_______________ Independence and Community Participation

The life skills taught when it comes to this Area of Development are bespoke to each pupil and the pace that they are taught varies from person to person. Some may ultimately be able to live on their own with very little, if any, outside support, while others may require support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We start to develop these life skills to the best of a child’s ability at a young age so it can be embed and rehearsed in a variety of environments to support their school life.There are endless life skills to learn which are taught and practised at school, home and in the community – as best as possible in natural environments where the skills being taught relate directly to the type of environment the person is going to live and use them. This means learning cooking skills and doing the washing-up in a kitchen, learning how to cross the road at a zebra crossing or ordering food in a real caf•.

Opportunities for using ICT are embedded in all areas of the curriculum and we have a good range of resources to support pupils in their learning. Sounds buttons, Cause and Effects toys, Bee Bot equipment can be found all round school and iPads are used to support the curriculum on a daily basis. We want to enable all pupils to access both software and hardware that is appropriate to their level and ability and is engaging as well as functional. To this end, pupils are encouraged to explore and experiment with a range of devices and build up ICT skills that they can transfer to other areas of their learning, and ultimately, their life in the outside world. We recognise that, with developments in technology, pupils of all ability will rely on technology to communicate, from communication aids to social media, and we want to develop their independence in this area as well as teach them to communicate appropriately, safely and responsibly. E-safety forms a large part of our curriculum and we want to teach our pupils to use the internet and other resources responsibly and safely. We teach regular sessions on e-safety and we provide parents with information and opportunities for discussion around this topic so that our approach is consistent in school and at home.