Jargon Buster
All organisations have their own set of jargon and their own set of abbreviations. These can exclude those who don't know them so here is a guide to 'Eduspeak'. Much of this is nationally recognised jargon and some is specific to Lincolnshire. We have also included a few terms that are particular to our school and 'hyperlinked' them to the relevant pages on our website so that users have an easy point of reference. Some are not used much in our school but, neverthless, may be seen in documents from beyond our school and have therefore been included.
| Jargon | Definition |
| Academy | A school which has chosen, or been directed, to receive its funding directly from the DfE |
| ADD | Attention Deficit Disorder |
| ADHD | Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder |
| Admission | The process by which parents apply for a place in a school - see the Admissions page |
| Admission Appeal | The process by which parents can appeal against a decision by the governors of a school to refuse admission |
| Admission Criteria | The criteria against which a decision on admission will be made - see the Admission Criteria page |
| AfL | Assessment for Learning |
| Annual Review | The statutory review of a Statement of Special Educational Need |
| ARE | Age Related Expectation |
| ASD | Autistic Spectrum Disorder |
| Bikeability | A training programme for junior cyclists undertaken in Y5 - see the Bikeability page |
| CAMHS | Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services |
| CEOP | Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Police organisation providing a holistic approach to tackling abuse) |
| Cohort | A group of pupils who progress through school as a unit (generally a Year Group) |
| CP | Child Protection |
| Data Protection Act | A piece of legislation which results in us not knowing some things unless you tell us - it also quite rightly assures you that your personal data will not be shared with others without permission |
| DBS | Disclosure and Barring Sevice (the new version of CRB - see above) |
| Designated Area | The geographical area from which the Local Authority provide transport to a 'Designated' school - see the page on Villages we Serve |
| DfE | Department for Education |
| DOB (or DoB) | Date of Birth |
| DoH | Department of Health |
| Double Envelope Election | A system for running elections in schools (usually for Parent Governors) - see Double Envelope page |
| DT | Design Technology |
| EAL | English as an Additional Language |
| EHC | Education, Health & Care Plan |
| EP | Educational Psychologist |
| EPT | Educational Psychologist Team |
| EWO | Education Welfare Officer |
| Extended School | Activities beyond the normal school day (often called clubs) - see the Extended School page |
| EYFS | Early Years Foundation Stage (our Reception year group are in the final year of this stage of education which begins at the age of three) |
| Family Afternoons | An opportunity for pupils to show their families what they do - see the Family Afternoon page |
| FFT | Fischer Family Trust (a charity which produces reports on school progress) |
| FOI | Freedom of Information (Act) |
| FSM | Free School Meals |
| FTE | Full Time Equivalent |
| Gifted | A pupil who has a natural ability to perform significantly ahead of the cohort |
| Governors | A body that runs a school and holds the management to account - see the Governors page |
| Grammar School | A secondary school which is permitted to select pupils on the basis of ability (don't worry - I talk to all parents about this during Year 5) |
| HI | Hearing Impairment |
| High Frequency Word (HFW) | A word which occurs regularly at a particular stage of literacy development and which is therefore a priority - see the Classrooms pages |
| HMI | Her Majesty's Inspector (or Inspectorate) |
| Hot School Meals | A hot meal which is on offer to all pupils - see our Hot School Meals page |
| HLTA | Higher Level Teaching Assistant |
| HSE | Health and Safety Executive |
| HT | Head Teacher |
| HWB | Health and Wellbeing |
| ICT | Information and Communication Technology |
| Inclusion | Involving all students in the educational setting that best meets their needs |
| Induction | The process by which a new pupil is integrated into our school community - see the Induction page |
| Interactive Whiteboard | The best development in education in years - allows fully interactive lessons with the whole class |
| International School Award (ISA) | A highly prestigious award for developing the international dimension - see the International School Award page |
| ITT | Initial Teacher Training |
| Key Stage 1 (KS1) | Pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 |
| Key Stage 2 (KS2) | Pupils in Year 3 to Year 6 inclusive |
| Key Stage 3 (KS3) | Pupils in Year 7 to Year 9 inclusive - first three years of secondary education |
| Key Stage 4 (KS4) | Pupils in Year 10 to Year 11 inclusive - next two years of secondary education |
| KS | Key Stage (see above) |
| LA | Local Authority (Lincolnshire County Council) |
| LAC | Looked After Child |
| Learning Objective | The intended learning outcome of a lesson (often referred to as WALT with the pupils which stands for 'We Are Learning To' |
| LCC | Lincolnshire County Council |
| Literacy | Reading and Writing - now commonly referred to as English |
| LLE | Local Leader of Education |
| MLD | Moderate Learning Difficulties |
| MSI | Multi Sensory Impairment |
| National Curriculum | The nationally set curriculum for all schools |
| NCMP | National Child Measurement Programme |
| NHS | National Health Service |
| NHSS | National Healthy School Status - see the Healthy School Award page |
| NPQH | National Professional Qualification for Headteachers - we are a Leadership Development School for this programme |
| NQT | Newly Qualified Teacher |
| Numeracy | The ability to understand, manipulate and use numbers - what was commonly referred to as maths |
| Ofsted | The Office for Standards in Education |
| Open Door Policy | Not to be taken too literally! A willingness and desire to meet with all stakeholders whenever needed at a mutually convenient time |
| OT | Occupational Therapy |
| Parent | Under section 576 of the Education Act 1996 a parent includes any person who is not a parent of the child but has parental responsibility, or who cares for the child |
| Parent Consultation Evening | A formal set of meetings on a set date between parents and staff - please be aware that you are welcome to discuss your child at any mutually convenient time |
| Parent View | Online feedback - link to Parent View |
| PE | Physical Education |
| Phonemic Awareness | A recognition that spoken words are composed of several individual sounds |
| Phonics | A recognition of sound-spelling relationships in printed words |
| PIVATS | Performance Indicators for Value Added Target Setting |
| PLMD | Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties |
| PoCA | Protection of Children Act |
| PPA | Planning, Preparation and Assessment time (all teachers are entitled to a set amount of this) |
| Preference Form | A form, usually submitted electronically, by which parents applying for the next phase of education inform the Local Authority of their preferred school |
| Pre-School Setting | A nursery or play group which admits year groups prior to Reception |
| PSFA | Parent, Staff and Friends Association - A group of parents and staff who meet to support the school |
| PSHE | Personal, Social and Health Education |
| Pupil Premium | Additional dedicated funding for a school in respect of pupils in receipt of Free School Meals or from services families - see Pupil Premium pages |
| QTS | Qualified Teacher Status |
| RE | Religious Education |
| Residential | A one week visit for Y4-Y6 involving staying in a hotel - see the Residentials page |
| SADP | Subject Area Development Plan |
| SALT | Speech and Language Therapy |
| SATs | Standard Assessment Tasks |
| School Council | An elected group of pupils who represent the pupil voice in school - see the School Council page |
| SCR | Single Central Record |
| SDP | School Development Plan |
| Secondary School | A school which admits pupils from Year 7 (Y7) onwards - Y7 is the beginning of Key Stage 3 |
| SENCO | Special Educational Needs Coordinator - in our school this is Mrs J Hyde |
| SEND | Special Educational Needs and Disabilities |
| SIP | School Improvement Plan |
| SLCN | Speech, Language and Communication Needs |
| SLD | Severe Learning Difficulties |
| SLT | Senior Leadership Team |
| SMART | Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time related - the criteria for setting a target |
| SMSC | Spiritual, Moral, Social & Cultural (education) |
| SMT | Senior Management Team |
| Special Needs | Needs (of a pupil) that require intervention beyond that generally provided for all pupils |
| SpLD | Specific Learning Difficulties |
| SPP | School Partnership Programme |
| SSP | SEN Support Plan |
| STT | Specialist Teaching Team |
| Stress | I can fit you in to discuss this over a coffee in about six weeks - when I've caught up with my workload! |
| STTW | School's Timetabled Teaching Week |
| TA | Teaching Assistant |
| TAC | Team Around the Child |
| Target | The aspirational level of achievement set for a pupil |
| UIFSM | Universal Infant Free School Meals (the provision of free school meals to all pupils up to and including those in Year 2) - sometimes represented as UFSM |
| Vertical Group | A group of children chosen to work together on the basis of representing the full ability range |
| VI | Visual Impairment |
| VLE | Virtual Learning Environment - learning online |
| WALT | We Are Learning To - the Learning Objective of a lesson in child friendly words |
| WILF | What I'm Looking For - the assessment outcomes of a lesson in child friendly words |
| Year Group | A group of children with dates of birth falling between 1st September and 31st August the following year |
| YR | The Reception year group - those in their first year at our school - this is also the final year of EYFS |
| Y1 | Year 1 - the first year of statutory education and of KS1 (usually in Class 2 in our school) |
| Y2 | Year 2 - the second year of statutory education and of KS1 (usually in Class 2 in our school) |
| Y3 | Year 3 - the third year of statutory education & the first year of KS2 (usually in Class 3 in our school) |
| Y4 | Year 4 - the fourth year of statutory education & the second year of KS2 (usually in Class 3 in our school) |
| Y5 | Year 5 - the fifth year of statutory education & the third year of KS2 (usually in Class 4 in our school) |
| Y6 | Year 6 - the sixth year of statutory education & the final year of KS2 and primary school education (usually in Class 4 in our school) |
| Wrap Around Care | Care for pupils before and after the school day - see our Wrap Around Care page |