Literacy and English in special schools

In special schools, staff establish strong, nurturing relationships with children and young people. They know this is crucial to supporting children and young people to communicate with confidence. Staff know and understand the individual needs of the children and young people they are teaching very well. This includes having a sound knowledge of the communication and language needs of all children.

Teachers plan individualised education programmes to meet the needs of all learners. These plans include targets for literacy, English, communication and language, when required. Teachers take a ‘team around the child’ approach and plan these individualised education programmes in collaboration with multi-agency partners and parents. Staff make effective use of CfE progression frameworks at early level, including foundation milestones, to plan progressive programmes. They need to ensure that the delivery of learning and the content of these plans is more responsive to take account of the progress children are making.

Teachers plan appropriate opportunities for children and young people to develop their skills in literacy, English, communication and language across the curriculum and in real-life, relevant contexts. In the best examples, teachers plan learning that makes links across the curriculum, taking account of how to make it accessible to all. For example, they consider and use each child or young person’s preferred method of communication, such as signing or using assistive technology.

For children working at early developmental milestones, most teachers make professional judgements about children and young people’s progress based on observations and evaluation of progress against individual targets in individual plans. For children working at early level and beyond, staff assess their progress using a range of formative and summative assessments. This assessment is often linked to CfE benchmarks or is embedded in reading and writing programmes, such as phonics programmes. At the senior phase, young people work towards and complete a range of literacy and English and national qualifications. Teachers need to further refine approaches to moderation to help them develop a shared understanding of children and young people’s progress and achievement.

Listening and talking, reading and writing

Teachers have a strong focus on supporting children to develop appropriate communication skills. In the primary special sector, daily activities such as morning routines provide planned opportunities for children to develop literacy skills, such as reading timetables and self-registering. At the senior phase, programmes and courses have a strong focus on developing communication life skills. This can include, for example, teaching important literacy, English, communication and language skills, such as writing shopping lists and communicating with staff to purchase goods. Young people are supported to recognise and read signs and engage with the local community. In the best practice, staff are highly skilled in using a range of effective approaches to support children and young people to communicate. In these schools, staff, children and young people use signing, symbols or augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) aids.

In a few establishments, staff have created communication-rich environments for children and young people to learn in. Within these environments, children and young people communicate with staff and their peers using a range of strategies, including spoken language, signs, gestures and AAC. However, staff need to ensure the quality and consistency of these methods so that all children and young people can interact meaningfully in all aspects of school life.

Teachers develop clear, individualised plans for children and young people which reflect their literacy, English and communication needs well. They plan learning for each child or young person to develop listening, talking, reading and writing skills in individual activities or through whole-class contexts, such as ‘friendship.’ For example, children learn to read, write, or sign each other’s names.

Teachers at all stages have a strong focus on developing children and young people’s literacy, English, communication and language skills in real-life contexts and daily routines, such as registration and lunch routines. The development of communication and language skills permeates the curriculum. Teachers use a range of approaches well to support and develop children and young people’s skills, taking account of each individual’s needs. For example, children and young people listen to stories and watch videos before creating their own texts.

Digital learning

In special schools, staff make effective use of digital devices, including AAC, to support children and young people in communicating and learning. When digital technology is used very well, children share their thinking and respond to ideas and experiences in their learning. Children and young people use technology that is suited to their individual needs to support them when writing. For example, a few children and young people develop writing skills using accessible, large print and adapted keyboards. Staff monitor children and young people’s screen time closely to prevent them from becoming overstimulated or over-reliant on technology. However, the quality and quantity of digital technology available across schools and enhanced provisions are too varied.

Scots language

Children and young people participate in whole school events to celebrate Scotland’s rich cultural heritage, such as Burns Night and St Andrew’s Day. This helps them experience aspects of the Scots language, including poetry and songs. It will be important for teachers to consider how they can ensure that children experience progressive learning around the Scots language.

Professional learning

In special settings, staff continue to engage with professional learning related to communication and language, such as British Sign Language or assistive digital technology. This includes training provided by speech and language therapy colleagues. Most support staff engage in purposeful professional learning about meeting the welfare needs of children and young people. They would benefit from further learning about meeting individual communication and language learning needs.