These e-safety resources are for teachers to use with their SEN pupils. Childnet has teamed up with Widgit Software to produce a whole set of Widgit symbol materials to use with those who use these communication tools.
The Widgit Symbols have been developed over the last twenty-five years and are used worldwide. Each symbol is hand-drawn, clear and concise and illustrates a single concept without adding unnecessary information. The symbols follow a schematic structure, facilitating independent vocabulary development.
The Widgit Symbols database is an extensive library of over nine thousand images in both black and white and colour, covering a vocabulary of more than forty thousand words.
The symbols are useful for many different abilities and types of reader, whether it is because of a literacy impairment or because English is an additional language (EAL). Readers who have very little or no text recognition can use fully symbolised text, whereas readers with some text recognition can have key words or new vocabulary symbolised. Symbol-support helps to give the reader the support they require, and develop their vocabulary and confidence when reading.
