Welcome to Sowenna!

Our Class:

Sowenna is an ‘inclusive Key Stage 2 class’ with high expectations and is made up of an enthusiastic, inquisitive, friendly, and sociable group of pupils who all enjoy the challenge and excitement of learning! They are supported by a dedicated and knowledgeable class team consisting of their class teachers Sue Durrant (Monday to Thursday) and Sam Murray (Friday) along with two experienced teaching assistants, Dani & Zoe not forgetting Jenny our lunchtime support assistant. The class team liaise and work closely with a team of outside agency professionals who set personalised targets to further support the pupils' learning, communication and physical needs. These include: Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Speech & Language Therapists. Sowenna class enjoys and embraces the opportunities that they have to frequently participate alongside their Illogan School peers both socially and academically, ensuring the inclusive vision and progress of the joint school ethos of ‘Two schools, one community’.

Our Curriculum:

We follow topics from the Key Stage 2 programmes of study from the National Curriculum. Each term, alongside topic based activities, key signs and key vocabulary relevant to the topics are taught helping to develop and extend our repertoire of Makaton signing and vocabulary. Each session and subject taught is fully differentiated and targets are personalised to meet the learner’s individual needs and potential at an achievable yet challenging level. Activities are varied, as is the environment, and they are delivered and enjoyed through a multi-sensory 'hands on, experiential’ approach, allowing pupils to experience the world around them whilst developing core numeracy, literacy, communication and socialising skills. In addition, each term our pupils have 3 Individual Education Plan targets which support their individual needs as outlined in their EHC plan. These targets are assessed and monitored across the school week. Liaison with families and outside professionals is of paramount importance when setting these targets to ensure not only that they are up to date and relevant but that they can work consistently in all settings. In Sowenna Class we work hard to promote greater independence with learning and to further develop confidence with communication skills, social skills and each pupil’s health and wellbeing. For our Year 6 pupils we follow a carefully considered and planned transition between Lower School and our Key Stage 3 classes in Upper School.

Reading in Sowenna Class

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum in Sowenna class, and every opportunity to practice and apply our reading skills is exploited.  We have daily phonics practice, with 3 longer sessions each week to consolidate previous learning and to introduce new learning.  We love the structure and repetition within these sessions and are always very proud of the sounds and words that we are able to read.  The majority of the class are working at Phase 2 of the Letters and Sounds scheme, meaning that we are learning letter sounds and developing our ability to segment and blend to make words.  We also have some children in class that are working on their comprehension skills alongside their reading skills, and we are all encouraged to read, recognise and use signs and symbols within the environment. 

Books, stories and non fiction texts are used to support cross curricular learning and enhance topics and themes.  In Sowenna class we all love a good book, and when we find one that really captures our imagination the teaching team will find ways to build this into our learning.  Recent favourites have been ‘Pete the Cat; I love my white shoes’, ‘The Gruffalo’ and ‘The Snail and the Whale’, but we are always open to listening to new and different stories.  The teaching team will use a range of strategies, from sensory stories, puppets, music, movement and role play to engage interest and participation in stories and rhymes.  We enjoy weekly timetabled library visits where we are able to extend experience of books and use the systems in place to develop choice making skills. 

Learning Environment:

We love the challenge of learning and the experience of learning both in our vibrant classroom and beyond. At Curnow Lower School we access a range of learning environments which support and vary our learning opportunities. Additionally, we also participate in activities within the local community. These currently include our weekly class riding sessions with the RDA at Chiverton Riding Stables and our swimming sessions at Carn Brea Leisure Centre. Getting ‘out and about’ in the local environment, socialising and making new friends are activities that we all favour, benefit from and really, really enjoy! The pupils in Sowenna class are a joy to teach and they are a real credit to Curnow School. The close friendships that Sowenna’s pupils develop with their peers and the staff from Illogan School is a positive step in the right direction of successfully removing barriers to learning and uniting the visions of both schools to "aspire, believe, create and dazzle through creative environments, inspired learning and valued relationships".