Blossom House Communication

Introduction

In Blossom House, we recognise that all of our learners with special educational needs have a right to be ‘heard’.  For some of our young people, much of their communication will be pre-intentional, learners are dependent on the support of sensitive adults to interpret their vocalisations and body language. Some of our pupils are in the early stages of intentional communication and use a wide variety of strategies to communicate. We aim to provide all of the pupils with a rich, engaging and responsive environment that motivates them as communicators.

Intent

In Blossom house our aim is to:

• Embed the use of communication through a Total Communication approach so that pupils can communicate effectively with others in a range of social situations and in the world around them.
• Respect all pupils as effective communicators by holding Intensive Interaction as central to our communication approach.
• Optimise attention skills for all pupils so they can engage in independent exploration and in some cases can develop joint attention so they can communicate with others about things that interest them.
• Provide a rich and varied range of literacy activities to develop a love of stories.

Implementation

• Communication is taught as an integral part of every activity throughout the setting
• Each pupil has an individual plan for learning for communication that details the learning experiences they will receive.
• Communication learning takes place in a range of contexts. New learning in communication is developed working 1:1 with an adult. We see all learners as potential independent learners and use an active learning approach to support this. We value our learners as social beings and provide opportunities to communicate as part of a small or larger group.

Receptive communication

A variety of strategies are used to support pupils understanding of what is happening throughout the day, to allow them to make choices and have a sense of control. These include

• Object cues
• Objects of reference
• Personal signifiers
• Tassels on body signs
• TOBIS
• Photo cues
• Symbols
• Now / then boards
• Visual timetables
• Sign
• Speech

Expressive communication

Strategies and approaches to develop expressive communication include:

• Interaction
• Body language
• Facial expressions
• Eye contact
• Gestures and pointing
• Signing (Signalong)
• Vocalisations
• Use of objects of reference
• Use of low and High-Tech AAC
• PECS
• Speech

Impact

The impact of learning opportunities is assessed on a daily basis through careful staff observation. Impact is evidenced using the Evidence for Learning online system. We use the engagement model to assess pupil engagement across the range of learning opportunities.

We work collaboratively with parents and other professionals including speech and language therapists to set long-term communication targets as part of pupil EHCP reviews. All pupils will have at least 1 target around their communication needs. These long-term targets are broken down into termly Individual learning intentions (ILIS). Progress against ILIS, the engagement scale and profile and the Vale Routes assessment tool is discussed termly in a professional conversation between teachers, the Complex curriculum lead and SLT.