Speaking and Listening
Research shows that by the age of three, there is a 30-million-word gap between children from different socio-economic backgrounds. So, at Silver Springs, we prioritise Speaking and Listening from the very start, putting it at the very heart of our lessons in every subject plan.
We know than an effective focus on this not only supports children’s learning but also enables them to develop a wide range of essential skills. Examples include: working as a group; listening and responding to others; story telling; debating; discussing; negotiating and developing a more extensive vocabulary.
Speaking and Listening opportunities are highlighted in our planning to ensure we are prioritising this important skill on a daily basis. Fun activities, for example Hot Seating, enable children to learn through play and activities are differentiated to support individual needs. Children are immersed in language through activities such as role play and drama and through going on exciting trips.
To tackle the low entry points of our children, we employ qualified speech therapists to support those children identified with speech and language needs. We also adopt research based interventions, delivered by trained staff to further accelerate children’s progress in the Early Years e.g. the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) and WELLCOMM.
Talk Partners
In lessons across the curriculum, teachers make use of Talk Partners to provide opportunities for speaking and listening. Teachers put children into pairs and allocate time for each to talk to the other at specific points in a teaching sequence, this enables children to share experiences, generate ideas and reflect on their learning. They establish routines for talk partner work so that children gain confidence and develop extended turn-taking. Further to this, throughout school, children are encouraged to provide full sentence answers to their teachers’ questions. In Key Stage Two we have established ABC Answers, to further develop children’s thinking and use of vocabulary by requiring children to agree with, build on or challenge another child’s answer.
Vocabulary Ninja – Word of the Day
Throughout school, we have adopted Vocabulary Ninja’s Word of the day to proactively improve the children’s knowledge, use and understanding of a broad and rich vocabulary. Here is an example:
