What Communication, Language and Literacy means for pupils:

• To become skilful communicators, pupils need to be with people with whom they have warm and loving relationships, such as their family or carers and, in a group situation, a key person whom they know and trust.

• Children respond differently to different sounds and from an early age are able to distinguish sound patterns. They use their voices to make contact and to let people know what they need and how they feel. They learn to talk by being talked to.

• All pupils learn best through activities and experiences that engage all the senses. Music, dance, rhymes and songs support language development.

As pupils develop speaking and listening skills they build the foundations for literacy, for making sense of visual and verbal signs and ultimately for reading and writing. Pupils need varied opportunities to interact with others and to use a wide variety of resources for expressing their understanding, including mark-making, drawing, modelling, reading and writing.

At George Hastwell School Communication, Language and Literacy leads on to, and links with National Curriculum English, Literacy, Communication Skills, Modern Foreign Languages, Speech and Language Therapy, and includes aspects of Information and Communication Technology.

How Communication, Language and Literacy will be taught:

The school environment will:

• offer frequent and consistent opportunities to communicate; • create a need or desire to communicate; • provide access to a means of expression [whether non-vocal or other], with

plans for progression for every individual; • view all means/modes of communication as having equal value; • be consistently responsive to every communicative attempt.

Fergusson [1994]

George Hastwell School recognises the value of total communication including signing, symbols along with low and high-tech means of augmentative and alternative communication. Where appropriate pupils are encouraged to use Signalong to help them to communicate. Many pupils will develop to use speech to communicate instead of or in addition to signing. Signing may remain an essential element of some pupils communication for the whole of their school career and beyond. Training in signing is regularly provided by the Communication Support Department and is available to staff and to the families of pupils who are using, or who are being encouraged to use, Signalong.

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