How can I help pupils with blending who have British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language and are learning using visual phonics?

It’s a great idea to support your BSL first language children by teaching phonics alongside visual phonics. Follow the blending practice planning with the visual phonics alongside. The process is the same, even though it might take longer and require more practice.

There is a really useful guide from the National Deaf Children’s Society (pages 57-63 are particularly useful). As you’ll see, deaf children will need to see the sounds using the visual phonics, remember them and then blend them in their memory.

You can use the SEND image bank to ensure that all oral blending and independent blending words have images.

You can then assess your pupils’ understanding by giving them a selection of images and getting them to choose the correct picture.