Fern class is an enhanced provision and alternative provision for children at a mainstream primary school in Kingston. It has a total of 4 pupils accessing a bespoke EYFS curriculum. The team offers that personalised prospectus for each individual child and their needs which is assess via SCERTS as well as child based play and learning through the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage). The children who attend are registered at a maintained school in Kingston and their place is allocated by a specialist panel to support with their learning and used to further upskill and develop staff at their primary school. The placement will usually last 1 term per child.

The day runs from 8:50am-3:00pm  and children have a hot lunch cooked in the school kitchen. Or can bring a packed lunch 

 

 

SCERTS

SCERTS programme is broken down into 3 areas which focus on “SC” – social communication, “ER” – emotional regulation and “TS”- transactional support.

Social Communication enables us to focus on how children are communicating and set targets for small steps of progress, concentrating on encouraging children to interact with others and use different methods of communication.

Emotional Regulation focuses on using adult support to enable children to maintain sensory regulation throughout the day and reduce anxiety.

Transactional Support  focuses on what practitioners do to support the individual child’s needs and interests through changing communication styles, adapting the environment and providing the tools to enhance learning. TS covers anything used to help others understand and respond to the child’s needs better

This distinctive model provides a framework that focuses on relationships with adults and adaptations to the learning environment to support those children within the Autistic Spectrum . The SCERTS model is a toolkit to help aid children with communicational, social and emotional difficulties and further develop these skills.

 

Communication and language

Fern class is a total communication environment. We are focusing on the development of communication throughout the whole day whether this be an adult led group session or simply through the basis of play. Communication and language is the very foundation of what we strive for within Emerald class, as it enables children to communicate their needs. Communication and language is supported through the use of our Attention Autism sessions which consist of stage 1 ,2, and 3 as well as our listening and attention group and our literacy sessions. The children again have access to devices to help aid with their communication and to encourage language where possible, the various tool they use are sound buttons and Aided Language Display (ALD) boards.

Literacy

Our literacy sessions are theme based throughout the terms.  We look closely at stories that are related to our theme for the term.   Our literacy sessions are sensory based, also known as sensory stories. These consist of the children using all of their senses when taking part in the literacy session such as sight, taste, smell, sound and touch. One adult leads with various objects and props relating back to the story which involves each child. The Early Years Practitioners (EYPs) support the children and model the types of behaviours associated to help enhance their communication skills as well as their listening and attention. After the children have had their input session they all then take part in individualised reading tasks and then do writing tasks which consist of mark make in sensory products.

 

Mathematics

Our maths sessions vary between listening and engaging in nursery rhyme songs that include number rhymes as well as the introduction of numbers and shapes taught in a captivating way. Our maths sessions involve a carpet input which consists of an introduction with a song, the use of our whole body through movement and then activities set around the classroom that involve what was presented during the carpet input session.

 

Reading and writing

The children within Fern class will be exposed to various signs and symbols which is the foundation of reading, also highlighted within the SCERTS model.  As part of our total communication environment,  children are encouraged to explore  symbols, sound buttons, ALD boards and generic labelling around the classroom. The children take part in individualised reading and  writing tasks.  They have rich opportunities to explore mark making in sensory products. We have various interventions in place to encourage these reading and writing activities  such as TEACCH tasks.

 

Physical development

The pupils within Emerald class have access to a tailored occupational therapy programme, which consists of a sensory circuit. This helps build the children’s core muscles as well as emotionally regulating them getting them ready for a busy day full of learning. The children have access to the little garden attached to Fern Class, which varies from various activities to help enrich the children’s gross and fine motor skills. The children also access the big playground in the mainstream part of the nursery school which is part of their inclusion. The children have a vast amount of space to use their gross motor skills as well as taking risks and exploring challenging boundaries. The children have been offered a tailored PE plan which helps them to engage in a fun and active way. The parachute game has offered lots of augmentation within their engagement skills as well as listening and attention.

 

 

PSED

Personal, social and emotional development interlinks with our SCERTS model for learning. Here the children are forming positive relationships and learning about boundaries. The children are also learning about themselves through new preferences and dislikes in certain activities and or food. Experiencing and exploring new foods that have nutritional benefits. Learning about personal hygiene and becoming independent in some areas of personal care. We do cooking weekly  and we focus of one key recipe for half a term. This helps with familiarity of the ingredients used, the utensils, and the process of making it. During our half termly sessions the of cooking the children are exposed to different smells, textures, consistency, temperatures and tastes. This all aids towards the children’s sensory integration journey through their ability to process and respond to sensory information as well as building upon their independent cooking skills.  Lastly, the children will be exploring emotions and what they can do to help self-regulate as well as allowing an adult to help regulate them when feeling a certain way, such as upset or angry.

 

 

Expressive art and design

Our children enjoy exploring through art and design as they seek sensory experiences and learn to express themselves. We have tailored EAD to be impactful as possible through the use of communication with ALDs (Aided language displays). We also offer the children various construction materials such as Duplo, wooden blocks and musical instruments to enhance their play skills through construction with aid of the adults around the classroom modelling play, sharing skills and conversations.

 

 

Understanding the world

The children have been learning about the world around them, whether that is do with seasonal change or understanding about different religions and cultural celebrations. They are exposed to this through the use of our displays, exploration trays and our group time sessions which are introduced in a highly motivating way, such as attention autism sessions or through a cross curriculum.

In Fern class we make visits out into the local community to the park from spring term. This is to enhance on cultural capital and to overcome certain challenges that children face. It also allows them to learn new skills such as developing on children’s transitional skills, boosting their self confidence and building upon resilience as well as enhancing their mental health, and overall wellbeing physically and mentally.