Digital photographs and picture communication symbols have particular significance at Prospect Bank school in Edinburgh. Using them, the special school has developed communications systems and language activities for its 55 pupils, who are aged five to 12 years and have communication difficulties.

“I think the systems we use are unique to our school because they link to every individual pupil and their learning programmes,” says senior teacher Susan Dickson. “They help the children to communicate with staff, to interact with each other and to communicate with those at home.”

Digital photographs of the new class one pupils are taken on their first day at school or on pre-school visits. These are put up outside their classroom with smaller versions fixed to each pupil’s chair.

“This gives the child a sense of recognition and belonging and is important especially for those whose chairs have been designed according to the recommendations of an occupational therapist.

“It is important the child recognises their seat and that each is sitting appropriately to focus on their tasks,” says Miss Dickson.

The school caters for five to 12-year-olds who have moderate to severe learning difficulties, speech and language difficulties, attendant motor difficulties and attendant socialemotional difficulties.

The portraits are also used for a register. The school day begins with a “Hello circle” and each pupil puts their picture on a board. “These children are heavily dependent on adults and interact mainly with adults at home. So this helps them interact with their peers,” says Miss Dickson.

“We also use photos to help them make choices of activities, such as puzzles or building bricks, which they can point to.

“These are children who could not give you a verbal direction.”

From photographs the pupils move on to using picture cards representing objects and activities and then cards of words to start forming simple sentences, following the Picture Exchange Communication System.

“For example, in choosing snacks the pupils can hand over the symbol for sweets or crisps or fruit, then move on to a sentence strap which says ‘I want’ plus a symbol. This progresses to ‘I see’ plus a symbol and, using a tape recording, ‘I hear’ plus a symbol.

“You always repeat what the sentence says when they hand it to you,” says Miss Dickson. “You are always reinforcing learning.”

Symbols are used at story times, so that pupils can match a word to a picture card and put it on the storyboard. Similarly, they are used on school outings or walks so that children can share their observations, of pillar boxes, flowers, aeroplanes or whatever, even though they do not verbalise them.

Picture cards are used to form individualised timetables for each pupil, for the day or sometimes the week. The older pupils make up small newsboards to show their family what kind of a day they had and they return to school with a newsboard of what they did at home. This has involved the staff creating many new cards, including one for a trampoline.

Complementary to these visual aids is the Big Mack, a Granada Learning recording device with 20 seconds of memory. It allows messages to be recorded and played back at home, and family members to record a reply.

In class, a song or story with a chorus can be recorded so that a pupil who cannot verbalise the refrain can play the device at the appropriate moment to join in.

“It helps them to participate,” says Miss Dickson. “Each child who needs one has a Big Mack with their picture on it.

“They can begin to repeat what’s recorded on it and by the end of a year they might be able to give their news independently by recording a few words to take home.

“It’s a motivator, not a substitute for speech.”

The pupils are also allowed to use digital cameras in school, on outings and at home. “Some take pictures of their pets,” says headteacher Meg Donaldson, “and are delighted when their dog or cat appears on the computer screen. It motivates them.”

The staff at Prospect Bank use digital cameras and Boardmaker software to produce picture cards and the school has its own dictionary of red symbols so that every pupil sees and knows the same picture for “home”, “library” or “bus”, for example.

By class seven some pupils can use computers to make up a storyboard linked to words and access software which repeats in words the sentences they are building.

“The main thing about these communications systems is that they are structured,” says headteacher Meg Donaldson. “You can you start with the object, then progress to a digital picture of it, then to the picture symbol and then to the word. But you always use the word throughout.

“You give as many means to learning as you can.”