We believe that the development of children's language is crucial to their success across the curriculum. It is our aim to develop in our children the ability to express themselves clearly and concisely, and to concentrate their attention upon listening to others, so that they are able to absorb information from the spoken word and act appropriately on instructions given.
Role play and drama make a significant contribution to all areas of the curriculum, as well as being of great value in themselves.
Children engage in some form of role play activity each week, either in the classroom or during a hall session. Role-play areas in class give them the opportunity to become fully absorbed in their group improvisations and to develop their skills without the presence of an audience. This is particularly helpful to provide a context and experience for the children to write about either in English lessons or History or Geography. Experience of performing to an audience is provided through our whole school or class group plays and musicals as well as our class assemblies (where parents are invited to join us).
Children engage in some form of role play activity each week, either in the classroom or during a hall session. Role-play areas in class give them the opportunity to become fully absorbed in their group improvisations and to develop their skills without the presence of an audience. This is particularly helpful to provide a context and experience for the children to write about either in English lessons or History or Geography. Experience of performing to an audience is provided through our whole school or class group plays and musicals as well as our class assemblies (where parents are invited to join us).
We support the development of Speech and Language for our children through a few additional methods; including use of a trained Elklan Learning Support Assistant, a trained ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) in each year group, and as need arises, through the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), for whom we were one of the national pilot group of schools.