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ASH GROUP

CEDAR GROUP

PINE GROUP

AUTUMN TERM December 2012

THE WALNUTS SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

PINE GROUP 1 CEDAR GROUP 1

ASH GROUP 1

HOLLY GROUP 2 CHESTNUT GROUP 2

ROWAN GROUP 2

OAK GROUP 3

WILLOW GROUP 3

MAPLE GROUP 3

REDWOOD GROUP 3

BIRCH GROUP 4

CYPRESS GROUP 4

SENIOR 4 4

SENIOR 5 5

SENIOR 6 5

SENIOR 7 5

SENIOR 8 5

SIXTH FORM 1 6 SIXTH FORM 2 6

SIXTH FORM 3 6 MUSIC/RESIDENTIAL 7

OTHER INFO 7+

LAUREL GROUP 2

POINTS OF INTEREST

OTHER INFO (pg 8)

SCHOOL TERM DATES

FRIENDS OF WALNUTS

ASSESSMENT & TAR-GET SETTING (pg 9/10)

Hello from everyone in Pine Group. This term our major focus has been on helping our new reception children settle into the routine of a whole school day. The children have been amazing and are already making excellent progress. At Foundation Level the children’s learning is play based and lots of fun has been enjoyed whilst they

have explored their new learning environment and the different range of play opportunities available to them both indoors and out of doors. Messy play is a firm favourite but the children also access learning off site. We use the minibus to visit places of interest related to our topic. For example, we visited Salcey Forest to experience the colour of autumn – we had lots of fun going up and down the tree top walk, as well eating snack out of doors. The children also swim once a week, a much loved activity. It has been a joy to see the children grow in confidence in such a short period of time. We would like to wish all our families a very Happy Christmas. Kim, Lesley-Ann and the Pine team.

Ash group has had a wonderful term exploring the seasons autumn and winter. We have had lots of fun with a variety of tactile play experiences linked to the topic including leaves, ice, gloop and mud. The children have also created lots

of art work for each topic – we were particularly im-pressed with the beautiful snowmen they painted for our winter display! Happy Christmas to all from Ash group!

During this term Cedar group have had lots of fun and have been working hard, we have been celebrating im-portant festivals. We enjoyed celebrating Fireworks night, Eid and Diwali; we made beautiful fireworks pic-tures by splatting paint on black paper. We poured col-oured sand to make rangoli patterns and moulded clay to make diva lamps. Towards the end of the term we have been celebrating Christ-mas and embracing the winter weather. We enjoyed mak-ing Christmas cards for our families, adding sparkly se-quins as baubles. We talked about how we could deliver our cards to our friends. The children added addresses and stamps to the envelopes and then took a cold winter walk to post their Christmas cards in the post box.

We hope they arrived safely! Merry Christmas from everyone in Cedar Group.

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HOLLY GROUP

LAUREL GROUP For the first half of this term our theme was Autumn. The children had lots of fun exploring signs of Autumn both outside, and in the classroom. At one point we had a messy room full of leaves, conkers and sticks which the children enjoyed sorting and labeling. Our numeracy work has included measuring, and the children partic-ularly enjoyed filling and emptying containers using rice. Our literacy work was based on The Giant Sandwich story, and the children thoroughly enjoyed making, and eating, their own giant sandwiches! This half term our theme is Light & Dark. We had a lovely time cele-brating the Hindu festival of light, Diwali, and the Muslim festival Eid. The chil-

dren experienced the different festivals through food, music and art, and even tried on some Asian clothes. Our Science work has had the children in the dark of the sensory room exploring different sources of light, and light effects. We have now turned our attention to Christmas, and the children love to listen and move to the Christmas songs that Lynne is teaching us. Have a very Happy Christmas! From us all in Laurel Group.

CHESTNUT GROUP

This term’s topic has been “Colour, Light & Sound”. In Science the children focused on light and sound. They learnt about different sources of light, experienced different types of sound and learnt how we hear things. In PE the children focused on responding to sound through learning a dance which they then went on to perform at the Infant’s Department’s

Harvest Festival! In other subjects we have been focusing more on the theme of colour.

In Literacy the children thoroughly enjoyed listening to stories about Elmer the colourful patchwork elephant. The children have also enjoyed using Elmer in other subjects too! In Art they made some amazing Elmer collages, in DT some moving Elmer pictures, and in Numeracy they even built some Elmer models out of Multi-link cubes! Here is an example (left picture). One of our highlights this term has been learning about various religions through celebrating different religious festivals (Harvest Festival, Eid, Diwali and Hanukkah). The children especially enjoyed dressing up for Diwali!

We wish you all a relaxing holiday and a very happy Christmas!

ROWAN GROUP Rowan Group before half term enjoyed visiting lots of local parks to decide which park equipment they wanted to include in their own park designs. They then designed and made their perfect park. (Photos included of park visits.) We have also had great fun designing and making hand puppets this half term. The children really enjoyed sewing the puppets together and then making puppet shows for one another. (Photos included of finished puppets.) The children have really enjoyed cooking this term. They have had a go at cooking spa-

ghetti bolognaise, cooked breakfasts, omelettes and especially enjoyed making samosas and onion bhajis dur-ing Diwali week. Rowan group are also looking forward to all the Christmas activities taking place during the last two weeks of term. These will include a party and a trip to see the Christmas lights at the City Centre.

Chestnut group have been focusing on the topics ‘Our School’ and ‘Senses’ this term. We have transi-tioned around the school using all the different rooms including the Music Room, Food Tech Room, Sen-sory Room and ICT suite. We have also taken photos of the pupils in these rooms and looked at them on the IWB. In Senses we have been exploring different materials, smells and foods using our senses. Choc-olate was definitely a favourite item to touch, smell and taste! This term we have focused on sensory experiences and Messy Play has definitely been a favourite! The pupils have also enjoyed daily ‘shared attention’ sessions which has improved their sitting and listening skills no end. We have also worked on taking turns for different things. The class has enjoyed various trips to different Parks and Playgrounds as part of our D.T topic. Exploring the

different equipment and taking lots of photographs to look at in school. We have also enjoyed practising our eating in the community skills by going to Morrison's to have snack. Food technology has been an overall favourite of the class this term, spending time following instructions and taking turns to make different items including cakes and cheese scones. The pupils have begun to understand that some food needs to be cooked and that they need to wait for it. After the cakes had cooked and cooled we had lots of fun choosing our own colours to make the icing for our cakes! All the Chestnut Group team would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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MAPLE GROUP

REDWOOD GROUP

WILLOW GROUP

OAK GROUP What a busy and exciting term in Oak Group! We began the year with our Design and Technology topic about playgrounds. Everyone en-joyed visiting different parks in the local area and testing out all of the equipment. Once the children had decided on their favourite piec-es of equipment they even designed their own park! Our Geography topic was ‘Our school and Local Area’. It was fun walking around the school and taking photographs of all of the different rooms and classrooms. Doing this really helped our class members who have joined us this year from the infants’ site. The class has especially enjoyed cooking delicious treats such as cheese twists, cakes and biscuits in our Food Technology lessons; we certainly have some budding chefs among us! In R.E. Oak Class have been listening to religious stories and have been learning about different celebrations such as Eid and Diwali. Our clay diva lamps have turned out very well. Everyone has really enjoyed music this term, playing their instruments well and using fantastic singing voices. For Halloween, Oak Class had a real treat when students from Hazeley Academy organized a party for us. We enjoyed lots of fun activities like making spiders using pipe cleaners and paper plates. We even had a turn at apple bobbing! A weekly highlight for Oak Class is our swimming lesson at Middleton Pool. All of the children have improved their water confidence this term. What a fantastic start to the school year! Have a lovely Christmas from all the staff in Oak Group.

Willow group have had a good term, the pupils have all settled well into their new class. Last term we concentrated on examining different types of materials in Science. In Geography we examined our school and looked at what each room is used for. This term we are investigating different types of weather and what clothing is appropriate for hot, cold or rainy weather. We have been investigating our senses in Science. Willow lis-tened and smelt a variety of different things. We tasted lots of differ-ent foods and examined materials and textures using our sense of touch. In P.S.H.E we are developing our self awareness and we are focusing on personal hygiene and recognis-

ing class staff and children. Each week we go shopping at Tesco and enjoy having snack in the café. Also we go to the local library and visit the garden centre in Woburn Sands. Willow are thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas festivities, we went to Leighton Buzzard railway and met Santa. We also enjoyed the Christmas party at school. We hope you all have a good Christmas and very Happy New Year.

Seasons Greetings from everyone in Maple Group! We have had a fantastic Autumn term. The topics of Our School and The Senses have kept us very busy. Our group of children has really grown into a lovely team and Maple class has been a lovely place to be, watching the children develop their learning as well as their friend-ships. We have been getting out and about a lot this term, starting with visits to local playgrounds back in September and more recently with visits to Morrisons and the wider community. We have also developed our creative skills this term through our Art and DT projects. The boys have made a collection of puppets, designed playground equipment and used pho-tography to make David Hockney inspired montages. We have not forgotten our core subjects; in science we really enjoyed our hands on topics of Changing Materials and finding out about the senses. In Maths we have been working hard with number, mon-

ey, shape and symmetry. We have been developing our writing in Literacy especially our non-fiction writing. We have also found time to cook our own snacks and to develop our gym skills in PE. We have had lots of wonderful moments over the term where the boys have shown us what a kind and caring class Maple group is. We all hope you have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are all looking forward to our new topics for next term and more wonderful moments in Maple group.

This term in Redwood we have been busy getting used to life in the senior department! We have spent a lot of time working on social skills and being a successful part of a group. We learned about Buddhism, World War One and the human body. The boys’ favourite lesson is maths, they have all been working hard to improve their skills with money this half term! In PE, the boys have been improving both their stamina and technique by swimming lengths at Bletchley pool. One of the highlights has been the

tennis festival we attended early on in the term along with other schools in the area – everyone enjoyed taking part in a few games when the weather was still summery! Happy Christmas from everyone in Redwood.

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BIRCH GROUP

SENIOR 4

CYPRESS GROUP

This term in Birch group we have been focusing on our 'achievements'. This consisted of the pupils having their own achievements boards which the can pin their work up on when they feel they have excelled in a particular subject building on their self-esteem. In cooking we have been learning how to cook independently, various healthy dishes such as soups, chicken fajitas and pasta bakes, focusing on different food groups! The pupils have enjoyed learning and enjoy-ing new cooking experiences this term and we hope they will remember how to cook the dishes they have made in the future.

Another major topic Birch group have been focusing on is 'Africa'. We have looked at differ-ent parts of Africa and the pupils have began to understand 'Third World' and how some other people live differently to us. The pupils have made their own display board by making a puzzle of the country which they pieced together by them-selves and stuck on the display board. Also the pupils have looked at different animals and living environments of this country exploring the different types of houses people of Africa live in and what materials they are made from.

Cypress Group have had a brilliant Autumn term. We found out about World War One and wrote some lovely letters and poems, imagining we were soldiers at the front line. We also made some very effective collage pictures which made an excel-lent display in our classroom. We learned about rationing and tried some recipes of the time. The Eid and Diwali celebrations were great fun. We made gifts of sweets which turned out really well and cards and rangolli patterns. In Art we also used pattern to create pictures and did some paper weaving. We have been finding out

about places in Africa and comparing them to where we live. We have worked hard at getting fitter in PE. We have been doing circuit training each week and measuring how much we have improved. At the moment we are getting ready for Christmas, making presents and decora-tions to make our classroom look festive.

It has been a very productive term for S4, and pupils have worked hard. They have made great progress at swimming this term, some have learnt to swim a width and others can confidently swim a length or two. We have visited different supermarkets for our snack break, in-cluding Asda in Bletchley, Tesco in King-

ston and Morrisons in Westcroft. Our topics have included sorting everyday objects into metal, wood and plastic, and looking at how we use our senses. S4 have also worked hard on developing our handwriting skills, P.E. has been fun, pupils have learnt to complete circuits independently and are more confident balancing, jumping and running.

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This term has been an exciting time for senior 5. Daniel O’Sullivan with support from class staff has successfully attended Moulton College with Six Form 2 class for one session a week completing a food technology course. Students have also been visiting McIntyre café weekly, where they have purchased a drink and a snack. We have also celebrated Eid and Diwali. During the week we have also been using the computer room and have been watching our favourite music and video clips from TV programmes. Students still enjoy their weekly visit to Lynn to ex-plore different music and instruments. We have been learning different parts of our body in English and practicing a variety of different fastenings on clothes. As part of our CPSHE students have familiarised themselves with different people that they see in school and their jobs.

SENIOR 5

SENIOR 6

SENIOR 7

Our topic this term in S6 has been LIGHT and DARK. As part of this we have been looking at celebrations from different cultures and have enjoyed making Rangoli patterns, tasting food, dressing up and making sweets for Diwali. Following on from this, our Food Tech lessons have been based on celebrations throughout the latter months of the year and have included making snacks for bonfire night, Diwali and we are now practising making treats and edible decorations for Christmas. They taste so good I’m not sure they’ll make their way home. In Science we have looked at

different sources of light and made a classroom display of lights. Our work has included practical experiments and has been sensory based which has created awe and wonder from all of us. We will be looking at shadows and reflections until the end of term.

Students in Senior 7 have coped extremely well with their move onto the upstairs corridor and are making good progress. They have enjoyed a weekly trip to the supermarket and occasional trips out weather permitting (e.g. Claydon House and Stowe). Thank you to Ken Mott who has worked with the students on the allotment teaching them about horticulture. Art lessons have focused on sculp-

ture and the featured photograph is their take on a piece of work by Anthony Gormley. In the New Year, the class will begin work on using public transport.

SENIOR 8 We have been working hard in Senior 8 again this term; it seems hard to believe it is Christmas already. We have covered a wide range of subjects in our classroom based activities. In English we have been studying George Orwell’s Animal Farm, in History we have begun a new topic on The American West, and in Science we have built on the Energy topic we studied last year by looking more closely at renewable energy. We have also continued a range of more practical and community based activities to develop the students’ independence skills further. We have had a series of sessions at the Connexions centre designed to help the students think about the options available to them in the future. In Work Skills the class have

been working on a project to fix the bikes in the boarding house. Some students have given presentations at Friends of Walnuts Meetings, others have liaised with bike shops, and some have used their ICT skills to record the work we have done. It has been great to see the group meet the different challenges they have been set. We hope that you have a peaceful Christmas and look forward to seeing the students return in 2013.

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SIXTH FORM 2

SIXTH FORM 1 What a term! The class have been extremely active; focusing on each individual student’s independence. Moulton College has been very encouraging this term focusing on cooking. The whole class have been cooking a variety of different items ranging from Mince Pies to Thai Green Curry. All have tasted very nice!! The class have really relished and enjoyed accessing this course. All students have been creating such lovely tasting and creative meals. All members of the class have been utilising the Shenley Church End Leisure Centre Gym. This goes well with our lessons on healthy eating and life style. All the class have taken to this activity really well and seem to be really enjoying it. We are continuing with our journeys around Milton Keynes using the public bus. Mostly all of the students now know all times and routes. Probably better than staff do! Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year from SF1.

SIXTH FORM 3 Hello Everyone—Sixth Form 3 have enjoyed experiencing new opportunities this term, being based off site has enabled them to develop their confidence and independence skills further.

Completing an Entry Level 2 course in Small animal Care at Moulton Col-lege and successfully planning, preparing and delivering to the whole school a Christmas Fete. Thank you for all your much appreciated dona-tions and support. We have also been out and about in the community using public transport to develop our skills and knowledge of the bus routes. Whilst using local maps to explore unfamiliar areas of Milton Keynes.

Our work experience placements at Tesa uk and Oxfam have been very successful this term and will continue throughout the school year with all students having an opportunity at either. We wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year—Sixth Form 3.

This term, Sixth Form 2 have really enjoyed going to Moulton College to do cooking. The students watch a demonstration by Mark the Chef and then go to their individual kitchens to cook their own with support. They have made a range of dishes from Sweet and Sour Pork to Chocolate chip cookies and Mince pies. The class have also been continuing with their life

skills in the community, shopping and using the local transport.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas from Sixth Form 2.

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RESIDENTIAL Parents whose children access the residential provision may well be aware that at the moment both Steve Bowyer (Head of Care) and Stuart Carey (Deputy Head of Care) are absent. Caroline Walker (Senior Residential Care Officer) has also been absent on a long-term basis. Rose Cooper (Deputy Head of Care) has taken over the day to day management of the boarding house but obviously the absence of senior staff is putting the service under considerable pressure. Ofsted regulations for Children’s Homes state that suitable alternative arrangements must be put in place if the Registered Manager is absent for more than 28 days. I am pleased to say, that as of Wednesday this week, Rose has accepted the post of acting Head of Care until such time that Steve is able to return to his full duties. I hope that parents will be understanding and patient if communications and /or residential arrange-ments are subject to change or not quite up to expectations. Rose is doing all she can to ensure that the safety and well-being of the pupils remains of the highest priori-ty and that the provision is maintained. If you have any queries or concerns about these arrangements please contact either myself or Rose. Nick Jackman.

NEWS FROM NICK JACKMAN -

This term three of our pupils have taken keyboard exams. Callum Booth passed his Bronze medal award and Thomas Jennett his plati-num award. Matthew Roffe has also taken his Copper award and we

are waiting for the results. Thomas is the first keyboard pupil in the whole of Milton Keynes to achieve the platinum award.! This is a real achievement and we are very proud of him. A big thank you to Jona-than the keyboard teacher for all his hard work with the pupils. In the New Year we will be celebrating by presenting the pupils with their medals and hearing them play. Lynne Gound, Music Teacher

This has been a particularly long term with half terms of eight and seven weeks, I think this has lead to both pupils and staff becoming very tired. Hopefully, the Xmas break will give everyone the opportunity to relax and re-charge their batteries! Some staff combine working with undertaking additional studies and I am pleased to inform you that earlier this term Jo Yates attended her graduation for the awarding of her Masters In Education (MEd) in Special Education Autism (Child) for which she received a distinction. Three other teachers are also studying for this qualification which I think demonstrates the commitment staff make to learn as much as they can about au-tism to inform their already very specialised teaching skills. Many mainstream secondary schools employ a school counsellor for the support of pupils who may be experiencing emotional difficulties. For the next term Walnuts will also be employing a counsellor who will be available to undertake individual sessions with second-ary pupils. The counsellor will be introducing herself to some classes on the first Friday back. Parents will be informed and asked for their agreement prior to any pupil commenc-ing the sessions. I hope you all have a most enjoyable Xmas and New Year .

MUSIC

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THE PARENTS FRIENDSHIP AND

SUPPORT GROUP We have now developed 2 friendship and support groups, meeting at the Infant Department at Hertford Place and at the main school site at Hazeley. Par-ents continue to use the group but all are welcome—Our first New Year meeting for the Ha-zeley Group will be on Wednesday 23rd January at 9.30am. Please join us!

Thank you to all the hardworking Friends of Walnuts for organizing the latest Christmas Craft and Pamper Evening. Over £280 was raised by this event. Thank you to all that attended—we wish it had been as busy as last year! There were some lovely stalls selling Jewellery, floral arrangements, wonderful cakes (baked by Dawn and Karen) and a range of luxurious treatments. The Friends of Walnuts

relies on help and support from parents and staff and we are always looking for new members, any money raised is put to good use to provide equipment etc. for our pupils. We are excited that the money raised by the Friends for a sensory room is finally coming to fruition at the end of January. We are also pleased that money raised for play equipment for the main site can finally be purchased. Please come along to our next meeting if you have time. It will be on Thursday 24th January at 10am at the Infant Dept., Hertford Place. Merry Christmas from ‘The Friends”!

Each school across Milton Keynes has been given a Par-ent Information Box. The box contains leaflets and information for parents regarding general school issues and SEN. Our Parent Information Box is kept in the Parent’s Room. Please feel free to come and look through it when you wish.

PUPILS RETURN TO SCHOOL AFTER THE NEW YEAR

ON:

MONDAY 7th

JANUARY

SCHOOL TERM/HOLIDAY DATES 2013 Spring Term

All Return Monday 7th Jan Thurs 14th Feb - Pupils Finish

Fri 15th February - Staff Finish

All Return Monday 25th Feb Thursday 28th March

Summer Term

All Return Monday 15th April Friday 24th May

All Return Monday 3rd June Tuesday 23rd July

Other Holiday Good Friday 29th March and

Easter Monday 1st April 2013 (within spring term break)

Bank Holiday - Monday 6th May 2013

Training Days Friday 15th Feb Please note - New Date

Monday 3rd June Please note - New Date

Are you a parent? Have you a couple of hours free each week? Are you looking for an opportunity to give something back to your local community? Would you like to offer help to a vulnera-ble family who needs the support and friendship of another par-ent? If you are all of the above, then please contact Home-Start Central Bedfordshire, who are looking for volunteers within Milton Keynes to support local families within the commu-nity by visiting them within their own homes. There will be a 10 week volunteer preparation course to attend prior to being matched to support a family. The course is interactive, informa-tive and will prepare you for your role as a volunteer. For fur-ther details or to find out more information regarding the role of a home-visiting volunteer for Home-Start, please either call us on 01582 660061 or email office@home-startcentralbeds.org.uk – we look forward to hearing from you.

AFTER SCHOOL CLUB DATES

Spring Term 2013

Monday, January 7th - Wednesday, February 13th

Monday, February 25th - Wednesday, March 27th

Summer Term 2013

Monday, April 15th - Wednesday, May 22nd

Monday, June 3rd - Wednesday, July 17th

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As you may be aware, over the last few years we have been steadily improving the way we assess our pupils across the school. The most recent major step we have taken is to introduce B-Squared as an alternative to PIVATS as of September 2012, and the next major step is to individualise target setting across the core subjects of English, maths, PSHE and ICT. The following is a brief guide to both the assessment methods and the target setting for core subjects in the three phases of the school:

Foundation Stage and Year One: Assessed using our own specially adapted version of the Development Matters Materials issued by the government, in addition to the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. Targets set for foundation pupils using the baseline assessment teachers complete in the first month, targets for Year One pupils based on their progress recorded in the foundation year.

Year Two-Year Nine: Assessed using B-Squared, an adaptation of the P Scales and National Curriculum levels specially designed for use with pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs. This feeds in to the statutory require-ment for reporting to the Local Authority at the end of Key Stages One, Two and Three.

Targets set using previous attainment and compared to the Progression Guidance, a government issued document detailing expected progress for pupils with a Statement of Special Educational Needs.

Year Nine and beyond:

Assessed using B-Squared and the external accreditations used by the school (these are an alternative to GCSEs that are more suited to our pupils). Targets, of how many and what level external accreditations will be aimed for, set by teachers based on prior attainment. These targets will be shared with you at the parent teacher consultations.

Please find attached an information sheet about B-Squared. Should you require any further information about the way The Walnuts School assesses pupil progress in academic subjects, our target setting systems or indeed on any of the above mentioned documents then please do not hesitate to contact either myself or your son/daughter’s class teacher.

Clara McDermott

Curriculum & Assessment Manager

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B-Squared have been market leaders with their Small Steps assessment for over 10 years, breaking down EYFS, P Levels and National Curriculum into small steps. Using the most detailed assessment breakdown on the market allows schools to track progression through each level. The system has been used in schools for over 15 years and is now in over 8,000 schools. The assessment range has grown over the last 10 years and now features our newest Adult Steps assessment, a breakdown of the Milestones/Pre-entry Level and Entry Level Post 16 curricu-lums.

The above picture is an example of our individual assessment page and shows how we have bro-ken the curriculum down. By working on individual targets rather than the level as a whole, teachers can show progression through the level. When discussing pupil progression with the pupil or parents, the breakdown gives them a great-er understanding of what has been achieved and where the pupil’s weaknesses are. By discussing individual tasks, the parents can give more support to the pupil's learning.

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