Curriculum
Developing the Reading Curriculum for Learners with Complex Needs- Sight Words, Phonics, or Something Else?
Stop choosing between sight words and phonics, and build a reading curriculum for pupils with complex needs that makes room for both.
- 54 minutes
- Recorded webinar
- 1 CPD hour
- Certificate
Members
14 days free, then £70 a year or £7 a month.
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What you'll learn
- Combine whole-word and phonics approaches rather than picking one
- Use the reading rope to explain what your reading curriculum does and why
- Pinpoint where phonics breaks down, from rhyme and syllables to blending
- Plan sensory stories and immersive experiences as part of learning to read
- Find accessible and digital books that let every pupil take part
About this course
By the time he was 20, a young man with complex needs could recognise more than 300 picture books, and reading gave him a great deal of joy. It's a good reason to get the reading curriculum right, even when it's hard to know where to start.
Many special schools teach whole words well and are now being asked about phonics too. The answer here is that it isn't either/or. Whole words give pupils a quick visual route in and sounds give them one that keeps going, and the reading rope shows where each belongs. When "phonics isn't working", you'll learn to find the part that isn't, whether that's rhyme, syllables or blending.
You'll also see how sensory stories, story massage, digital libraries and accessible formats all count as reading, as long as you know what each one is for.
- For early career teachers, middle leaders and 4 other roles. Early years, primary, secondary and special.
Recording
Open in order
- 44 min
Webinar Playback
- 11 min
Q&A