Siobhan's Priority Learning Units PLU 1: Communication, language and literacy Element: Developing communicative relationships Learning outcomes: 1.3 Engage in an activity requiring joint attention with one or more people 1.7 Engage in and enjoy a meaningful exchange with a communicative partner Snapshot of some sample teaching and learning activities that cover this element Pathway: Responding On a weekly basis Siobhan participates in Literacy Lift Off. In the language, reading, writing and comprehension stations Siobhan is engaged in small group work. This small group work provides a structure for turn taking, sharing ideas, listening to her peers and promoting a communicative relationship. Priority is given to maximising Siobhan’s use of oral language, and conversational skills are prompted and modelled in the group. Communication skills are vital for participation and achievement and include gestural, oral, written and pictorial. Throughout the curriculum, Siobhan engages in meaningful exchanges with communicative partners. Oral language activities are integrated into all areas of the curriculum. She will spontaneously initiate interaction with her peers and familiar members of staff. She will actively seek out individuals and will engage in meaningful interactions and enjoys the company of her peers and adults. Siobhan is encouraged to use her oral language in meaningful exchanges in a variety of social situations, e.g. lunchtime and playtime. Siobhan enjoys listening to stories with her peers and responds appropriately when asked questions. Siobhan enjoys working with her peers and responds well to positive feedback. Siobhan’s attentions skills are improving and she enjoys sharing and working alongside her peers. She will participate in turn taking activities and will often comment about what her peers have said. The use of pictures reinforces the learning environment and provides visual clues to access the lesson. PLU 2: Numeracy Element: Developing number sense Learning outcomes: 2.13 Participate in counting activities 2.15 Explore the relationship between sets and numbers Snapshot of some sample teaching and learning activities that cover this element Pathway: Responding Siobhan works in the school shop on a regular basis, which provides real-life and functional opportunities to develop her number sense. She is responsible for stock-taking activities including counting the drinks, chocolate, sweets and crisps etc. When Siobhan is organising the stock for the shop she counting the number of items in the set. She is able to identify the complement of a set. Siobhan is able to match equivalent items and non-equivalent sets using one-to-one correspondence. She is able to match pairs of identical objects and can match equivalent and non-equivalent sets to expand her understanding of mathematical language of ‘more than’, ‘less than’, ‘enough’, ‘as many as’ in the real-life context of the school shop. Throughout these aspects of the lessons, Siobhan is learning how to recognise, record and interpret data. The lessons are reinforced by question and answer plenary to assess Siobhan’s recall and understanding of mathematical terminology, concepts and application. Siobhan has many opportunities to use her counting skills throughout her school day. Siobhan uses a 20 square to help her recognise numbers up to 20, and Numicon is used to reinforce the teaching of number and counting activities. Working weekly in the school shop provides opportunities for Siobhan to use her mathematical skills and mathematical language in everyday life in a functional and meaningful way. Learning in this area includes coin recognition, giving change, sorting, matching, and practical problem-solving tasks, serving customers and working as part of a team with her peers. It furthermore creates an environment for a positive attitude towards numeracy as this is a highly motivating activity for Siobhan. PLU 3: Personal care and wellbeing Element: Personal care and hygiene Learning outcomes: 3.6 Co operate with adults who provide daily support 3.7 Participate in personal care routines Snapshot of some sample teaching and learning activities that cover this element Pathway: Responding Siobhan follows daily personal care routines, e.g. brushing teeth, brushing her hair. She is encouraged to be as independent as possible to complete these tasks. She is responsible for collecting all personal care products before completing her daily care routines. She demonstrates an awareness of which personal care product to use and will indicate which one is to be used. Siobhan is becoming aware of her own basic hygiene needs and she practises completing these routines on a daily basis. As part of the school’s intimate care policy, two members of staff support all personal care routines. She cooperates and attends to regular routines for using the toilet. Siobhan will c-ooperate and participate in dressing and undressing routines and will require some verbal prompting to complete these tasks. Siobhan will follow hand washing routines before meal preparation and cooking. Siobhan takes pride in her appearance and is pleased when complimentary comments are made about her hairstyle and clothing. Siobhan has a strong sense of being part of her class group and the school community and will co-operate with adults who offer her support. She responds to social cues for class and school routines and is able to carry out tasks in class and school with appropriate support. She is encouraged to express her likes and dislikes and to make choices throughout the school day. PLU 4: Being part of a community Element: Using local facilities Learning outcomes: 4.11 Visit and participate appropriately in using facilities in their environment 4.13 Make choices when using local facilities e.g. local cafes Snapshot of some sample teaching and learning activities that cover this element Pathway: Responding The focus of the SPHE curriculum is to develop and maintain positive relationships with the world and people around them within the wider social context of the local community. Siobhan has regular access to local cafes, restaurants, shops and local sports facilities. Siobhan was part of a group who regularly participated in tennis lessons at the local tennis club. All these community-based activities consolidate Siobhan’s learning and support her ability to generalise her learning in a variety of different settings. Siobhan is able to use her communication skills, her social interaction skills, her mathematical skills and her problem-solving skills. She is able to make choices when she is using the local cafes and restaurants in deciding what she wants. She understands the social rules of waiting and is very friendly and interested in the world around her. It is a priority for Siobhan to access and use local amenities and facilities to support lifelong learning and a pathway for adult life. As she progresses through the senior cycle, her access to the community will increase. It is a focus of the senior curriculum within the school to show progression that is embedded in the priority attached to accessing, participating and contributing to the local community in practical, meaningful and motivating ways. All these dimensions contribute to Siobhan becoming an active and responsible citizen who can make a valuable contribution to her school and wider community, and participate fully in community life. PLU 5: The arts Element: Visual art Learning outcomes: 5.7 Work independently and/or collaboratively to produce a piece of art—Create a poster for the parents’ Christmas coffee morning Snapshot of some sample teaching and learning activities that cover this element Pathway: Responding Siobhan participated in creating a poster for the parents’ Christmas coffee morning. With support to use the interactive whiteboard, topical images were located on the internet relating to holding a coffee morning, e.g. cakes, cups of tea and coffee etc. As part of a group, a set of collages were collaboratively made and displayed throughout the school to advertise the coffee morning. Great care was taken in creating the posters and they were displayed with great pride. This topic provided the opportunity for Siobhan to explore the visual and sensory world by using a wide variety of stimulating visual and tactile materials. It enabled Siobhan to organise and express her ideas and feelings in a visual and tangible form. The visual arts curriculum provides for creative experiences exploring, investigating, experimenting, designing and using a range of media to support Siobhan in understanding and interpreting the visual world and to develop an appreciation of it. PLU 6: Physical education Element: Creative movement (dance) Learning outcomes: 6.17 Move whole or parts of body creatively in response to stimuli 6.18 Develop awareness of pathways and direction of movement Snapshot of some sample teaching and learning activities that cover this element Pathway: Initiating Physical education develops the body’s strength and physical wellbeing and offers opportunities for physical development of body awareness, spatial awareness and safety. Physical education can improve fine and gross motor skills, self esteem, self confidence, listening skills, games skills, creativity and the ability to co-operate and communicate with others. On a weekly basis, Siobhan participates in Zumba classes and is fully involved in the dance routines. Siobhan responds to the music and rhythmical sound of the music and simple movements are performed to the rhythmic timbre of the music. Through dance, Siobhan explores a range of exercises to experience how parts of her body move, spatial awareness and body actions. Dance also supports her balance, co-ordination and enjoyment at a sensory level. She responds to the actions of her peers and peer-to-peer modelling is an intrinsic way that Siobhan has learnt the several dance routines. She shows an interest in attempting to follow demonstrated actions, involving different parts of the body, e.g. clapping hands, swinging arms, moving from side to side and from left to right. She initiates a variety of travel actions, walking, standing, stay in line, follows the instructor’s actions and attempts to change travel directions where appropriate. She shows reaction to alternating movement between levels: standing up, sit, down, reaching arms straight overhead. Dance is a fundamental form of exercise and is exciting, relaxing and offers fun and enjoyment and is a medium to express ideas, thoughts and feelings. Enjoyment of working together and responding to the beat of the music is an important aim of the dance curriculum. Siobhan demonstrates enjoyment of working together with her peers in a shared activity. These lessons provide opportunities for engagement and participation for Siobhan and she thoroughly enjoys and is highly motivated by this aspect of the PE. curriculum.
