We aim that, as a minimum, all our children will develop the ability to read and have survival skills with numbers. For some children, achievement will go way beyond that and there has been considerable success in National Key Stage Tests. All children are given individual learning targets every term. These are the basis of the school’s Individual Education Plans. They are shared with parents and are updated at the end of each term. In our planning, we include children who learn more slowly than their peers, who will need a curriculum differentiated to allow slower progress, somewhat less coverage of content and more overlearning of key skills and concepts. For some children, the development of independence and self care skills will be especially important.

We communicate in a variety of ways: through spoken language, through sign supported speech and through the use of symbols. To be able to communicate or to have the ability to develop that skill is critical. Through communication we ask children to think about how they and other people are feeling. We ask them to develop the skill of reflection and to think about on what they have been doing in school or what has been happening in the world outside.