Literacy Programme
CandLE staff have many years of researching and trialling various approaches to teaching literacy to students who have complex needs and/or are reliant on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
CandLE have devised a literacy programme to support students at every level, from those who have no known literacy skills up to students who are completely literate and require support in mainstream curriculum. We are also able to help special schools implement literacy programmes that all their students can access.
‘Literacy Resources for All’ is a series of literacy programmes developed by CandLE which we deliver to students alongside other tried and tested programmes which our staff have been trained in. Our teachers have had training in the four blocks model and synthetic phonics.
Our literacy programme takes account of the need to support working memory, movement difficulty and thinking skills. Our lead teacher and assessor Marion also has experience of successfully teaching literacy through whole word alongside phonics. One of her most prominent students, Jonathan Bryan, has achieved considerable fame having been labelled as PMLD prior to Marion supporting his mother to set up a home education, literacy system for him. At the age of 14, he is now fully literate. You can find out more about Jonathan and his campaign to see literacy taught to all students regardless of their label here: teachustoo.org.uk
Our literacy programme consists of 6 levels:
1. Early Emergent which supports students who have no known literacy skills.
2. Emergent which supports students who know some letters some of the time.
3. Transitioning which supports students who know most of the letters most of the time.
4. Early conventional supports students that recognise initial letters, can read some common words, their name and a few CVC words (consonant vowel consonant e.g. cat)
5. Developing conventional which support students that are ready for synthetic phonics and can recognise most CVC and common words.
6. Conventional which supports students ready for mainstream curriculum.
The literacy programme uses a range of our own resources including low-tech letter boards, communication systems and high-tech programs which are accessible on electronic devices. These resources allow us to assess the level that the student is currently at, and the learning potential they have. We then tailor an individualised programme based on student need.
Literacy Resources for All
Low-Tech Resources
Our low-tech programme is for students who are very early in their literacy journey and allows them to manipulate and play with letters, sounds and words.
Phonics for All
Phonics for all exposes the student to all approaches to phonics including analytic phonics, analogic phonics, embedded phonics, synthetic phonics and whole word. Go to this link to find out more about these approaches.
Leap to Literacy
Lead to literacy is a comprehensive literacy programme incorporating single word reading, vocabulary understanding, silent reading with comprehension, sentence structure, spelling, rime, communication and writing.
Bridge to English
Bridge to English is a programme that is currently being developed within Grid 3 which is going to be a 54 session programme which aims to bridge the gap between basic literacy learning and accessing the English curriculum. This will provide the student with the knowledge and skills to be able to write and analyse text. This can lead to GCSE and equivalent qualifications.
Reading for Pleasure
Phonics for all exposes the student to all approaches to phonics including analytic phonics, analogic phonics, embedded phonics, synthetic phonics and whole word. Go to this link to find out more about these approaches.
