice’ across a wide spectrum – whether that is using ‘eye-gaze’ to share an interest in a new object or being able to use specialised vocabulary to describe the setting of a story.
• All learners will share a love for reading at their own personal level whether this is showing engagement in a story massage, joining in with a sensory story or choosing and enjoying their own text.
• All learners will have experienced a breadth of appropriate reading materials from sensory story books to magazines, that reflect a range of genres and authors.
• All learners will have an experience of writing which could take many forms from sensory mark-making with support to writing their own story or poem.
• All learners will be as independent and functional as they can be and have the knowledge and skills that they can utilise in life beyond Hope School and College.

Literacy Rationale

Our literacy curriculum is designed to provide enticing opportunities to learn. Our progressive and ambitious curriculum is brought to life through immersive, multi-sensory and highly engaging learning experiences. By creating a positive ethos of learning, we aim for our learners to develop their confidence and competency when it comes to using their literacy knowledge and skills. Our literacy curriculum is highly individualised and is taught in line with the development and ability of all learners, ensuring that we have high aspirations for all.

Literacy is taught in a variety of ways depending on the pathway that is being followed. Discreet reading, phonics and writing may be taught or can be threaded throughout other areas across the curriculum taking on a more holistic approach. This ensures that prior knowledge can be embedded and built upon whilst offering opportunities to generalise knowledge and skills.

Our literacy curriculum is carefully planned. Coverage is purposeful and broad ensuring that our learners have opportunities to engage with a range of genres, authors and text types. Planned opportunities to generalise knowledge and skills are essential in supporting our learners. Literacy is also taught outside of the classroom and could look like reading a shopping list at the supermarket or visiting the library to check out a new book, which provides our learners with real life skills.

At Hope School and College our learners have very individual needs, and we ensure that all learners are provided with equal opportunities to learn and thrive. Staff will utilise a range of equipment, technologies and resources to provide stimulating and enticing learning activities and environments that are accessible to all. Our learners may also use a wide range of communication methods, which are carefully planned into literacy lessons ensuring that every learner has a ‘voice’ they can use.

Our literacy curriculum enables learners to become as independent in life as possible. Skills in reading and writing promote confidence and competency in learning and using key skills as autonomously as possible.  
 
The teaching of literacy begins with an immersive practical or multi-sensory approach and develops and progresses in line with the development and ability of learners and their individual need. We build on prior knowledge and address misconceptions when teaching new concepts using a highly bespoke curriculum that enables progression within and across pathways. 

Literacy is accessed practically, contextually, discretely, and with much more drive if it is taught alongside another learning vehicle, including through a cross curricular approach or individualised to a learner’s particular interests.  Our curriculum reflects that learner’s development in this subject arises out of daily experiences in a rich and interesting environment. In order to enable functional literacy experiences, we encourage trips to the school café and visits around the local community.
 
Literacy is embedded in the everyday curriculum at Hope School and College. We provide opportunities that enable learners to practice and embed their skills and knowledge in a variety of functional contexts and situations. This will be developed through stories, songs, games, sensory and imaginative play. This would progress to more practical contextual learning.
 
Learners communicate in a variety of ways.  Our literacy curriculum reflects this by following a universal approach encompassing a variety of technologies, visual supports and simple language when asking questions, giving directions, presenting concepts, and offering explanations.  
 
Learners may have difficulty generalising skills to new contexts. Learners may require repeated opportunities to consolidate a new skill in one “experience” and transfer this skill across a range of different “experiences”.  This repetition and coverage of Literacy is stipulated in long term plans which ensures coverage and breadth of the topic.

Literacy at Hope School and College

Literacy in our Complex Learning Pathway

Learners within the complex learning pathway will access a Literacy curriculum devised alongside the ‘Attending’ section of the Engagement curriculum. They will explore literacy through a multisensory approach which is embedded as part of their holistic experience of education at Hope School and College. Literacy assessment within this pathway is non-subject specific and is assessed using the Engagement Steps 1&2 B Squared Assessment Tool.

Within this pathway learning may look like:

Literacy in our Early Steps Pathway

Learners within Early Years and Key Stage 1 will follow the Birth to 5 Matters curriculum. They will engage with our Literacy curriculum through play-based, adult lead and focussed activities. In addition, our Literacy curriculum is threaded throughout elements of both our Physical Development and Communication & Language areas of learning. Planned continuous provision provides enhanced opportunities to support child led learning. Literacy assessment within this pathway is subject specific and is assessed using the Early Steps Literacy B Squared assessment tool.

Within this pathway learning may look like:

Literacy in our Semi-Formal Pathway

Learners within our semi-formal pathway build upon the foundations of learning on which the pre-formal curriculum pathway is based. The curriculum is taken from the Engagement Curriculum ‘Initiation’ section which is divided into the subject specific areas of reading and writing.

Our semi-formal pathway is taught as whole class, small groups, 1:1 and through the use of enhanced continuous provision activities to enable knowledge and skills to be embedded.

Literacy assessment within this pathway is subject specific and is assessed using Engagement Steps 5&6, Progression Steps 1&2 and Steps 4 Life B Squared Assessment Tool.

Within this pathway learning may look like:

Literacy Wellbeing in our Formal Pathway

Our formal literacy pathway utilises the National Curriculum or Functional Literacy Framework and introduces a greater depth of literacy skills and knowledge. A highly individualised approach is maintained to ensure that all learning is appropriate, purposeful and deepens thinking for our learners.

Sessions are delivered through a variety of whole class, small group,1:1 activities and include planned enhanced opportunities. Learners on our formal pathway are supported to become more independent in their learning by developing the skills of resilience, collaboration and self-determination alongside their literacy skills.

Where learners may have strengths or elevated skills and interests e.g. phonics or letter formation, learners may be taught in focussed and discrete groups or 1:1 in order to maximise progress

Literacy assessment within this pathway is subject specific and is assessed using Progression