A huge welcome to the Shooting Stars class.

At Underwood West Academy we are passionate about promoting inclusion for children with Special Educational Needs. In the Shooting Stars class our aim is to create a calm, happy and structured environment in which children feel secure and can develop their skills. As well as developing their academic competence, a major focus is teaching social communication, emotional regulation, self care and independence skills.

Shooting Stars Staff

Teacher - Miss Capewell

Teaching Assistnt - Miss Dawson

Teachigng Assistant - Miss Robins

The room

The room is divided into four clear areas. We have two teaching spaces with tables and interactive boards. We have a sensory area with sand, water and malleable materials this is complimented with a calming area and dark tent. We also take elements of the EYFS and provide a role play, construction, small world, mark making and our very own outside play area that is under cover. The environment constantly adapting to meet the needs of the children and promote their individual development.

Our routine

We use a visual timetable to structure the whole day. This consists of welcome time, Monster phonics, snack, outside play, sensory story, talk for writing, maths, dough disco, sensory circuits and physical education sessions. This day is complimented with ‘sensory breaks’ throughout. The curriculum is bespoke to meet the variety of need in the class.

Teaching staff also deliver Speech and Language targets under the guidance of the SALT and physio programmes as specified in individual children’s EHCPs.

Supporting communication

Our environment is supported by the widgit system which uses pictures and words to aid communication.  We use a core word approach to focus on specific functional first words that the children need to communicate. We do this through our stories and our talk for writing and through activities provided throughout the day.

Assessment

Academic, social and behavioural targets are set for each child who has a Special Educational Needs Plan (SEN) or who has an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) and these targets are reviewed regularly and shared with the child, class teacher and parents. The children’s progress is tracked using the Cherry garden on Tapestry.