Terminology and Useful Acronyms - Beacon Hill School

At Beacon Hill, we realise that sometimes unfamiliar terminology, abbreviations, and acronyms are used within the information we provide to parents and carers of the children and young people who attend school and 6th form.

On this page, you will soon find definitions for the some of this terminology and acronyms used within our curriculum information and progress reporting. We hope this will help to increase your understanding of information we provide.

Terms used to describe our students Primary Need
SLD	Severe Learning Disability
ASC	Autistic Spectrum Condition – This is a lifelong disability which affects people in different ways in how they communicate with the World
PMLD	Profound and Multiple Learning Disability is when a person has a Severe Learning Disability and may have other significant difficulties such as physical disabilities, sensory impairments and/or severe medical conditions.

Terms and Acronyms you may find in reports
EHC / P
Education Health Care / Plan / Meeting
PLP
Personal Learning Plan these are set termly and based upon annual targets set at the EHC meeting
Desired Outcomes
Theses are set at the end of each Key Stage by Teachers, Parents and Therapist, they are broken down into Annual Targets
Annual Targets
These are set and agreed annually at the EHC meeting and are broken down into termly PLP targets
PLP
Personal Learning Plan these are set termly and based upon annual targets set at the EHC meeting
Working Towards
Students have been making steps towards their target but have not yet met it to the level we have expected
Met
Students have met their target
Exceeded
Students have exceeded their target and may have completed their challenge target
SCERTS
Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transactional Support - it helps us to identify the communication style of our students and what their next step is in Communication
HI
Hearing Impaired
VI
Visual Impaired
EAL
English as Additional Language
FSM
Free School Meals
LAC
Looked After Children
PP
Pupil Premium

Terms used to describe our curriculum
EYFS Curriculum	The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is the starting place for all our pre Key stage 1 students learning
Informal Curriculum	The Informal Curriculum focuses on developing early skills in Communication, Physical Development, Community and Cognition
Semi formal Curriculum	The Semi formal curriculum focuses on the next steps towards subject specific learning and the focus is on Communication, language and Literacy, Maths, Physical development, Community, How the world works, Eand Creativity
Preparing for Adulthood Curriculum	The Preparing for Adulthood Curriculum starts at Key Stage 4 and develops fully in Key Stage 5. Students continue to focus on Literacy and numeracy skills alongside the 4 areas of the PFA Good health, Employment, Independent Living and Friends, Relationships and Community to develop the students functional application of the skills they have learnt
Cognition and Learning	Cognition refers to the thinking skills and thought processes that a child/young person has acquired through their prior experience
Communication and Interaction	Communication and Interaction relates to children / young people being able to say what they want to, understanding what is being said to them and social rules of communication.
Sensory and Physical	Sensory and physical can relate to hearing, visual impairment or sensory processing difficulties and physical difficulties, it also relates to writing, dressing, and physical activities
Social and Emotional Mental Health	This is how we ensure our children / young people are as happy as they can be with positive social interactions, support for mental health and emotions
Awareness	Early Literacy Skills on the Informal Curriculum
Control	Early Literacy Skills on the Informal Curriculum
Exploration	Early Maths Skills on the Informal Curriculum
Sequencing	Early Maths Skills on the Informal Curriculum