In the classroom featured in this section, the children have CLDD and PMLD. As we have seen earlier in this module the teacher's planning for the use of other adults is central to the whole day. The pupils have very individual needs including life compromising medical conditions. Each child needs planned support from an adult in order to participate in class. For this class, whole class planning is made up of individual plans embedded within a curriculum overview.
The teacher has trained staff on the 'Routes for Learning' assessment tool to ensure that, whenever possible, children with PMLD are making progress.
To this effect she has devised a method of making instantly clear to staff, using a simple colour coding system, the progress that children are making in each of the two areas of communication or cognition. Video evidence is collected to support the judgement at each step.
Have a look at the Routes for Learning guidance and assessment booklet below.
This class are operating at levels P1-P4 only. This has a huge impact on whole class planning as it means that all teaching needs to be at an individual rather than class level.
In these clips the teacher, Jo, explains how she plans for her class. Listen again, here, to how Jo deploys staff to meet children's individual needs.
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Managing the learning environment1:11 -
Working with other professionals1:06
Look at Jo's medium term planning. Notice how assessment is linked to the p levels. Now look at the way Jo has used her medium term plan to plan individual tasks for the children in her class.
One of the pupils in the class, Matthew, has highly complex needs and has multi-sensory impairment. He cannot control his own temperature and requires constant supervision and individual intervention to enable him to access his environment in any way.
Look at Matthew's completed Routes for Learning assessment and consider what activities you would need to plan for to allow for progress to the next steps.
What impact would this have on whole class planning?