We have developed planning and reflection sheets that place reflective assessment at the centre of the planning process. Children in our school community also have individual self-assessment charts that they co-construct and complete with an LSA/teacher or therapist. Our science lessons are planned around specific learning modalities that can overlap or remain distinct depending on a child's ways of engaging:

• Tactile interaction
• Open exploration through enquiry
• Questioning and hypothesising
• Reflection .

Communicating through talk, signing or gestures is a common thread throughout, as is the development of thinking skills. As educators we recognise the importance of learner centred learning and plan our lessons with open exploration spaces built in, so that we can be responsive to the diverse tracks our students might take in relation to the topic.

Naturalist Intelligence

'The knowing that occurs through encounters with the natural world that involve appreciation for and understanding of the various flora and fauna,recognition of species membership, and the ability to relate to living organisms. It uses such tools as hands-on labs,field trips,sensory stimulation, and attempts to classify and comprehend natural patterns' David Lazear 1999

Naturalist Capacities Developmental Journey (after Lazear 1999)

We have found David Lazear's work a useful basis for reflecting on a nature based developmental framework. This is an area we are still working on. In Lazear's work there are three competancy levels:

Child uses informal,intuitive forms of categorisation such as an object is 'tree-like'and 'has an innate curiosity about and desire to explore the natural world' (Lazear 1999, p.38)

This involves 'more formal systems of identifying and classifying plants and animals, and more precise approaches to interacting with and investigating them' (Lazear 1999, p.38)

The most formal level where natural history disciplines such as botany and entomology are used 'to further understand,appreciate,use, and converse about the natural world' (Lazear 1999,p.38)

To be added to