In Beaver Class, we follow a bespoke curriculum that is designed for our individual learners. It offers a sensory diet and is in line with the EYFS Statutory Framework. The EYFS curriculum includes the prime areas: Communication and Language, Physical Development, and Personal, Social and Emotional Development and the specific areas: Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, and Expressive Arts and Design.
Our curriculum design includes Attention Autism, the Curiosity Approach, high-quality interactions using Intensive Interaction, the ShREC approach, the PACE approach, Speech and Language support, SCARF PSHE, sensory circuits focusing on the vestibular and proprioceptive systems, and Jabadao.
We use a total communication approach to support our learners. This includes Makaton, core boards, visual supports using photographs or Widget symbols, talking tins, and the spoken word. We extend our vocabulary using the Word of the Week approach through circle time, Attention Autism, and learning opportunities throughout the day.
Every week, a reading book matched to our phonics learning and a reading-for-pleasure book from the school library will be sent home.
Our PE day is Friday.
Autumn 1
Word of the Week this term: I want, I like, I don't like, help, it, more, and different.
During Autumn 1, our focus has been on autumn and animals. We have been using our senses to observe the changes around us from summer to autumn. We have created our own nature catchers to share our observations of autumn.
We have used natural resources that we found on the playground and in the forest area to develop our mark-making skills. We helped create a range of mud paints with different consistencies and explored our preferences. We started mark making using our whole arm and, over the term, have been exploring using our lower arm with greater control. We have also used natural resources to help us create our playdough autumnal animals and develop our fine motor skills.
We have been focusing on Phase 1 phonics. We have been learning to hear and discriminate between different sounds in our environment and when using musical instruments. We have enjoyed singing nursery rhymes and learning to clap and stamp in time with the rhythm.
We have learnt about farm animals and harvest. We have explored which foods are collected during harvest, how food is collected from farms, and that animals and people share the food that is harvested. We have learnt the Makaton signs for different farm animals and used them while singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm.
We have been minibeast explorers in our autumn sensory tray. We have been finding and matching minibeasts in the tray, while adults have modelled describing the minibeasts using core boards.
We have been learning to recognise how our facial expressions and body language change depending on how we are feeling. We have used the mirrors in the sensory room to help us recognise our own facial expressions and learn the names of different features on our faces. We have been working on matching our facial expressions to feeling visuals. We will apply this knowledge to the Zones of Regulation later in the term.
Otter Class
In Otter Class, we follow a bespoke curriculum that is centred on the needs of each child in the class. We provide a curriculum that focuses on the National Curriculum statements while also ensuring a sensory diet is embedded throughout the day. Our curriculum is tailored to the children in our class, as we weave their personal targets into the lessons and activities we provide. Our curriculum design includes Attention Autism, high-quality interactions through Intensive Interaction, the ShREC approach, the PACE approach, speech and language development, SCARF PSHE, and sensory circuits focusing on the vestibular and proprioceptive systems.
We use a total communication approach to support our learners. This includes Makaton, core boards, visual supports using photographs or Widgit symbols, talking tins, and spoken language. We extend children's vocabulary through our 'Word of the Week' approach during circle time, Attention Autism sessions, and learning opportunities throughout the day.
In Otter Class, we are beginning to undertake more formalised learning sessions that focus on areas of the EYFS and KS1 curricula. We are also beginning to follow more of the school routines, in line with our peers in the mainstream school.
Each week, a reading book matched to our phonics learning and a reading-for-pleasure book from the school library will be sent home.
Our PE day is Friday.
Our Autumn Term Focus
During Autumn Term 1, we have been learning the story The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We have practised retelling the story before writing parts of it independently, with a focus on letter formation. We have also adapted the story to create our own versions. In addition, we have learned a fact file about goats and practised writing our own facts.
In maths, we have been learning about place value within 10. We have been practising counting and representing numbers using manipulatives. We have also been learning important mathematical vocabulary to compare numbers, including more, fewer, and the same.
In our wider curriculum, we have been learning about how schools in the past were different from schools today. We have been comparing similarities and differences between schools from the past and our own experiences. In DT, we have been exploring mechanisms by investigating fairground wheels and designing our own. In computing, we have been learning about information technology in the world around us and how to stay safe online. In RE, we have been exploring what makes every person unique. In science, we have been focusing on living things and their habitats. We have been investigating different habitats and considering why certain animals are suited to particular environments.
A typical day in Beaver Class
We start the day with morning activities focused on developing our fine motor skills. We have daily exercise, which includes the alerting and organising stages of a sensory circuit, followed by stillness activities focused on the calming stage of the sensory circuit. This helps us to be ready to learn.
We then move into our phonics lesson, rhyme time, dough disco, and circle time before starting our Good Learning activities and Speech and Language packs. We develop our life skills while preparing our snack, and then we go out to play. During play, we take part in lots of activities that help us build experience of different play schemas and develop new skills. We come together for a story and Drawing Club before our next Good Learning session. At the end of a busy morning, we wash our hands and have lunch.
After lunch, we take part in Jabadao to help us be ready to learn in the afternoon. We then move into our maths lesson and activities before our afternoon Good Learning session. We finish the day with our singing and signing session and a story.
A typical day in Otter Class:
We start the day in Otter Class with activities set out to allow the children time to regulate during their transition into school. We then begin our learning sessions with a morning social time. During this session, the children have the opportunity to participate in songs as a group and communicate with an adult about what day of the week it is, what the weather is like, and how they are feeling that morning.
We then complete a gross motor movement break before starting our phonics lessons. Our phonics lessons are taught in smaller groups and, when not participating in a lesson, the children have the opportunity to engage in provision activities and 1:1 intervention sessions. We then enjoy a group snack together, during which we develop our life skills before going outside to play.
When we return indoors, we have our English lesson. Our focus story is delivered through a sensory story approach before the children complete a short writing task. After English, we have our group maths lesson before lunch.
We begin our afternoon session by completing fine motor activities and then move on to our foundation subject lessons. We focus on a different subject each week to ensure coverage of our wider curriculum across the term. We then have a group reading session where we practise following along in a book and answering questions about what we have read. Following this, the children take part in Bucket Time in small groups and have another opportunity to engage in provision activities.
At the end of the day, we enjoy a whole-class story before getting our belongings ready for home time.
