Intervention Groups

Intervention Groups

At Buckstone Primary school, we want to make sure that all our children do as well as they can and achieve their full potential. The main way we achieve this is through providing quality first teaching day to day in the classroom, which caters for the varying needs of the children in the class.


Sometimes, an intervention may be necessary to further support a child’s development within a particular area of the curriculum or to help them develop their social skills or self confidence and self esteem. As a school, we utilise a range of specific interventions for the core subjects of Literacy and Mathematics and also for communication and pastoral care. These interventions may be one to one or in small groups.


Children are identified for intervention using a range of methods that include data tracking, (attainment and progress), teacher assessment, classroom observation and informal observations of the children in the classroom and in the playground.


It is important to note that children identified for intervention are not always lower attaining children. Children are identified across a range of groups and are selected when teaching staff and senior leaders believe they have the capacity for further or accelerated progress at a given point.


If your child is identified to work in one of our specific intervention programmes, you will be made aware of this by the class teacher and will be given an update on the impact of the intervention during parents evening. We may also invite your child to work as a supportive peer or role model in an intervention group, you would also be informed of this.

Social and Emotional Needs

Social and Emotional Needs

The social and emotional well-being of all pupils underpins everything we do at Buckstone Primary School.

We aim to equip our pupils with the skills to lead successful and fulfilling lives by giving them self-confidence and the resilience to overcome difficulties. This is done through strategies such as our PSHE curriculum and after school clubs.

Many people at some time in their life experience difficulties with social, emotional and mental health. These may be caused by a specific event such as illness or changes within the family, or may be a result of a longer term condition. Children in school may express their feelings in a number of ways for example:

  • Becoming withdrawn
  • Getting angry.
  • Changes in behaviour
  • Friendship difficulties.

Many problems can be overcome with the support of the class teachers and other staff throughout the school.

All staff including teachers, support staff are vigilant in recognising children’s’ needs and responding to them . Most issues can be resolved when the child speaks to a trusted adult, and it is vital that parents talk to school if there is a problem. Parents should also  encourage their child to speak to someone in school as soon as a problem arises. There are strategies in place throughout the school where children can post a note to a teacher if they need help, such us bubbles or worry boxes.

If more support is needed children can access this through the Support for Learning Team who meet regularly to plan the best way to help individual children. The team may offer:

  • Further advice to you and the adults working with your child.
  • A personalised behaviour plan.
  • Support from a learning mentor.
  • Participation in a specific group eg. Social skills group.
  • Access to the nurture room.
  • Support for the family.

GIRFEC

GIRFEC

Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) supports families by making sure children and young people can receive the right help, at the right time, from the right people. The aim is to help them to grow up feeling loved, safe and respected so that they can realise their full potential.

Most children and young people get all the help and support they need from their parent(s), wider family and community but sometimes, perhaps unexpectedly, they may need a bit of extra help.

GIRFEC is a way for families to work in partnership with people who can support them, such as teachers, doctors and nurses. 

Scot Gov (2020)

Literacy

Supporting your Child with Writing at Home

Early writing activities

  1. Encourage children to look for print in their environment –road signs, food packets, shops, catalogues etc.
  2. Try activities to develop fine motor skills e.g. cutting, using playdough, using tweezers, using clothes pegs, tracing.
  3. Use a chalkboard to write family messages on.
  4. Make labels for things around the house.
  5. Write a shopping list – real or imaginary! Or any other sort of list.
  6. Letter formation – practise forming letters using paint, in sand, using playdough or pastry.
  7. Let your child write their own Christmas cards or birthday cards to people.
  8. Use magnetic letters – your child can leave a message on the fridge.
  9. Encourage and praise early squiggles and marks which show your child is beginning to understand writing.

Improving Writers

  1. Write party invitations.
  2. Encourage children to write thank you letters after birthdays and Christmas.
  3. Write postcards when on holiday.
  4. Write menu for a family meal or party.
  5. Email a family member or friend.
  6. Make a scrap book with labels and captions – maybe after a holiday or special event.
  7. Write short stories involving the adventures of their favourite toys.
  8. Write an information leaflet about something they find interesting eg. dinosaurs, sports etc.
  9. Write a letter to a favourite author.
  10. Invent and write rules for the house, bedroom etc. and put on a poster
  11. Draw, label and explain their own inventions. Make up silly sentences and tongue twisters.

More confident writers

  1. Write a secret diary.
  2. Make up song lyrics.
  3. Plan their own party.
  4. Write a story for a younger family member, in the style of their favourite book.
  5. Write a holiday journal.
  6. Write instructions for an X-box game, Minecraft or similar.
  7. Write a recipe.
  8. Write instructions for a more mature member of the family (eg . grandparent) for a piece of modern technology they can’t get to grips with!
  9. Produce their own comic (www.comicmaster.org.uk)
  10. Channel their passions – RSPCA, WWF, ActionAid etc. all have ideas for getting children involved in raising awareness of campaigns.
  11. Write to the local newspaper about a local issue they feel strongly about or even to the local MP.
  12. Talk to different generations of family about their life and compile a family history.
  13. Make up jokes.
  14. Look out for writing competitions eg. Radio 2’s annual 500 Word Competition. (A prize is always an incentive to write!)

It’s also an incentive to write if there is a range of exciting writing materials available – pencils, crayons, felt tips, sparkly pens , writing icings, writing soaps for bathtime, coloured papers, different shape and sizes of paper etc. Most of these things are available quite cheaply these days in places like Poundland.

Try to remember to focus on and praise the content of any writing your child shares with you, rather than dwelling on any mistakes they may have made. Hopefully the variety of activities listed here have provided you with plenty of ideas to help and encourage your child to have a go at doing some writing at home.

Dyslexia

What is Dyslexia?

The formal definition of dyslexia is:

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

But what does that mean exactly?

Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia refers to a cluster of symptoms, which result in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills, such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words. Dyslexia affects individuals throughout their lives; however, its impact can change at different stages in a person’s life. It is referred to as a learning disability because dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed academically in the typical instructional environment, and in its more severe forms, will qualify a student for special education, special accommodations, and/ or extra support services.

What causes dyslexia?

The exact causes of dyslexia are still not completely clear, but anatomical and brain imagery studies show differences in the way the brain of a person with dyslexia develops and functions. Moreover, most people with dyslexia have been found to have problems with identifying the separate speech sounds within a word and/or learning how letters represent those sounds, a key factor in their reading difficulties. Dyslexia is not due to either lack of intelligence or desire to learn; with appropriate teaching methods, students with dyslexia can learn successfully. Dyslexia occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels. People with dyslexia can be very bright. They are often capable or even gifted in areas such as art, computer science, design, drama, electronics, math, mechanics, music, physics, sales, and sports. In addition, dyslexia runs in families; having a parent or sibling with dyslexia increases the probability that you will also have dyslexia. For some people, their dyslexia is identified early in their lives, but for others, their dyslexia goes unidentified until they get older.

What are the effects of dyslexia?

The impact that dyslexia has is different for each person and depends on the severity of the condition and the timeliness and effectiveness of instruction or remediation. The core difficulty involves word recognition and reading fluency, spelling, and writing. Some individuals with dyslexia manage to learn early reading and spelling tasks, especially with excellent instruction, but later experience their most debilitating problems when more complex language skills are required, such as grammar, understanding textbook material, and writing essays. People with dyslexia can also have problems with spoken language, even after they have been exposed to excellent language models in their homes and high quality language instruction in school. They may find it difficult to express themselves clearly, or to fully comprehend what others mean when they speak. Such language problems are often difficult to recognise, but they can lead to major problems in school, in the workplace, and in relating to other people. The effects of dyslexia reach well beyond the classroom.

What misconceptions exist regarding dyslexia?

It is equally important to understand what dyslexia isn’t. There are great misconceptions and myths about dyslexia which make it that much more difficult for someone with dyslexia to receive help and generally be understood. It is a myth that individuals with dyslexia “read backwards.” Their spelling can look quite jumbled at times not because they read or see words backwards, but because students have trouble remembering letter symbols for sounds and letter patterns in words. Dyslexia is not a disease and, therefore, there is no cure. With proper diagnosis, appropriate and timely instruction, hard work, and support from family, teachers, friends, and others, individuals who have dyslexia can succeed in school and later as adults. Individuals with dyslexia do not have a lower level of intelligence. In fact, more often than not, the complete opposite is true.