In 2018 Pip St John was awarded ‘Communication Champion’ in the UK-wide ‘Shine-a-Light’ awards. Pip was an apt winner as she truly was a champion of children’s communication.
A collection of journal articles from Pip St John
A teaching resource conceived and developed by Pip St John, and published in October 2016 under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 Licence.
Pre-Teaching Vocabulary Manual (PDF File, 67MB, will download to your computer)Pre-Teaching Vocabulary (PTV) is a vocabulary teaching methodology that uses symbols and pictures from Communicate in Print (or CIP, see http://www.widgit.com) on visual prompt cards to support teaching children how to learn new words.
By Pip St John
Research Skills LfL Question Cards (DOC file, will download to your computer)These cards contain questions which may be used by the adult and/or placed in the challenge area for children to work independently to extend their thinking about a story or an account whilst interacting with a text (fiction or non-fiction). Many teachers recognise that when children work with non-fiction texts they often do no more than simply copy passages from their reference source albeit a book/web page, with little evidence of learning. They will need to be altered according to the main text / story or account given to the children but could still provide a starting point for use in class.
Developed by Pip St John
Sentence Builders (PDF, will download to your computer)Sentence builders are made for both fiction and non-fiction texts and can be a springboard for teachers to create their own. The sentence builders specifically aim to reduce the pressure on children to be able to create and construct their ideas into a written form without the worry of whether they can spell and/or recall any of the key words.
Sentence builders can support language development across the curriculum and provide and model a sentence frame on the whiteboard or a wall. Encourage learners to use the frame for speaking and in writing: e.g. to make predictions, offer cause effect statements, describe a process etc.
SEND White Paper response – NAPLIC Members we need you!
Published 15th April, 2026
NAPLIC’s – SEND White Paper Response
Published 21st March, 2026
Thank you to all our NAPLIC members
Published 14th December, 2025
NAPLIC’s 2026 conference: DLD: Research, Practice and Lived Experience took place on Saturday 9th May at the Studio, Birmingham
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