FEATURE FOCUS: ALTERNATIVE PROVISION


resilience and improves children’s sense of wellbeing, both areas of key concern in schools right now.


It also gives staff insight into children’s language development and how children think adults speak and act. Hearing the type of language and the tone of voice they think is appropriate for family members and for key workers such as doctors and police can be revealing. It can also highlight safeguarding issues. Role play can be a safety valve for children who are in a crisis cycle as playfulness engages them and can help them to regulate. The mixed age groups work well and offer new opportunities for children. Some children have younger emotional and social abilities than other children of their age. Here they can take on that play leader type of role just as an older child might do in a family. ‘They can be a role model, and in that respect it’s very positive,’ said Kelly. ‘Then there are some children who need to play and our approach takes away that barrier that says, ‘I am a 9 year old so I can’t possibly play in the home corner.’’


The central importance of play


‘A lot of our children will have missed out on that play based learning in early years,’ says Kelly. Play is key for all children to explore their emotions and learn different ways to regulate. Children who have had massive gaps in their education need help with social interactions, managing feelings, problem solving and developing their imagination. Teachers are just one role model. Pupils learn so much through play and from being with other children. They build their social skills by making eye contact, joining in, turn taking, being friendly and being part of a group. Play sparks creativity, as they find solutions to problems, and ways of achieving consensus. It can enhance and develop communication skills as children hear and mimic different language registers. Play also builds


This term they talked about aeroplanes in a module on travel and journeys in geography. This was extended so the children could play at being on an aeroplane and flying to another country. They made tickets, checked in and tried out different roles from passengers to cabin crew and of course, flying the plane.


Shopping role play lends itself to maths in everyday life so pupils deepen their knowledge of numbers while improving social skills. British Values came to life when the pupils had a visit from community policing and had a discussion about what they stand for and what they do. ‘All children need to play but we now have a generation that’s moving away from play in person, to play that is online based. That has its place,’ said Kelly, ‘but playing in a space with other children is important.’


Secret missions


As well as developing friendships with other children, Woodlands focuses on positive relationships with adults. On Monday mornings, children come in knowing they will spend some quality time with their keyworker. This is a settling in time for getting focused on the week ahead. Together they decide on a secret mission, which they find quite exciting. For each child it is different. It could be something from the EHCP plan. One child is practising using a capital letter at the beginning of his name. Another child is looking at safety and medicines because of an incident at home, so they are looking at what children can and cannot touch safely. There is a follow up session on a Friday where the keyworker finds out how they have got on. This session also doubles as a wellbeing check as they are going into the weekend which can be a stressful time for some families.


Immersion in phonics


Pinderfields sees reading as the bedrock of success in future life so they currently have a focus on phonics in the current development plan. All primary sites come together for training and share expertise.


Woodlands and Thornes sites are using Ruth Miskin’s Read Write Inc and Fresh Start so staff are carrying around the little Freddy frog everywhere to support any learning opportunity.


January 2023


He only reads in Fred Talk so the children learn to blend and read words using their component parts.


One child arrived in September with no phonological awareness. ‘They did not fully realise that when an adult is talking that they may be trying to pass on information,’ said Kelly. ‘Now we’re just doing a reassessment and they have almost completed all set 1 sounds. That’s 31 sounds, and that is phenomenal progress.’ The phonics work also supports the speech and language work at Pinderfields. Helen Mumby has the statutory SALT provision but has also bought in additional speech and language specialist support for all the sites.


‘We have some children with speech and language needs who require more one to one work,’ said Helen. ‘We can focus on looking at how the mouth moves and get children to practise talking while looking at their mouth in a mirror. Our SALT has provided training for staff on this and is also training us in LEGO therapy.


A personalised approach


Pupils at Pinderfields have often been in and out of school due to their medical conditions. This has had an impact on their self-confidence and resilience.


Staff use the progression curriculum that underpins learning across all the primary sites. The staff aim to fill gaps and make progress by using an adapted approach to planning and teaching that can be individualised for each child. Their curriculum is unique in the way they approach learning and there is a heavy emphasis on nurture and on learning to regulate within lessons. They have afternoons dedicated to learning skills that will benefit pupils’ mental health for their entire life, such as Wellbeing Wednesday and Nurture Friday. This is a place where children thrive.


uhttps://www.pinderfieldshospitalpru.co.uk/ www.education-today.co.uk 29


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