Staff meeting: Why, what and how?

No Pens Day Wednesday An annual, national speaking and listening event run by The Communication Trust The Communication Trust Taking place this year on Wednesday 7 th October nationally, though we can take part whenever works best for us… It’s a national event to focus all learning through speaking and listening and to see the importance of these skills - with no writing!

Why focus on speaking and listening?

What do we want for our students? Verbally able Knowledgeable Literate Well qualified Good citizen Engaged in learning

And for those with additional needs? Closed gap Equality of opportunity Appropriate support The new SEND Code of Practice highlights that high quality teaching is essential to supporting all pupils, including those with additional needs

“High quality teaching that is differentiated and personalised will meet the individual needs of the majority of children and young people... Special educational provision is underpinned by high quality teaching and is compromised by anything less.” SEND Code of Practice 2014

How are we made accountable? Our data on pupils’ progress Our data on pupils’ attainment The quality of teaching and learning The ability of our children to communicate their learning The strength of our leadership teams

But, we learn to talk before we go to school don’t we? Between birth and three years, we build the foundations for later conversations At 25 months, 82% of children use 2 – 4 word sentences (1) By 4 years old, the average child has between 1500 and 1600 words (2)

We build on communication skills throughout our lives An average 6 year old has a vocabulary of 2600 words(3), and by 17, young people have acquired approximately words! (3) As we grow up, we learn that different types of communication are needed in different contexts- what you say to your friend is probably different to what you say to your headteacher… We also develop skills around adjusting our knowledge of verbal communication to that of written communication- just because we say it that way doesn’t mean we write it that way!

Although children are hard wired to communicate, these skills don’t just develop naturally, they have to be taught and learnt, supported and nurtured...

So what? Schools have a vital role in teaching and supporting all children and young people to develop their communication skills..... ‘All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils, therefore, who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised’. Primary National Curriculum, England, 2013

Ofsted agrees… ‘Without the ability to communicate effectively in speech and through reading and writing, children and young people are seriously disadvantaged for life.’ ‘A child who has limited vocabulary and difficulty communicating will not be ready for school and will often lag behind their peers for the rest of their time in education.’ Ofsted Good Practice in School Readiness report, 2014

“There ain’t no mystery Scoob” Language is the vehicle for learning…

Focusing on oral language is beneficial for everyone...

And particularly vital for children who struggle... Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)

Language to ‘close the gap’ Children from low income families lag behind high income counterparts by sixteen months in vocabulary. (7) Studies have shown that in some areas of social deprivation upwards of 50% of children enter school with delayed language. (8) Children eligible for free school meals are 2.3 times more likely to have SLCN. (9)

The impacts of SLCN are wide- ranging. Educational achievement Behaviour/ vulnerability Mental health Vocabulary at 5 is a powerful predictor of GCSE achievement. (15) 2/3 of 7-14 year olds with serious behaviour problems have language impairment. (16) 40% of 7 to 14 year olds referred to child psychiatric services had a language impairment that had never been identified. (17)) EmployabilityCriminalityDisadvantage Cycle 47% of employers say they can’t recruit staff with the communication skills they need (18) 65% of young people in young offender institutions have communication difficulties. (19) Children from low income families lag behind high income counterparts by sixteen months in vocabulary at school entry. (20)

What is No Pens Day Wednesday and how will it help us?

A national speaking and listening event... No Pens Day Wednesday is run by The Communication Trust and is now in its fifth year It’s a national event to focus all learning through speaking and listening- with no writing! A day to see the benefits of speaking and listening for learning And remember... No writing means no marking!

Why are we taking part? No Pens Day Wednesday is fun and relatively easy to plan AND schools who’ve taken part before have reported that it can have a big impact...

…for developing practice 80% of teachers who took part in 2014 and responded to an evaluation survey said that taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday raised their awareness of speech, language and communication needs Crucially, 95% said they’d do things differently around school as a result of their involvement

Schools taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday report improvements in behaviour, attention and engagement and in particular for pupils who struggle or have SEN... …for supporting pupils

“The children's enjoyment... They were much calmer, didn't feel anxious and behaviour throughout the school was better. Everyone participated and there was a real buzz.” “A fun and different way to appreciate learning through speaking and listening activities - especially for SEN pupils.” Quotes from teachers who took part previously

…for Ofsted “Ofsted arrived on the morning of No Pens Wednesday! My Nursery was filled with parents and their children, totally engaged in communication...it was lovely!” Some schools that took part had Ofsted inspections at the same time. They found that the experience was also useful for their inspections... “We had Ofsted in, which made some staff panic! But the teaching seen on the day was better than the previous day and really helped our feedback.”

Links to writing Many of the respondents noted that as a result of taking part in NPDW they not only noticed pupils’ improved communication skills, but also improvements in their writing and engagement in lessons. “We found that the day had a positive impact on the written work of the students following the event... In a subsequent assessment... a few of our children who were predicted level 5s at the start of the year attained level 7s, with some of them managing to write over four sides of writing! “Being able to verbalise and talk through some of the key points on No Pens Day meant that they had a clearer, more structured idea of what they wanted to write!”

This year – it’s over to you! We know from the fantastic feedback we’ve had from previous events that teachers are keen to use No Pens Day as an opportunity to really showcase their existing skills and knowledge around supporting spoken language in the classroom. That’s why this year it’s over to you! We want to support teachers and school staff who have great ideas and effective lesson plans to share them with us through No Pens Day Wednesday via our website – then we can share them with the rest of the world!

The process couldn’t be simpler: If you haven’t already, register to take part at Visit the share your resources page and find out more. You can share; lesson plans, activity ideas, assembly ideas, ideas for engaging parents in spoken language activities plus lots of other information for staff. Read and agree to the terms of use, then complete the short online form to upload your resource. Your resource will then be viewed by a member of The Communication Trust’s professional team to ensure it’s No Pens Day Wednesday friendly before being shared on our website page Your resource will appear on the site for other registered No Pens Day Wednesday users to freely access! This year – it’s over to you!

No Pens Day Wednesday free resources will… Help us plan high quality specific speaking and listening elements for all lessons for pupils of all abilities Provide information about working with pupils to set outcomes that are important to them- a key requirement of the SEND Reforms Share information about prevalence levels of SLCN for strategic SEN planning Provide information for teachers in monitoring and assessing progress in pupils' language and communication skills Give ideas, resources and information to increase parental engagement

How to run No Pens Day Wednesday

Preparation Appoint a lead member of staff for the day who will be available to support teachers with preparing lessons for the day Check out the activity pack and free materials available on the website including lesson plans and activity templates, posters, take home tips for parents and loads more!free materials Begin the day with an assembly for pupils, explaining the concept of the day Discuss potential challenges and solutions – what might we / the pupils might find hard?

To consider… How we’ll measure the impact of the day and record what goes on How we’ll let parents know and encourage them to get involved How we’ll build in ways to get and capture the pupils views about activities and lessons What methods we’ll use to record what happens on the day- photos, case studies, video recordings

Resources The free resources available to support the event in 2015 include:  Lesson plans and activity templates for all ages and settings  Whole school assembly ideas  Take home information for parents about communication  Information and guidance on the SEND Reforms for staff

All these and more can be accessed on The Communication Trust website: pensdaywednesday pensdaywednesday

What did we learn? Some competition ideas… The pen police – have a crack team of ‘pen police’ who do spot checks on classrooms, teachers and pupils - they can create a top 3 “winners” of the day – presentations for gold, silver and bronze could be given in assembly. Use a “wooden spoon” booby prize for the bottom 3 who were caught “pen handed”! Each class can share their thoughts on their most creative lesson/teacher on NPDW and why – prize given for creativity in assembly Each class/group can decide on their favourite word and upload a video to the school site saying what it is and why – everyone can vote for the most convincing argument or have a debate in class. The winning group might get to choose the next activity... Prepare a ballot box in school– make two boxes, one giving NPDW the thumbs up and one the thumbs down. Get the kids to post a card in the box that represents how they felt about NPDW. Once you’ve counted up and got the results, you could have a school, class or group debate about what they thought of the day and why they chose the thumbs up or down box... Run a word quiz throughout the day – place clues on the corridors/classrooms for pupils to follow to work out 10 key words. They report back which words they’ve worked out to the class teachers – if they get all 10 words right, they win a reward! This idea could be differentiated for different groups

The Communication Trust runs No Pens Day Wednesday. The Trust is a coalition of over 50 not-for-profit organisations. Working together we support everyone who works with children and young people in England to support their speech, language and communication. 50 not-for-profit organisations To find out more please go to

Thank you and good luck!