Inclusion (SEND, BML etc)
Pilgrims’ Way Primary school prides itself on being an inclusive and diverse primary school which teaches pupils from the ages of 3-11.
We value each pupil’s uniqueness, and their differences are recognised and celebrated.
Our inclusive approach means that we have carefully considered how we provide an irresistible, broad and balanced curriculum that meets the needs of all our pupils.
By teaching an irresistible curriculum through inclusive practice, underpinned by our school values, pupils are confident, have high wellbeing, enjoy learning, make progress and achieve at Pilgrims’ Way.
We have highly skilled and trained staff who are knowledgeable in teaching and supporting the learning of our children. Our learning environments are welcoming, calm, organised and stimulating. Our pupils succeed through Quality First Teaching. The Mainstream Core Standards are used to create a core offer of approaches and strategies tailored to each class or individual’s needs and abilities. This support enables children to access the curriculum, with learning scaffolded to support learners’ diverse needs. The curriculum is designed to make learning relevant and meaningful by embedding context, firsthand experiences and activating pupil’s prior knowledge. Pupils are given opportunities to demonstrate their learning through cultural and personal links.
It's not about pupils getting the same. It's about pupils getting what they need!
Provision outside of class is considered for brief periods to meet specific needs e.g. through use of forest school, Drawing and Talking work, speech provision. All teaching opportunities are designed to develop language and literacy so that pupils become fluent in both the social and academic language of the primary curriculum.
The Inclusion Team
Our Inclusion Team has been developed to widen the school's offer of support to children and their families. The team is lead by Mrs Watts, the Inclusion Lead and SENCo. The team have specialist skills and knowledge and work closely with outside professionals. They offer coaching in best practice for all children to other members of staff. They support with modelling strategies and interventions and monitor provision. They also undertake pupil assessments and support children across the school with targeted and personalised support.
Mrs Smith is a SENCo and leads support for cognition and learning.
Mrs Walsh, Mrs Woods, Miss Redman and Miss Potts lead support for speech, language and communication needs.
Helen our FLO, Mr Walsh our Forest School lead and Mrs Anderson provide social, emotional and mental health support.
We work closely with parents and carers to actively support their children’s learning. The Inclusion Team are available for a chat every other Tuesday from morning drop off to 9:30 am.
Olivia Watts is happy to meet with parents regarding any queries, specific needs or concerns. She can be contacted via the school office or email: olivia.watts@pilgrims-way.kent
Please click on the links on the right for further information on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), Bilingual and Multilingual Learners and Young Carers.
Useful links
The Mainstream Core Standards
The Mainstream Core Standards guide for parents
Find ways to support your child’s development and to help them be happy and healthy
https://family.kentcht.nhs.uk/
https://family.kentcht.nhs.uk/baby/getting-ready-for-school-4-to-5-years/
https://family.kentcht.nhs.uk/child/
The following websites provide parents with FREE speech and language advice, resources and activities:
Early Years-Supporting your child's language skills- https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people
How we use Assistive Technology in school
Pilgrims’ Way has been awarded an ‘Innovator’s in Assistive Technology’ badge. This means that staff have been recognised for embracing assistive technology (AT) to support teaching within everyday classroom practice. AT can help to remove barriers to learning, support learners to work more independently and allow them to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding in different ways. For example, where a pupil may struggle to read independently, using a ‘text to speech’ feature lets them read any text they choose. Similarly, by using 'speech to text', a pupil is able to dictate what they want to write rather than having to type it. This has clear benefits for pupils who struggle with spelling, handwriting or keyboard skills. Translation tools are also used in every classroom practice to enhance language development by supporting learning in home language and English.
Here are some of the tools that we currently use in school:
How we use 'The Colour Monster' in school
In school, we teach children about emotions using a story called The Colour Monster. It is important for children to learn to identify and express a wide range of feelings, while also understanding that others have feelings, too.
There are large colour monster displays containing pictures and words in each classroom, so the children can add their name card to the emotion they are feeling. At a point during the day, an adult will offer to discuss how the child is feeling, particularly if the emotion is a negative one.
The displays give children the language to help them describe and express how they are feeling which is such an important part of their emotional development.
These links are for video clips of Colour Monster stories you may want to watch -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY6d1jyvmVg&t=14s The Colour Monster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj5V9tPY04Q&t=5s The Colour Monster goes to School
A parents guide to Language through Colour
Language through Colour (LTC)
We wanted to share a learning approach we are using called Language through Colour (LTC). You may have heard your child(ren) talk about it and seen the vocabulary in colours on the Knowledge Organisers we share with you.
What is LTC?
LTC is an inclusive approach used across the school and throughout the curriculum to support children’s language development.
How does it work?
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We use LTC as a framework for pupils to understand and make connections with their learning.
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Categories of words or phrases are colour coded according to the type of information they convey (e.g. action, person, doing word etc).
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Each category is also linked to a question.
How do we use LTC in the classroom?
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To help pupils to understand word categories e.g. nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs etc
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To help pupils to build sentences both orally and written. Pupils are given prompts for information needed and the order in which to place words.
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To help pupils to understand questions and how to answer them appropriately.
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To help pupils to identify keywords or pieces of information from stories/events/ displays on word walls.
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To support pupils to self assess, revisit, improve and extend their written work e.g, 'I have not added enough green words describing words/adjectives'.
Examples of Use
A Word Wall (YR)
Dual language word mat (Y3)
Sentence building (Y1) Children are prompted by use of the question words to begin to formulate sentences.
Categorising words within writing (Y2)
Extending sentences (SALT Pot- Speech and Language Provision)
Template to support pupils in creating their own sentences (Y4)
Pupils making corrections, adding additional information or improving vocabulary choices (Y6)
How Language through Colour can be used at home to support reading
Try using the prompts below when reading with your child.
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Who are the main characters in the story?
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What can you see in the picture? |
What do you think the characters look like?
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What is happening? What are the characters doing? |
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How is it happening? Slowly? Quickly? Suddenly? Scarily?
How does the character move? Nervously? Confidently? |
Where do you think the story is set?
Where does the action take place?
Where is the character?
Where have they come from?
Where are they heading? |
When do you think the story took place?
What happened first?
What happened next?
Can you put the events in the story in order? |
What could happen next and why?
Why do you think the character is feeling sad?
Why do you think the character is feeling happy? |
