At The Stephen Longfellow Academy we recognise that sometimes the information you are given may be hard to understand, school talk can sometimes feel like another language. Below are explanations for many terms and abbreviations that you may see or hear in school communication:
| Terms and Abbreviations | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Achievement | Describes both attainment (the level achieved) and the progress your child has made from a particular starting point. |
| Adaptive Teaching | Teaching that is adapted to meet the individual needs of children and young people within the classroom. |
| ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) | A neuro-development/diverse condition where children, young people or adults, which can lead to inattention, loss of focus and concentration and can lead to impulsive behaviours. |
| ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) | A neuro-development/diverse condition where children, young people or adults may have difficulties with focus, concentration, sleep and inattention. It can also lead to people diagnosed with this condition has being impulsive and exhibiting differences in thought processes and being hyperactive or in contrast withdrawn. |
| ADP | Academy development plan. This is the academies plan of what the school will achieve and the process in which this will happen. |
| AfL | Assessment for Learning – This is the process of gaining and interpreting evidence for use by students and their teachers to decide where the students is in their own learning and where they need to be and how to develop further. |
| Allocations Panel | A Local Authority panel of professionals who the academy can refer to for additional family support and intervention. A referral can be made at the request of the family, parent/carers through our safeguarding of Family Liaison Team. |
| APPD | Alternative provision positive discipline. APPD is the academies behaviour policy that takes the fundamental elements of the successful PD system but allows for further supportive measures with the alternative provision setting. |
| AP | Alternative Provision setting – The Stephen Longfellow Academy is an AP setting which offers an alternative setting for students who are unable to attend a mainstream primary ot secondary school for varied reasons such as Social Emotional and Mental Health Needs, behaviours that challenge, Adverse Childhood Trauma and Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND) |
| ASC (Autistic Spectrum Condition) | ASC is a neuro-developmental or divergent difference that means that children, young people or adults understand the world around them and people in a difference way to neuro- typical people. |
| Assessment points | This is a structured approach to assessing your child’s performance in a chosen subject. This will happen periodically throughout the year. |
| Attainment | The level at which your child is working at or the grade that they have already achieved. |
| Attainment Targets | A general defined level of success that a student is expected to achieve in every subject at each key stage in the National Curriculum (based on national averages). |
| ATEF | Attitude to Education Level Focus – a way of assessing a student’s attitude to learning and their motivation and focus in lessons |
| ATEL | Attitude to Education Level – assessment of a student’s attitude to learning – this can be Requires Significant Improvement (RI), Developing Learner (DL), Good (Gd) and Outstanding (Os). |
| BTEC | Business & Technology Education Council Qualification |
| CEIAG | Careers Education, Information and Guidance |
| Child Protection | The protection of children and young people from violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect. |
| CIN (Child in Need Plan) | Plan that is instigated by Children's Social Care Services where a child or family is deemed as in needs of additional support and intervention. |
| CLA | Children Looked After |
| Core Subjects | English, maths and science. These are subjects that all students must study until the end of key stage 4. |
| CP | Child Protection |
| CPD | Continuing Professional Development. CPD days are traditionally known as inset days and is an opportunity for teaching and non-teaching staff to keep their industry experience up to date. |
| CP Plan (Child Protection Plan) | A plan that is instigated by Children's Social Work Services to support a student, family and parents/carers where a child/children are deemed to be at risk of significant harm. |
| CPOMS (Child Protection Online Monitoring System) | An electronic system that is used by Gorse and the academy to record and monitor safeguarding and child protection. This is used to record all communications such as, safeguarding, child protection, Special Educational Needs and parents/carers communication and attendance. |
| DfE | Department for Education |
| Personalisation | The variety of different teaching techniques and strategies used by teachers to cater their teaching for every child. |
| EAL | English as an Additional Language |
| ECT | Early Careers Teacher |
| EET | In attendance in Employment, Education or training at post-16 (upon leaving secondary school and Year 11). |
| EHCP | Educational Health Care Plan – An education, health and care plan is a document that states the individual educational needs that a student may have and the outcomes and actions in school that can help to meet that need. |
| EHP (Early Help Plan) | A plan that can be instigated by the academy or external professionals to ensure that families have additional support and intervention. The Early Help Plan is led by a chair (allocated professionals) and is solution focused with targets and actions to be achieved for and with the family to effect change and remove barriers. |
| Entry requirements | These are the minimum requirements needed to gain entry onto a post 16/college course. |
| Enrolment | This is the process in which your child will join the school. There may be a number of documents to complete and at least 1 meeting in school. |
| ESOL | English for Speakers of Other Languages or English as a Second or Other Language – If English is not your main language you can take part in a course to help you improve your English. These courses are called ESOL. |
| EYFS | Early Years Foundation Stage. A framework of care and Education for children from birth to five years of age. This stage typically means Nursery and Reception Classes. |
| FE | Further education (college, apprentice etc) |
| FLO | Family Liaison Officer |
| FLT | Family Liaison Team |
| FTS (Fixed Term Suspension) | Fixed term suspension is the process of removing a student from the school circulation for an agreed number of days. A FTE will be issued for dangerous or extreme behaviour and will require a reintegration meeting in school prior to the students return. |
| FSM | Free School Meals |
| G & T | Gifted and Talented – Gifted are those with high ability in one or more academic subject and the talented are those with high ability in sport, music, visual or performing arts. |
| GCSE | General Certificate of Secondary Education |
| G4G (Green for Growth) | The Gorse and academy marking and feedback process which is used to respond by teachers to respond to and provide feedback about students work. Green for Growth is used by teachers to praise progress, raise questions for further development of student work, and to challenge and expand learning. |
| HE | Higher education (University) |
| HLTA | Higher Level Teaching Assistant |
| Homophone | Words that sound the same but have different meanings, for example there and their. |
| HPAL | Higher Prior Attaining Learner |
| ICT | Information and Communication Technology |
| IEBP | Individual Education and Behaviour Plan – a plan that identifies the strengths and difficulties, and barriers to learning that your child may have in school. This plan is used to set targets and plan support and intervention for your child. |
| Inclusion | Removing barriers in learning so all students can participate and access learning. This may be with the support of one or more other professionals and through high quality teaching |
| Intervention mapping | This is the document used in school to keep a track on the support your child is accessing in school. |
| Key Stage five | Age 16-18 (Sixth form) |
| Key Stage four | Age 14-16 (Years 10 and 11) |
| Key Stage three | Age 11-14 (Years 7, 8 and 9) |
| Key Stage two | Age 7-11(Years 3,4, 5 and 6) |
| Key Stage one | Age 5-7 (Years 1 and 2) |
| KS | Key Stage ( The Stephen Longfellow Academy has KS1, 2, 3 and 4) |
| LA | Local Authority (the academy serves students from the LA of Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.) |
| Literacy | The ability to read and write and develop skills used in English |
| LPAL | Lower Prior Attaining Learner |
| MAT | Multi-Academy Trust – The Stephen Longfellow Academy is part of the GORSE MAT |
| MLD | Moderate Learning Difficulties |
| MPAL | Medium Prior Attaining Learner |
| NC | National Curriculum |
| NEET | Not in Education, Employment or Training |
| NtE | New to English |
| Numeracy | The ability to understand and work with numbers and develop skills used in Maths |
| NQT | Newly Qualified Teacher |
| NVQ | National Vocational Qualifications |
| NtE | New to English |
| Ofsted | Office for Standards in Education |
| PE | Physical Education |
| Performance Table | Published by the DfE to compare schools’ results. |
| PPA | Planning, Preparation and Assessment time given to teachers as pat of their contract during the working day |
| Provision Map | A map of the intervention, support and provision that your child has access to in school |
| PS (Permanent Suspension) | When a students is permanently suspended from an educational setting and cannot return to the school, academy or college. |
| PSHE | Personal Social Health and Economic education |
| Purple Zone | A period of time during every lesson where children/students work independently and in silence, grapple with their learning, difficult concepts and are challenged to develop their independent learning skills to help them to build academic resilience. |
| QFT (Quality First Teaching) | The expectation that all students, whatever their unique ability and/or difficulties, have access to the highest level of teaching, which is adapted and personalised to meet their individual learning style and needs, and ensures that all students are challenged within their learning. |
| QTS | Qualified Teacher Status |
| RAISE | Reporting and Analysis for Improvement through School Self-Evaluation |
| RSHE | Relationships, Sex and Health Education |
| Safeguarding | The general protection of individuals from a range of different risks that may lead to harm or significant harm |
| SATs | Statutory Assessment Tasks completed by Year 6 students to assess their progress, skills and knowledge in preparation for secondary education |
| SCITT | School Centred Initial Teacher Training |
| SCR | Single Central Record – Schools must hold a single central record of all adults working with students. The records hold security and ID checks among other specific information. |
| SEAL | Social & Emotional Aspects of Learning |
| SEMH | Social Emotional and Mental Health |
| SEND | Special Educational Needs and Disability |
| SENDCo | Special Educational Needs and/or Disability Co-ordinator. This person is a trained professional teacher who leads on planning, support and intervention for students identified with SEND and those with Additional Needs (AN) |
| Setting | Putting students of similar ability together just for certain lessons. So, for example, it would be possible to be in a top set for French and a lower set for mathematics. |
| SLCN (Speech Language and Communication Need) | A Special Educational Need where children/young people have difficulty with their speech and language development and communications with others. |
| SLD | Severe Learning Difficulty |
| SLT | Senior Leadership Team |
| SMSC | Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (development) |
| SpLD (Specific Learning Difficulty) | A Specific Learning Difficulty is a diagnosed Special Educational Need such as Dyslexia (Difficulties with literacy) , Dyspraxia (difficulties with spatial awareness) or Dyscalculia (difficulties with numeracy.) |
| Streaming | Splitting students into several different hierarchical groups which would stay together for all lessons. |
| GORSE | The GORSE Academies Trust is our partnership of schools. |
| TA | Teaching Assistant |
| Take 5 | The academy’s strategy to marking and feedback that relates to Capital Letters, Homophones, Apostrophes, Punctuation and Spelling. This is used when marking books to improve levels of literacy in children. |
| Transition | The movement of students from Key Stage to Key Stage or school to school and the procedures associated with it. |