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Many children start their educational journey at The Chiltern School in Early Transitions. Most children will then stay in Early Transitions until the end of Year 2, where after careful assessment and observation of their learning needs and styles, they move on to the most suitable pathway for them to continue their education and reach their full potential.
All learning in Early Transitions is play based and follows the children’s interests to ensure they are engaged and ready to learn. In every classroom and outdoors, we always have exciting, sensory tuff trays for the children to explore using toys and other resources that are really appealing to them and meet their needs for sensory exploration and learning. Careful observation of the children ensures learning is personalised to them.
In Early Transitions we follow the school’s bespoke ‘Explore’ curriculum which is a developmental curriculum similar in style to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) but broken down into smaller steps. Some children then progress to the ‘Evolve’ curriculum. The Explore curriculum consists of the following strands with an emphasis on Communication, Wellbeing and Independence. Relationships, Health, Sex and Education (RHSE) is delivered through all the strands and throughout the day.
- Communication
- Physical Development
- Functional Skills
- Understanding of the world
- Creativity
- RHSE
At The Chiltern School, we integrate a therapeutic approach into all our classrooms using the expertise of our multidisciplinary therapeutic team. These include two Speech and Language Therapists (SALTs), two Sensory Integration Occupational Therapists (SI OTs) and a number of Therapeutic Learning Support Assistants. This means that there is a common language between teaching staff and therapists, this shared vision means everyone in school is working towards the same shared goals for your child.
Every child has access to a ‘Total Communication’ approach, communication rich classrooms encourage, model, accept and reward all forms of communication. This approach gives the children the best chance in being able to both understand others as well as express themselves through whatever means they find most effective. Pupils also benefit from sensory rich learning.
Developing communication skills and teaching emotional regulation strategies are key essentials in Early Transitions. We work closely with parents, always making sure we share information and strategies to work together to support their child both at school and at home.
We use a variety of approaches to support the children’s learning. During group Attention Autism sessions the children are improving their focus, attention and turn taking skills. All our sessions are highly engaging and exciting, offering the children an irresistible opportunity to learn. The Curiosity Programme is a 1:1 intervention encouraging the children to make good connections with adults, enhance interactions and build social communication opportunities throughout the day.
Intensive Interaction is another 1:1 intervention focusing on the fundamentals of communication such as enjoying being with another person, using eye contact and taking turns in conversations.
We begin to teach reading concepts in Early Transitions through Stage 1 – the 7 aspects of pre-reading. This includes activities such as listening to environmental sounds, instrumental sounds, rhyme, alliteration and distinguishing between voice sounds. We also teach activities such as Write Dance which is an exciting music and dance approach to develop the skills for writing. When the children have mastered these pre-reading and writing skills we naturally move onto Stage 2 – the teaching of phonics. At The Chiltern School we use the Read, Write, Inc phonics scheme across the whole school.
Physical Development is also a big part of our day in Early Transitions which includes regular access to Forest School sessions which all the children seem to enjoy. We use our outdoor space to take our learning outside whenever possible.
