Cognition and Learning

Supportive Strategies: 

• Be aware of the child/young person’s difficulties in attention, concentration and processing difficulties and the reasons for these e.g. ADHD, early trauma, anxieties, autism etc.
• Make reasonable adjustments to activities, lessons:
  • Use of timers
  • Use of visual timetable
  • First and Then boards
  • Access to quiet space
  • Movement breaks
  • Active learning
  • Access to sensory resources (e.g. wobble cushion)
  • Visual cues and prompts
• Consider flexibility in timetabling
• Be aware of positioning in the classroom to minimise distractions
• Focus the child/young person’s attention on relevant aspect of the task e.g., highlighting key words 
• Say the child/young person’s name before giving instructions ensuring they understood and can repeat them
• Remove unnecessary copying
• Uncluttered environment
• Accessible worksheets – no excess information, unnecessary images etc.
• Breaking tasks and instructions into smaller steps
• Clear expectations and consistent classroom routines
• Explicit teaching of self-regulation strategies focusing on individual strength and barriers
• Allow learner the time to process and respond to information
• Use partner talk time to help children/young people to gather their thoughts and rehearse their answers before sharing
• Consider the amount of resources used to avoid overload and distraction
• Using a range of formative and summative assessment strategies to identify gaps in learning
• Ensuring consistency of approach at all times

Supportive Strategies: 

• Ensure manipulatives and resources are matched to child/young person’s ability e.g. whilst most of the class may be using number squares it might be appropriate for some children/young people to use number lines.
• Model the use of manipulatives and scaffolds
• Regularly revisit basic literacy and number skills
• Incorporate short daily practice sessions to support the retention of learning
• Pre teach key vocabulary • Use consistent stem sentences
• Provide memory aids and model how to use them e.g. visual prompts, checklists, word mat
• Be aware of language demands of tasks
• Use of technology and quality programmes/ APPs
• Use technology-based accessibility tools to adapt learning e.g. talk to text, speak selection
• Use real life examples to provide context to learning
• Use targeted, evidence based, time limited programmes and interventions
• Consider access arrangements and need for additional time
• Teach one skill at a time and identify effective methods which are suited to the individual
• Model and promote ‘talk to write’ approaches, rehearsing sentences before writing
• Using alternative ways of recording
• Allow the child/young person to leave lessons early when travelling between the rooms to avoid large groups in corridors
• Teach strategies to improve self-organisation e.g., explicit teaching on how to read and use a timetable 

Resources:

• Rapid Reading/Writing
• A structured phonics programme e.g: Read, Write Inc., Little Wandle
• Numicon
• Maths plus One
• Power of Two
• First Class at Number
• Rapid Maths

Supportive Strategies: 

• Consider different ways of recording as an alternative to writing e.g. use of word processing tools, videos, talking tins, listing, mind mapping.
• Provide structured, targeted interventions to develop finger strength
• Develop touch typing skills.
• Consider warm up exercises prior to a writing task.
• Equipment to support fine motor skills e.g. pencil grip, writing slope, adapted writing tools and scissors. Be aware of the child/young person’s preference as different equipment is available. Add visual aid on a pencil to provide a reminder of where and how to hold it.
• Provide support for letter formation e.g. multi-sensory schemes.
• Have an awareness of being left and right-handed. Have appropriately orientated writing mat. 
• Ensure an appropriately sized chair and desk is provided to support correct posture. Provide wobble and textured cushions if needed. Consider support for the child/young person’s feet e.g. steps and resistance bands
• Highlight the beginning and the end of the line to support organisation on the page
• Consider the appropriateness of books used for writing e.g. size and spacing of the lines/squares
• Be mindful of potential fatigue. Keep recording to key points of the task e.g. avoid copying long date or the learning objective
• Use directional prompts e.g. arrows and red dot to support the formation of letters and numbers
• Break instructions into smaller steps and allow extra time to complete the activity
• Provide a paper copy of work from a board to minimise copying.
• Consider whether writing difficulties are caused by specific learning difficulties or a wider difficulty with cognition and learning.
• Provide a range of resources to develop hand-eye coordination, control and dexterity e.g., playdough, pegs, threading.
• Consider access arrangements for writing exams.
• Consider modifying activities that children and young people with perceptual difficulties may find challenging e.g. worksheets

Supportive Strategies: 

• Focus on developing core strength through exercises
• Consider the use of balancing aids e.g., wobble boards/cushions, gym balls etc. to develop balancing skills
• Provide activities during playtimes to develop skills e.g., football, skipping etc.
• Be aware that motor skills can have impact on day to day activities e.g. dressing, eating etc. Provide opportunity to develop and support children/young people’s independence and self-help skills 

Resources:

• Theodorescu (Write from the Start)
• Speed Up Writing
• Hand for Spelling
• Nessy Fingers
• Jungle Journey
• Dough Disco

Supportive Strategies: 

A specific learning difficulty (SpLD), is a difference or difficulty with some aspects of learning. Provision should be provided in line with the needs of the child/young person and is not dependent on any formal diagnosis. Staff should continue with relevant strategies listed above plus:

• Provide opportunities to develop phonological awareness e.g., activities to develop rhyme, alliteration, segmenting and blending
• Help the child/young person to develop a range of word attack skills e.g., decoding, syllabification, sight words
• Provide texts appropriate to reading attainment; opportunities to re-read text twice to develop fluency and comprehension
• Modify reading material – check language, add additional pictures, subheadings, highlight key words, double space between lines and leave a line between paragraphs, print on pastel paper
• Consider the use of line guides, reading rulers and coloured overlays
• Do not ask the child/young person to read aloud (unless they want to) and check comprehension through summary, prediction and clarification
• Text and print should be easy to see - dyslexia friendly (e.g. Size 12 or above, Arial, Comic Sans, Verdana)
• Use a multisensory approach to spelling strategies e.g., mnemonics, finding words within words, highlighting the tricky part, looking at the word shape
• Consider the use of electronic spell checkers at the editing stage of writing
• Use of strategies for scaffolding of literacy-based tasks e.g., writing frames, sequencing, cue cards, highlighting
• Consider using free tools such as Immersive Reader (features include text to speech, changes background colour, font, size, spacing, splits words into syllables, highlights verbs, nouns, etc.)
• Provide resources specific to the needs of the child/young person e.g., key spellings, personalised copy of work, checklists, subject specific vocabulary, personalised spelling log, ACE dictionary, word banks and glossaries, punctuation prompt cards
• Explicitly teach proofreading skills, e.g., reading work from the end to the beginning to spot spelling mistakes, reading work aloud to a partner, using checklists and guidelines
• Introduce new material in a multi-sensory way - show it, listen to it, look at it, hear it, say it, write it
• Consider alternative methods of recording (e.g., voice recording device, PowerPoint, bullet points, posters)
• Teach keyboard skills and provide opportunities to record written work on a word processor/iPad
• Extra time should be given for processing information, answering and completing tasks
• Provide frequent check-ins, especially at the start of the task to check understanding
• Provide a paper copy for the child/young person to refer to at their desk or photograph the board using an iPad – the app Office Lens has a good facility to do this. Ensure they sit at or near the front of the class. 

For older pupils:

• Use calendars and checklists to structure homework
• Use concept maps to plan and identify overall themes and the relationships between them
• Use the marking criteria as a stimulus when redrafting work 

Maths: in addition to above strategies, additional consideration may need to be given to mathematical activities:

• Use visual aids and practical apparatus such as Numicon to reinforce concepts
• Incorporate practical activities into most lessons. Try to avoid worksheets
• Talk through number concepts out loud, communicating thinking in a verbal, diagrammatic and written form
• Draw attention to certain times of the day, revisit concept of time regularly, use colours for hands on a clock
• Follow a structured approach to build understanding of concepts
• Staff awareness that children/young people with maths anxiety do not thrive in timed tests and ‘mental maths’
• Children/young people to be supported where they are developmentally. Use of their fingers/a number line/times table square may be appropriate
• Overlearning of facts. Adopt a little and often approach; repetition and ‘overlearning’ will help
• Memory difficulties can impact progress in maths – consider strategies listed above
• Reinforce rules such as starting from the left when using column methods. Use rule cards, visual reminders, models, picture rule dictionary
• Provide real life experiences such as shopping, using timetables, managing money, whether through buying items and estimating change
• For older pupils, support with understanding bank accounts, bills, incomings and outgoings • It is essential that staff are aware of children/young people’s strengths as well as difficulties, targets set and progress towards these. • The curriculum should provide opportunities for repetition, overlearning and consolidation of skills at an appropriate level

Resources: 

• Precision teaching
• Cued spelling
• Sound Linkage
• Lexia/IDL/Nessy
• A structured phonics programme e.g: Read Write Inc (RWI), Little Wandle
• Also see: EEF evidence based promising projects

• British Dyslexia Association
• Call Scotland
• Dyslexia SpLD Trust
• EEF Metacognition and Self-Regulation Learning Guidance Report
• PATOSS (specific learning difficulties)