Communication & Reading Strategy - Martin Bacon Academy

Communication & Reading Strategy
             Approaches to Communication & reading at MBA
At MBA we believe communication and reading are fundamental life skills that
 can develop engagement in learning. Through communication we develop a
      love of learning for all and we are committed to ensuring reading
      opportunities(at the appropriate level) for every child, every day.

Everyone has the right to be Heard
As part of our safeguarding approach, we talk about hearing the
messages, spoken or otherwise, that pupils share. An important
part of this is ensuring pupils have the tools they need to be
effective communicators. Being able to communicate is one of the
most important skills we need in life. Almost everything we do
involves communication; everyday tasks such as learning at school,
asking for food and drink, sorting out problems, making friends and
having fun. These all rely on our ability to communicate with each
other.

At MBA we commit to being a total communication environment
where staff will be trained in the skills needed to effectively support
pupils in their chosen form of communication. We use a range of
tools and approaches to ensure that communication skills are
gained and developed by all pupils here at MBA. Approaches
include Makaton and Picture Exchange communication System
(PECS).

During the Covid Lockdown of 2020/2021 we have made
communication a focus of our development of language. Remote
teaching has included the support of parents with their use of
these tools, this has taken a priority in the ‘My Journey’ curriculum
and our languages focus has been the ‘My Communication’ aspect
of this for all learners, including our most able pupils who have
been learning to communicate effectively on line. Tools such as
PECS and Makaton form part of an approach to reading signs and
symbols, therefore reading in its earliest form.

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
PECS is a unique alternative/augmentative communication system
developed in the USA in 1985 by Andy Bondy, PhD, and Lori Frost, MS,
CCC-SLP. PECS was first implemented with pre-school students
diagnosed with autism at the Delaware Autism Program. Since then,
PECS has successfully been implemented worldwide with thousands
of learners of all ages who have various cognitive, physical and
communication challenges.
PECS consists of six phases and begins by teaching an individual to
give a single picture of a desired item or action to a “communicative
partner” who immediately honors the exchange as a request. The
system goes on to teach discrimination of pictures and how to put
them together in sentences. In the more advanced phases, individuals
are taught to use modifiers, answer questions and comment.
The primary goal of PECS is to teach functional communication.
Research has shown that some learners using PECS also develop
speech. Others may transition to a speech generating device (SGD).
The body of research supporting the effectiveness of PECS as an
evidence-based practice is substantial and continues to expand.

Makaton
Makaton is a unique language programme that uses symbols,
signs and speech to enable people to communicate. It
supports the development of essential communication skills
such as attention and listening, comprehension, memory,
recall and organisation of language and expression.
With Makaton, signs are used, with speech, in spoken word
order. This helps provide extra clues about what someone is
saying. Using signs can help people who have no speech or
whose speech is unclear. Using symbols can help people who
have limited speech and those who cannot or prefer not to
sign.
For those who have experienced the frustration of being
unable to communicate meaningfully or effectively, Makaton
really can help. Makaton takes away that frustration and
enables individuals to connect with other people and the
world around them. This opens up all kinds of possibilities.
Staff have been learning Makaton since the school opened in
April 2020. We learn new signs as a team everyday and share
these, where appropriate, with our pupils. We also learn
signs linked to our topics to support written word.

The Journey of Reading
Each pupil will have the opportunity to take part in reading
activities every day, across the curriculum and with a
multisensory approach. For some pupils this will be the
opportunity to enjoy sensory stories and for others this
will sharing book with an adult or peer, pre-reading
activities such as matching games, jigsaws, listening to
rhymes and songs. For others this may be accessing texts
from the reading scheme in order to develop their skills in
decoding and reading comprehension. We also have an
extensive library of books that pupils can access.

We want all our pupils to engage with reading in a
multisensory way. (photo) opportunities to become
familiar with stories, re-visit the language, anticipate what
is coming next, and the enjoyment that a story can hold.
Equally, with poems, newspapers and other non-fiction
texts, engage and enjoy as well as develop reading skills in
vocabulary, inference and fluency. On our website we have
our MBA story time where there are a wealth of stories to
listen to read by our MBA staff.

MBA Story time

At MBA we believe that it is important for
stories and books to be shared with pupils.
We have our own remote library on our
website, where staff share books and read
aloud. Parents are supplied with the
password to this area and lots of our pupils
love listening to these stories at home.

We also value the sharing of stories and
reading related activities in small groups at
school. During Lockdown we shared stories
with our pupils who were learning at home
and they had the opportunity to retell
stories they knew well.

Social Stories

For some pupils we use social stories which also
have pictures (widgits) to help explain transitions
 or changes and support emotional regulation.

Phonics at MBA

We recognise that for many pupils,
synthetic phonics help build sight
vocabulary, recognise patterns in words and
can be the key to unlocking a text. To
develop fluency in reading, we need to be
able to build a bank of ‘sight words’. For this
purpose we have chosen Oxford reading
tree books such as Flopping phonics and
Alien Project X which are fully phonically
decodable books. Pupils are able to practise
their skills in a fun and meaningful way. We
also use Storytime phonics to develop
phonic skills in a multisensory way which is
fun, lively and engaging making new
learning in phonics memorable.

Reading schemes at Martin Bacon Academy
At MBA we want all our pupils to have the opportunity to high
quality reading texts that engage readers, create new worlds
and help develop not only the skills of decoding and reading
but that love of reading alongside their comprehension skills.
We predominately use Oxford Reading Tree for this purpose.
Pupils also have access to an extensive library of books
outside of the reading scheme which also helps them to
generalise their reading skills and further develop their love of
reading.

Oxford Reading Tree is a reading scheme, a series of books
that have been carefully written to help children learn to
read. When your child is learning to read, it’s important to
give them books that are at the right level of challenge. Books
that are too hard can be frustrating and can risk putting a
child off reading. With Oxford reading tree books are matched
to the pupil’s level of reading to provide challenge, enjoyment
and fun to have the most impact on their reading skills. Each
day your child will read their reading scheme book with an
adult in school and their progress tracked in order to build on
skills both phonic knowledge to decode and comprehension
skills to develop understanding and enjoyment of the text.
Each pupil has a reading record (book or on EFL) where you
can add your comments and read comments from staff in
school about achievements and next steps so we can work
together to develop each pupil’s reading skills.

Oxford Owls – eBook Library
There are a wide range of books
in school that each pupil has
access to.
These books are also available
online at Oxford Owl for School
and Home and each pupil has
their own login in order to access
the book they are doing and re-
reread others or read the next
book.

The eBook Library for Letters and Sounds
The Class teacher can now assign specific books to your child and track their progress.
This will make it easier for your child to find the book that they are reading. It also means
that they have a record of their own work in the Progress area.
Logging in: Your child will be able to access the eBook Library for Letters and Sounds
resources by logging in to their individual student login. Your child’s teacher will
provide them with their login details. Once your child has been given their individual login
details they should use these to access Oxford Owl for School from now on. They will no
longer need their class login details as they will be able to access everything they need
using their individual login.

The magic key to a lifelong love of reading
The UK's number one reading programme has inspired a love of reading
in over 30 million children worldwide. With its well-loved characters,
wide range of styles of texts, Oxford Reading Tree helps your child to
become a confident reader.
Rigorous synthetic phonics teaching gives children a secure first step on
their reading journey
Over 800 books provide a rich and varied choice of writing styles, genres
and artwork styles at every level

Reading Labs — Learning 4 Achievement
Secondary pupils also have access to Reading Labs which has improved
the reading and independent learning skills of secondary students. With
an easy-to-use box of self-guided and levelled readers, SRA Reading
Laboratory develops confident readers through supplemental and
personalised reading content that ensures each student is working at the
right level, with age appropriate texts and moving ahead at their own
pace. It builds comprehension, vocabulary, fluency, word analysis and
independent study skills and empowers students to monitor their own
progress and partner with the teacher to determine readiness to move
on to the next colour-coded reading. Students feel a sense of
achievement as they move through the coloured bands and apply their
reading skills to a new text.