Name of School

Corbets Tey School

Policy Adopted Date

16/06/2014

Next Review Date

16/06/2015

Reviewed by

Governors Name: Ade Ogunleye ______________________ Governors Signature: _______________________________

Communication Policy Introduction This document is a policy statement for the development of communication at Corbets Tey School. It identifies our rationale and the approaches used to promote and support the development of communication with pupils, parents and staff. The Communication Policy is an integral part of other policies and procedures used within the school, such as:  Behaviour Policy  Teaching and Learning Policy  Policy for Personal, Social, Health and Education Policy (PSHMME)  Adverse Weather  Attendance Policy  Induction Policy Corbets Tey School is an all aged special school that caters for pupils with complex learning needs. A high percentage of pupils have communication difficulties. The school holds specialist status for Communication and Interaction. Communication underpins all learning in the school and we are committed to providing a total communication environment. This encompasses: 1. How we support communication development in our pupils; 2. How we communicate to parents information about the school and their children’s progress; 3. How staff communicate. 1. How we support communication development in our pupils Communication is central to life and learning. It is a fundamental human right. Through communication we build social relationships and knowledge, make our needs and feelings known, and share ideas with others. Communication involves listening, understanding and responding, and also links to literacy skills. Communication is at the core of our work with pupils at Corbets Tey School. The importance of communication in empowering pupils and ensuring their access to the curriculum is recognised. All those involved in a child’s education should possess the necessary skills, knowledge and attitudes to ensure that effective communication is achievable for all. Acknowledging the importance of the

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setting where communication takes place, Corbets Tey School provides specialised support by creating a ‘communication-enabling environment in which a child can learn, play and have fun alongside others while taking part in everyday social activities as well as educational ones. Within that setting, our goals are: 1. To help children develop spontaneous and functional communication skills 2. To help children develop good relationships with others 3. To help children maintain a well-regulated emotional state for learning and interacting 4. To help children maximise their opportunities to take part in daily life We do this by:  Adopting a total communication approach throughout school, where pupils have access to their own means of communication throughout the day.  Developing means of communication appropriate to each child’s individual needs.  Creating opportunities for communication throughout the curriculum to enable each child to communicate to the best of their ability. Communication is ‘holistic’. It is “More Than Words”. It includes the use of body language (including posture and facial expression), gesture, signing, objects of reference, photographs and other visual symbols. At Corbets Tey School all forms of communication are acknowledged and valued. By their very nature, a proportion of children at Corbets Tey School will rely on visual strategies including low tech and high tech alternative and augmentative communication devices (AAC) or signing as a means of communication. How does communication develop? As children learn that their behaviour has an effect on other people, they move towards becoming intentional communicators. To start with, children develop from understanding little and interacting only briefly to communicating, using different methods or means (body language, gesture, visual symbols, words etc.) Next, they may begin to understand some familiar routines and communicating mainly to have needs met. Over time, children may move on to interact with more people, showing more understanding and making both requests and attempts to get people to notice things. Finally, children may interact more effectively, using their skills to ask and answer questions and to communicate about past events. Methods or means of communication will differ for individual children but, as their thinking skills develop, these methods may change from being informal and inconsistent to being more formal, systematic and structured. Initially, they may convey and understand simple messages and, as they progress, the information-carrying load may become increasingly complex and the reasons for their communication may become more varied. The role of the communicative partner is crucial in developing successful communication skills. It is important therefore for adult support to create as many opportunities as possible for interaction and therefore for the child to have opportunities to learn to communicate. What do we do to enable children to become effective communicators? Children at Corbets Tey School, with their individual learning styles and sensory preferences, face many challenges in learning to communicate. Communication is seen as an individual priority for many pupils at the school as reflected in their Statement of Special Educational Needs and it will therefore frequently be a priority target in their Pupil Achievement Profiles. We know that not all children will follow the same route in learning but a child-centred developmental approach helps us to devise individual, effective teaching and learning programmes and interventions. Specialist approaches to teaching communication are an integral part of school practice.

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Teaching approaches will support a child’s movement through stages of communicative development by providing opportunities for interaction and communication learning during everyday activities and routines as well as during school lesson time. Communication skills will develop when children:  Interact and develop trusting relationships with others, while having fun.  Learn to pay attention to others and share the focus of their interest.  Understand the relationship between making a request and having their needs met;  Enjoy and understand two-way communication.  Copy things others do.  Understand what others say and mean.  Repeat what has been learnt often.  Have structure, routine and predictability in their lives. Child-Centred Developmental Approaches Offer Opportunities To:  Establish warm, trusting social relationships with children.  Follow a child’s lead, their motivation and interests.  Provide frequent opportunities for communication through play, music, books etc.  Observe, wait and listen to what the child is doing before adapting and adding new experiences.  Use familiar routines to build skills, interpret the child’s communication and support understanding.  Establish joint attention and develop turn taking.  Match adult language to the child’s developmental level and where necessary  Model, reinforce and extend appropriate language, sign/visual symbol use (Sign supported English /Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)) so that the child links the communication to what they experience.  Support children in using their knowledge of communication to underpin their literacy development. Specialist Approaches Offer Opportunities To:  Create a communication-enabling environment which uses a range of consistent supportive strategies so children can understand expectations, access the curriculum and express themselves.(Sign, PECS, Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communicationhandicapped Children (TEACCH)  Develop motivation and functional communication through intensive Verbal Behaviour strategies.  Maximise communication and allow frequent repetitions and subtle adaptations of established routines.  Recognise that all behaviour is a form of communication.  Develop new routines to enable understanding.  Develop appropriate ways of helping pupils express their needs and feelings.  Devise specific tasks to promote comprehension and expressive skills.  Help children, where necessary, to develop alternative and augmentative communication strategies to express themselves and understand others (Sign, PECS, AAC).  Recognise that communication strategies are important in behaviour management.  Support emotional regulation by making expectations clear, using visual support where necessary (e.g.: TEACCH Schedules & Work Systems)  Use Social Stories™ to develop social understanding and communication. A fundamental pre-requisite of these approaches and their components is to involve parents, carers and other family members in the process of supporting communication development and underline the fact that they do “Make the Difference”.

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What do we know in order to help our pupils develop communication skills? 1. Knowledge of each individual pupil:  We need to have knowledge of a child’s communication impairment and other specific difficulties diagnosed  We need to observe and assess regularly in order to understand the individual child’s strengths and weaknesses, sensory preferences and preferred learning style  We need to know what motivates the child.  We need to share our knowledge of the pupil with parents, carers and other practitioners  We need to share our knowledge with other staff in the school through Pupil Information Profiles. These should be reviewed and updated once a year or earlier if information changes significantly. These give vital information about a pupil’s individual needs including how they communicate. 2. Knowledge about communication development, impairment and teaching approaches:  We need to have knowledge and understanding of communication and its development  We need to have an understanding of communication impairment and, in particular, a thorough understanding of social communication disorders present in autistic spectrum disorders  We need to be aware of our own use of language, remembering the importance of being clear and explicit, and not overloading children with verbal information.  We need to have knowledge and understanding of a range of informal and formal assessment procedures  We need to have an understanding of learning theories and the theories of autism  We need to be committed to collaborative working  We need to have understanding of child-centred and specialist approaches to  communication (e.g.: Verbal Behaviour, TEACCH, PECS, etc) How does this policy fit within the National Curriculum? Communication is a key skill embedded within the National Curriculum. It is recognised as being fundamental to participation and achievement in all curriculum areas. Communication is a crosscurricular skill which impacts on all aspects of teaching and learning. Therefore it must be acknowledged at all stages. That is when planning, when teaching, when recording, evaluating and assessing and when monitoring and reviewing at both a personal and whole school level. How will we know that this policy is effective? When:  Children are developing spontaneous and functional communication skills and are making progress against communication targets and statement objectives.  Children are developing good relationships with others.  Children are maintaining a well-regulated emotional state for learning and interacting.  Children are maximising their opportunities to take part in daily life. Impact of this communication policy for pupils The impact of this policy will be monitored through:  Evaluation of pupil progress with communication skills (PAPs and ‘P’ Levels/BSquared)  Classroom observations carried out by SMT as part of the Performance Management Process  Discussion with parents

2. How we communicate to parents In our school we aim to have clear and effective communications with all parents/carers. Effective communications enable us to share our aims and values, through keeping parents well informed

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about school life. This reinforces the important role that parents play in supporting the school and their child’s learning. Parents are always welcome to see their child’s class teacher to discuss their child’s progress by pre-arranged appointment. Parents who come to the school must sign-in at reception on arrival. If required an appointment can be made to see the headteacher or deputy headteacher if there are any unresolved issues. Good communication between the school and the home is essential, and children achieve more when schools and parents/carers work together. The school encourages parents to share any issues about their child at the earliest opportunity. Home/School Diary Children in all classes have a home-school diary. The home/school diary is an important channel of communication with parents/carers. It is designed by classes to ensure that relevant information is relayed each day to parents and where parents can respond or provide information about their child that they want to pass on. At the beginning of each term all teachers send parents of the children in their classes details of the work to be covered during the forthcoming term. Telephone Parents are welcome to telephone the school with urgent messages that need to be delivered immediately to staff. Urgent calls may be put through to the most appropriate or available person. If it is not possible for a parent to speak to class staff, a message will be taken and delivered for contact to be made within a reasonable time. Non-urgent calls to class staff should be kept to a minimum at times of the day where teaching and learning may be disrupted. This includes before school where lessons are being prepared. Texts and Email It is preferred that parents do not contact staff by text/email. Parents should not expect staff to:  return calls after work hours  answer email in the evening/weekends Home School Agreement Having a Home School Agreement is a statutory requirement. The school’s Home School Agreement (Appendix 1) sets out the school’s responsibilities towards pupils, the responsibilities of parents and what the school expects of pupils. It is designed to help achieve a supportive, communicative and effective partnership. Newsletters The school newsletter is sent to parents at the end of each school week. It contains general details of school events and activities and a copy is forwarded by email as arranged and is available on the school website. We send other letters of a general nature when necessary. Parent Surveys The school distributes a staff survey once in the Summer Term each year to measure parent opinion on the school. This is analysed by senior management and governors and this data is used to provide a focus for wellbeing initiatives/school improvement in the school. Parent Mail and Smartphone ParentComms App

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The school has access to ParentMail for communicating urgent information by text or by email and uses a Smart Phone App called ParentComms. These methods are used for notifying parents of school closures due to adverse weather or other issues. Parents must install the ParentComms App on their phone to receive messages/notifications from the school. Parents must sign up for the ParentMail service. A registration letter can be obtained from the school office. Please see the Adverse Weather Policy for further information on the procedures relating to these circumstances. School Website and Prospectus Our school has a website www.corbetsteyschool.org.uk with up to date information on the school and links to various policies for parents and also includes progress on equality plans and how we are spending Pupil Premium, Year 7 Catch-Up and Primary PE Funding expenditure. The school prospectus is also available on the school website. Annual Reviews All pupils have an annual review to evaluate and develop an action plan regarding all aspects of the child’s life and update the Statement of Special Educational Needs if appropriate. In Year 9 pupils will participate in a person centred review which will have contributions from our Educational Psychologist and Careers adviser. Representation from all professional services working with the family can be invited/attend as appropriate. Parents Evenings Staff meet with parents as soon as it is possible in each new school year. Parents will be invited to two parents evening meetings per year in addition to the annual review. These are evening meetings to explain areas of our curriculum and discuss progress. Parents may be invited into school prior to residential visits regarding the planning and content of the visit. Annual Reports The school will provide an annual written report on their child’s progress to parents in the Summer Term. This will include information on pupils’ P Level or National Curriculum assessment levels, individual skills achieved and maintained and progress made throughout the year. Absences If a child is going to be absent from school, parents/carers should telephone the school office before 9.30am to advise that the child will not be attending school that day and the reason for this absence. If the school does not receive notification and therefore have no indication of the reason for a child being absent from school, the school secretary will contact a parent/carer (by telephone, if possible) to find out the reason for the absence. Please see the Attendance Policy for further information regarding pupil absence procedures. Parent Liaison Leader The school has a Parent Liaison Leader, Sue Hillier, who is available to provide support to parents where necessary and can act as a link to other members of staff and external professionals and support services. The Parent Liaison Leader is responsible for organising training opportunities for parents throughout the year, which will be promoted and communicated by letter and the school newsletter, or by personal invitation in the case of training opportunities relating to a particular child. A new Parent Resource Centre will provide resources and opportunities for parents/carers to learn more about how to support their children. This will be held during parent coffee morning which is currently every Thursday morning. The purpose of the coffee morning is to provide an opportunity for parent to meet to socialise and chat about issues affecting them.

3. How staff communicate Effective communication is critical to a well functioning organisation. The school utilises many different methods of communicating information to staff either digitally or through face to face

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situations. Engagement with staff is important to the organisation of the school and to the welfare of staff and pupils. These are the main methods that staff can share information.

Email All staff are issued with an LGFL email account to use for school business. Staff should check their email account regularly as this will be how the majority of general school information is communicated. Staff Meetings The school holds regular whole staff or class team meetings, which all permanent teaching staff are expected to attend. These can be in the form of whole staff meetings or class based meetings. The timetable of the staff meeting schedule will be communicated to staff at the beginning of each term. Teachers are expected to attend a curriculum meeting once per week. Weekly Bulletins Staff will receive a weekly bulletin each week by email and hard copies will be distributed in school. This will contain information and notices for staff as well as a timetable for the week commencing. Staff Surveys The school distributes a staff survey once in the Summer Term each year to measure staff opinion on the school. This is analysed by senior management and this data is used to provide a focus for wellbeing initiatives/school improvement in the school. Wellbeing Committee There is a staff wellbeing committee which meets each term to discuss staff issues and how the school can support staff wellbeing. All staff are welcome to attend. Induction & Staff Handbook An induction process is carried out for all new staff covering health and safety and child protection level 1 training. All staff can access a copy of the staff handbook giving information to staff on many aspects of their role as well as rules and procedures that operate within the school. MLE The school has a Managed Learning Environment (MLE) where staff can access non-curriculum polices and risk assessments as well as other forms and surveys. Professional Development Identifying training needs of staff is vital to ensure continued progress for our pupils. Staff are responsible for identifying their own training needs and can apply to Senior Management to discuss relevant courses. This may be through the performance management structure or at any other appropriate time. Senior Management Support Senior Management are available to provide support and advice to all staff. Unless the need is of an urgent nature, an appointment should be made with the appropriate person. The Behaviour Support Team is available to discuss any behaviour concerns and the appropriate referral route for support is detailed in the school Behaviour Policy.

Monitoring and Review This policy will be regularly monitored, and will be reviewed annually by the Senior Management Team and Teaching and Learning Committee governors.

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Appendix 1

HOME SCHOOL AGREEMENT

CORBETS TEY SCHOOL

Working Together To Do Our Best!

As a school we will…

As a pupil I will…

As a parent I/we will…

Aims…

Provide a purposeful, safe, secure, positive environment in which children can reach their full potential.

Work hard and do my best.

Talk positively to my/our child about their school day and participate where appropriate in their school life.

Work…

Provide a creative and engaging curriculum appropriately matched to the needs of all pupils

Try hard to join in all activities.

Support my/our child with their work and encourage them to do their best.

Home/School Links…

Provide opportunities for open dialogue between school and home about pupil progress, individual target setting and assessment.

Talk to my parents about my school day.

Behaviour…

Teach the difference between right and wrong. Model, promote, encourage and reward good behaviour and support pupils in this.

Follow the Golden Rules

Work in partnership with the school. Do my/our best to attend meetings and school events and share relevant information with the school. Support the school’s high behaviour expectations through effective communication and reinforcement at home and modelling good behaviour.

Attendance and Punctuality…

Monitor attendance and punctuality regularly and discuss concerns with parents.

Come to school on time every day if I am well enough.

Ensure the my/our child attends school regularly and on time. Let the school know by 9.30am if my/our child cannot attend school.

Teacher: _______________

Pupil: __________________

Parent: _________________

Date: ________________

Date: ________________

Date: ________________

Signed…

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The Golden Rules 1.

Do be gentle

2.

Do be kind and helpful

3.

Do be honest

4.

Do work hard

5.

Do look after property

6.

Do listen to people

7.

Don’t hurt anybody

8.

Don’t interrupt

9.

Don’t hurt people’s feelings

10.

Don’t cover up the truth

11.

Don’t waste time

12.

Don’t waste or damage things

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