Create a supportive learning environment. Consider strategies such as ‘help box’ with appropriate resources in each classroom; folders in classrooms (on tables) containing resources such as word mats; using off-white paper (not black text on white paper); colour coding/ dyslexia friendly environment; working walls and purposeful displays ( key vocabulary); prompts/ reminders/ ‘to do’ lists; seating selection; visual cues and timetables; timed rewards and consequences; changing visuals ( Smart boards – changing images, clips, texts and colours); brain breaks.
Differentiation- task sheets; providing PowerPoint printouts; timers; breaking down skills; understanding of ‘small steps’ approaches; targeted questions at different levels.
Scaffolding of work- task plans; word banks; sentence starters; writing frames.
Promoting independence - scaffolding; timers; visuals; sharing expectations; work pitched at pupils’ level; effective deployment of support staff; offering mediation at a lower level first before increasing, where necessary (See Getting Help column).
Staff approaches- peer observation, joint planning and support ( triad delivery model);
Chunking verbal instructions.
Multi-sensory teaching methods.
Repetition of concepts and skills- pre-teaching vocabulary; address misconceptions the same day; retrieval practice (last session/ last week/ last topic/ last term); bridging new content and skills with prior learning ( ‘where have we seen this before?’)
Provide staff and peer feedback that is specific, clear and accurate; which focuses on improvement from previous work; and which supports effort and perseverance.
Arrange relevant training for staff from external support services, where needed.
Staff awareness of the learning hierarchy to support their understanding of the stages involved in developing a skill and identifying which stage pupils have reached/ where additional support to progress may be needed:
Use effective assessment and monitoring tools to identify all pupils’ learning levels and track progress:
Establish good links with home to support learning:
Further assessment of need through observation, collating assessment data, and gathering the views of staff, parents/ carers and pupils, following a graduated approach and assess-plan-do-review-learn cycles.
Awareness of pupils who may benefit from additional support at the acquisition and fluency stages of the learning hierarchy ( strategies such as pre-teaching of key concepts/ vocabulary and increased repetition and over-learning with opportunities to revisit concepts more frequently).
Facilitate learning activities in smaller and targeted groups, in limited distraction environments where possible.
Individual and/ or small group interventions with appropriate pre- and post- measures to evaluate progress (examples of specific Literacy and Numeracy interventions are suggested below); good starting points for finding out about evidence- based interventions, programmes and approaches are:
Different children will require different types, levels and intensity of adult mediation (approaches and strategies used to support during tasks and activities) to maximise their learning of specific skills and to promote increased levels of independence. The focus of mediation may include:
Modes of mediation may include:
Mediation should begin at the lowest level needed for the pupil; some will need to begin at a higher level than others. Mediation progresses from higher to lower levels as follows:
Use appropriate assessments to identify difficulties early, establish a greater understanding of the pupil’s needs and inform appropriate referral to other services.
Over rehearsal of information to enable pupils to progress through the hierarchy of learning (see General section) Precision Teaching (PT) intervention, Toe By Toe. PT intervention is suitable for those who struggle with working memory difficulties and retaining information and is used as an intensive 1:1 intervention.
Higher levels of mediation during tasks (see Getting Help column).
Obtain and record pupil’s views through pupil voice activities.
Obtain and record parental information and views through questionnaires, parents’ evenings, assemblies and social media forums.
Use of plan-do-review-learn processes to monitor progress and plan individual support.
Create individual education plans (IEPs) or similar and adapt termly, with progress against targets routinely reviewed by the SENDCo, relevant staff and child/ parents/ carers.
Ensure that any Teaching Assistants (TAs) involved with the pupil understand the purpose of the IEP or group plan and support the pupil to achieve their targets.
School staff, SENDCo, parents/ carers and pupil to continue to liaise on a regular basis – a minimum of three meetings with parents within a 12-month period.
Refer to external agencies for further support around learning and factors which may impact children’s progress (Educational Psychology Service (EPS), Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Service, Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS), Learning Support Service (LSS), Primary Inclusion Team (PIT)).
Target Setting:
Joint objectives planning and target setting involving other agencies as needed; reports should feed into provision map.
Where a child has an EHCP:
Employ strategies to start to encourage pupils’ metacognition and self-regulation (i.e. the ability to monitor, direct and review their own learning,
through explicitly thinking about their own learning, setting goals and evaluating progress) and support executive function skills (these are a set of skills and mental processes that develop throughout childhood and adolescence, which support pupils to self-regulate, initiate, attend to and persevere with activities successfully).
Explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies, following the seven-step model:
Organise and structure classroom talk and dialogue, including ‘Socratic talk’ and the use of talk partners.
Teacher modelling of own thinking and understanding at a whole-class level ( modelling self-talk when preparing for a task, making mistakes and monitoring own levels of reading comprehension).
Provide sensitive levels of challenge and mediation based on the pupil’s needs, encouraging independence where possible.
Whole-class input using visual and auditory cues to support attention and listening.
Reduce load on working memory –break instructions down into chunks, offer repetition and visual cues. Use whole-class initiatives which also improve memory and recall skills (Talk for Writing).
Use of visual organisation strategies at a whole- class level ( structured task planners or use of colour coding systems [red- task done; amber- current; green-to do], and visual timers).
Provide examples of the expected outcome of a task (‘What a good one looks like’ [WAGOLL]).
Use of multi-sensory learning and access to concrete apparatus across the curriculum ( cubes, counters, number lines, spelling or word mats).
Use of spaced learning (content/topics which are taught and revisited at spaced intervals) at a whole- class level.
Direct instruction, cueing and positive reinforcement of key skills ( good listening, putting hand up, waiting etc.).
Targeted observation of pupils’ executive function skills in the classroom, including: self-regulation/ inhibition control, working memory, sustained attention, task initiation, planning/prioritising, organisation, time management, persistence and flexibility.
Use of observational data and targeted assessment to clarify strengths and needs (Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS) / Automated Working Memory Assessment).
Further promote and embed metacognitive talk when working in smaller groups (i.e. explore thinking around a task, how to plan, prepare and use strategies to approach a task with pupils and ways to monitor levels of understanding).
Use of technology and ICT-based resources to support planning, organisation and retention ( voice activated software, talking tins/post cards, Clicker 8).
Target-setting with groups and/or individual pupils around self-regulation and organisation strategies (personalising approaches outlined in Getting Advice column). Cue individual pupils to remind them of the skill or behaviour they are practising ( listening, waiting, or asking questions when they do not understand).
Small group-based support to develop and practise attention and listening skills ( through games and activities targeted around focused, sustained, and joint attention skills).
Support pupils individually and/or in small groups to initiate and persevere with activities through personalised organisation strategies ( task board, lists or charts, markers for start and finish points, or timers) and games ( ‘ready, steady, go!’).
Play games in small groups to practise memory and recall skills ( identifying missing items, recalling lists, copying figure drawings or repeating number sequences both forwards and backwards). Access to targeted intervention time using age-appropriate games/apps (Lucid Memory Booster or Cogmed).
Daily opportunities to model, teach and practise strategies in small groups to manage verbal information and task sequences ( naming the first 2-3 steps and making a list with different colours, ticking off pictures of equipment needed to initiate a task etc.).
For pupils with complex needs, assess key skills and levels of engagement through structured observation ( using The Engagement Profile and Scale) in order to create personalised learning pathways.
Access to targeted intervention support to develop key skills on an individual or small group basis ( working on attention and listening skills in small groups, or working memory interventions such as Cogmed, Lucid Memory Booster). Complement intervention with further strategy-based practice within the classroom ( rehearsing or chunking information).
Access to individualised intervention, linked to IEP targets, based on the principles of distributed practice and overlearning ( daily Precision Teaching), with support to apply learning in context.
Use of ICT software and technology to support information recall and independence as a learner, embedded within everyday provision ( use of voice recorders/apps).
Use of evidence-based approaches to teaching Literacy ( Education Endowment Foundation Improving Literacy in Key Stage 1 guidance report).
Whole class/ group systematic phonics programmes ( Read Write Inc.), embedded within a rich literacy environment.
Development of oral language skills as foundations for reading and writing ( reading books aloud and discussing them; use of books without text to encourage comprehension skills; use of resources and approaches such as Clicker 8, recording devices, word of the week, teaching specific vocabulary; programmes such as Talk for Writing).
Guided reading groups or Reciprocal Teaching groups to enhance reading comprehension skills.
Staff participation in Literacy initiatives and forums ( NASEN SENDCo forum).
Use of appropriate assessments to identify strengths and areas of need, in order to target intervention at an early stage. This may include:
Small group targeted ‘basic skills’ work to supplement and repeat some whole class learning (phonics, fine motor groups).
Resources to support literacy skills for individuals/ small groups (reading/ spelling squares; recording software – iPads, sound buttons).
Tools such as Cognition Matters (writing skills) and Elklan’s Early Language Builders and Language Builders books to support language for literacy may be helpful for individuals/ small groups.
Peer support (Year 2 – teaching younger pupils). Pair up lower attaining pupils to read with younger peers in the school.
Access to technology and interventions such as:
Online learning software that the pupil can access without adult support, IDL, Dyslexia Gold.
Interventions to develop literacy skills, based on principles of repetition and over-learning, with support to generalise skills ( Precision Teaching, Toe by Toe).
Specific assessments- Dyslexikit, Sounds Write, Bearing Away/ Bear Necessities, Raven’s assessment.
More specialised interventions, Reading Recovery - a short-term (12-20 weeks) early intervention programme, aimed at the lowest-achieving 20% of KS1 readers, and delivered by a trained Reading Recovery teacher.
Use of evidence-based approaches to teaching Mathematics ( Education Endowment Foundation Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 guidance report).
Evidence-based whole class approaches to teaching foundational skills to mastery, Mathematical Reasoning programme.
Concrete numeracy apparatus
Use of appropriate assessments to identify strengths and areas of need, in order to target intervention at an early stage. This may include standardised assessments (e.g. Sandwell Early Numeracy Test) as well as formative, criterion- referenced and curriculum-based assessments.
Programmes for assessment and intervention where Mathematical difficulties are present (Dynamo Maths).
Peer support ( Year 2 pupils teaching younger peers).
Targeted ‘basic skills’ time work, and small group sessions to supplement and repeat some whole class learning and develop basic skills.
Individualised learning opportunities for children with specific numeracy difficulties 1stClass@ Number. A specially trained teaching assistant delivers up to 30 half-hour sessions to a group of up to four children, for 10 -15 weeks.
More specialised interventions,
Numbers Count – a specially trained teacher gives individuals or small groups at least 3 x 30-minute lessons for a term. Sessions are planned for individuals based on initial assessments, with a focus on number and calculation.
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