MSI Unit Curriculum - Sense

Victoria School: MSI Unit CurriculumProgressionThe Curriculum is divided into four Phases. The Phases reflect the developmentalprogression most commonly seen in children with MSI, whose common feature isthat they lack consistent, undistorted sensory input from their physical and socialenvironment.Because MSI is linked to particular patterns of learning and development, exactequivalences are not possible, but approximate links to stages of communicativedevelopment and P Levels are given below:MSI Unit Curriculum communicative stage P Level rangePhase 1 pre-intentional P1(i)-P2(ii)Phase 2 intentional non-symbolic P2(i)-P3(ii)Phase 3 early symbolic P3(ii)-P6Phase 4 formal P5-P8The four Curriculum Phases reflect pupils’ increasingly complex understandingof their environment. Each Phase is characterised by a series of ‘features oflearning’, which describe how pupils entering this Phase access and interact withtheir social and physical environment. The early Phases of the curriculum supportthe gradual development of awareness, interest and competence in interaction,whilst later Phases are increasingly differentiated as pupils become more able torecognise and deal with a range of people, activities and contexts.Assessment of progress within and across PhasesThe progress of pupils within each Curriculum Phase is recorded using the PhaseProfile. The Profiles consist of ‘typical achievements’ which suggest that thepupil has mastered the skills, concepts and global understanding associated witheach Phase. There is no attempt to list all relevant achievements, and some ofthe items listed are specific to the MSI Unit Curriculum. The Profiles are criterionreferencedmeasures of progress, not developmental checklists.For each typical achievement, three levels of mastery are recorded:• aware – the pupil shows signs of being ready to learn the ability;• achieved in specific contexts – the pupil consistently uses the ability in some,but not all, relevant situations;• generalised – the pupil consistently uses the ability in all appropriatesituations.17