Willow – Sheringham Woodfields School

Welcome to Willow

Teacher Cate Sadler-Barker

Welcome to Willow Class!

We are a semi-formal KS3 class of eight pupils aged 11 – 14. We use a wide range of multi sensory approaches to support our learning. We also use a total communication approach, to support all our learners in understanding and expressing their hopes, wishes, needs and feelings. Alongside following a wide range of curriculum subjects, we are starting to learn more about independence and personal safety, especially whilst out and about in the community.

We go out on trips every Wednesday to support this. These include visits to the supermarket to buy our daily snacks, areas where we can improve upon our fine and gross motor skills, alongside keeping healthy, public places related to our specific interests, such as animal sanctuaries and cafes. During these trips we will work on our functional literacy and maths skills, including reading labels/signs, money and other measurement skills, alongside personal safety, e.g. road crossing, stranger danger, general hazards and risks, and communication.

Willow timetable – Summer term 1 – 25/26

Summer Term 1 25/26	Curriculum Information for parents
Strand and Profile	Profiles in Class	Learning at home
Communication and Literacy	Our Talk4Writing text this term is ‘Zog’ by Julia Donaldson. We will immerse ourselves in lots of exciting experiences to support our learning around this book, including some dragon themed adventures. We will also try to recall some parts of the story using our ‘5 sentence story’, including working on our total communication skills. We will continue 1:1 reading and selecting books to read for pleasure in our library session. We will be looking for books on to support our work in other lessons. We will also have our daily phonics sessions, many of which will support our sensory needs. This will be alongside our weekly Phonics story, where will be focus on our sound of the week. During our weekly trip we will be learning to develop our functional literacy skills by looking at signs that help us to keep safe and ones that give us information, e.g. roads signs, offers in the shops.	What would you like to learn to do? Can you practise a new skill? Do you have the determination to keep trying? If you do learn a new skill please share it with us at school. We would love to see it! All children will take a Twinkl Phonics reading book home. Please read it together and let me know when you would like to change it for another one (it is a good idea to read it a few times to encourage confidence). What signs do you see when you are out and about? How can this sign help us? Can you see any sounds when you are at home or out in the community? For example on car number plates, logos, brand names.
Mathematics and Problem Solving	We will be working on our sharing and grouping skills. Each lesson pupils will complete a carousel of practical activities to support their learning in these areas. During our weekly trips we will be sharing the items we buy. How many pieces of orange/banana will each of you get if we share it equally? Have I shared it equally?	Can you make something and then share it out with your family and friends? Or help dish up the dinner? How many items/pieces will each person get? Have you shared it equally or did some people get more than others?
Personal Development	We will be looking at Basic Road Safety & focusing on Red TITAN skills. It will include having an awareness of the 6 basic elements of the Green Cross Code We will learning how to use our pedestrian skills in a range of settings, to show that we can be safe, when out & about. There will be the opportunity for students to take turns to use their pedestrian skills, on site with staff support	Can you say all of the 6 basic elements of the Green Cross Code when out & about? Information about this can be provided if required. Talk about why 1 place might be safer to cross than another.
Physical Development	In our PE lessons we be focussing on our athletics skills. This will include running, throwing and jumping. We will aim to improve our performance over the half term, by repeating these actions several times.	Can you have a relay race with your family? Can you set up a game in the garden to see who can throw the beanbag the furthest? If you go down the beach try jumping across the sand. Who can jump the furthest?
Understanding the World - Science	In Science we will be learning about electricity and magnetism. Zog would like to explore using electricity to make him more powerful. He thinks that eating fruit will help him, but he doesn’t know which fruit will help the most. We are going to investigate this for him. In Geography we will be looking at the continent Asia, with a focus on India. Over time we will look at a variety of information linked with India, including Monsoon season; animals found in India; City Life & Indian food & drink	What electrical items can you see around the house? What items use batteries? Which ones do you think are more powerful? Discuss this with your family and the dangers with electrical items? What are the dos and don’t with these items when using them at home? Do your own research on India, you will be amazed at what you may find. For example did you know that shampoo, bungalows & buttons all came from India? Try some Indian food & drink. Let us know what you thought
Expression and Creativity - Music	In Music we will be learning about syncopation and rhythm whilst following the Charanga scheme. We will create and perform a class South African composition, including singing and playing a music instrument. We will also be making some African masks to support our performances.	When you listen to music at home can you clap along to the rhythm? What can you use around the house to create rhythms with? Perhaps a saucepan and a wooden spoon or some pens and a cardboard box.
Preparing for Adult Life	This half term we will be going on trips to support our understanding of how to be safe when out of school. We will also be working on our English and Maths functional skills. This will include shopping for our class snacks and paying for them. We will visit playgrounds to explore different exercise equipment and improve our general fitness and learn more about how to safe when in public places.	Can you help chose some health snacks when shopping? Can you help pay for them? Can you visit some playgrounds and explore some different fitness equipment. Can you cross the roads safely? Can you be a good pedestrian? What rules do you need to follow to keep safe when out and about?
Cooking	We will have the opportunity to use the Learning Kitchen on a regular basis. It will include health, safety & hygiene found within the kitchen. Life skills will include preparing self & area for cooking as well as cleaning up & tidying away.	When at home students can practise skills such as wiping down the kitchen surfaces; washing up, drying up, putting utensils & cutlery away – all linked with increasing independence.
Personalised Learning Goals	In this session we will be working on our EHCP targets. Pupils will have the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities to support their current PLGs (Personal Learning Goals).	Look at your current PLGs (please ask Miss S-B if you would like a copy of these to be sent home). Which ones could you work on at home? Do you need any resources to support you with this? Please ask the adults in class for anything that you may need.
	We would love to hear about anything that you have done at home and celebrate this with the class. Please email any photos to Miss S-B or pop a note in the diary.