Key skill 04 / 08
Communicating
Saying what she means, listening, telling a story, writing it down. The back-and-forth that fills an ordinary day, rarely noticed as a skill.
01What it looks like at home
It's the most constant skill of all, and the easiest to miss precisely because it never stops.
- Explaining something so a younger person actually gets it. Not just repeating it louder.
- Telling a story that holds attention, with a beginning, a middle and an end.
- Asking a clear question to get exactly the answer she needs.
- Changing how she says it depending on who she's talking to.
02From a moment to the log
Here are three real-shaped moments. You write a line when it happens, and Sustenance suggests the skill it shows. That is the whole job.
Rang her grandmother to thank her for a present. Slowed right down, repeated the bit about the school trip when Nana didn't catch it, and asked after the dog before she hung up.
Wrote a note for the postman asking him to leave parcels next door, and taped it to the door at his eye level. Short, polite, and it worked.
Taught her cousin a clapping game entirely by explaining and demonstrating. Broke it into steps, slowed the tricky bit, and didn't move on until he had it.
A line is plenty. You don't tag it, write it up, or grade it. You note what happened, and the skill comes attached. Add a photo if there's one to hand.
03In the report
When review comes round, those scattered moments are already gathered under the skill, written up in plain, assessor-ready language. This is the Communicating section of a term report, drawn from the moments above and others like them.
Communicating
9 moments loggedAoife showed Communicating across speaking, listening and writing for genuine purposes and audiences. She adjusts her language and pace for the listener, checks she has been understood, and writes clearly when there is a real reason to. She is a confident, structured storyteller and an attentive listener. Notable examples include a thoughtful phone call in which she adapted to the listener [11 May], a clear, purposeful written note that achieved its aim [14 May], and teaching a game step by step to a younger child [23 May].
- Drawn from
- 11 MayAdapted pace and detail for a listener on the phone.
- 14 MayWrote a clear note that achieved its purpose.
- 23 MayExplained a game step by step until understood.
- + 6 moreA bedtime story she invented, a returned-book email, a debate over screen time…
The talking, the listening, the notes on the fridge: it all gathers itself into evidence, instead of vanishing the moment it's said.