How we support our children

Improving Outcomes for All

There are many types of learners in our schools:

• Those who access learning without difficulty - they respond well to teacher inputs and they evidence learning well by completing lesson objectives and showing they have done so through evidence in their books.

• Those who need extra support because of recognised SEND issues - these learners may have recognised and/or specific learning difficulties.

There are also learners who do not fit into these groups.  They might not produce much evidence in books that demonstrate they have understood the objectives, yet verbally they show they have a good grasp of learning.  They might not be confident readers, but they have a good general knowledge from learning sources such as listening, internet or tv.  These pupils may well be in danger of becoming disengaged from lessons.  They may become disinterested; they may use avoidance or time-wasting tactics to delay tasks and consequently they are in danger of falling behind.

We identify these pupils in each class through discussion with teachers, book scrutiny and classroom observations.  We will look at what barriers to learning they face.  This might be an undiagnosed yet suspected difficulty such as dyslexia or another issue such as low confidence, social skills or support at home.

Capturing Passion and Recognising Talents

Best progress is made when pupils are passionate about their learning.  Passion can easily be lessened when the final task to evidence their learning is writing-based.  We need reluctant writers to see that life's success is not just based on Maths or English.

Often the biggest barrier to learning can be self-esteem and comparing themselves to others.  We need to use and find their strength to help them to succeed.  Children need help on how to cope and rise to their strengths, not to find a cure.

Learning is the main reason to come to school.  At the same time, we appreciate that the education system evaluates learning based on the progress made in the three areas of Reading, Maths and Writing.  How do we progress writing skills without putting too much focus on it?

A good way of capturing passion is to survey favourite learning styes.  There are three main learning styles:

Audio - those who learn well by listening to information.

Visual - those who learn well by seeing information.

Kinaesthetic - those who learn well by practical hands on experience.

These can be further subdivided - below is a list of 12 ways that information can be processed and presented:

Visual Teaching:

This method allows students to use their sense of sight to encode information or employ their internal ability to visualise classroom content.

• seeing a diagram, web or flow chart
• seeing an image
• seeing a movie or video

Auditory Instruction:

This method allows children to use their sense of hearing to process information by listening.

• listening to a lesson
• listening to a debate
• listening to an story or audiobook - they might not ever read a full book unless they can listen to one
• listening to a podcast

Tactile Teaching:

This method involves teaching students to learn by touching or manipulating objects.

• touching and manipulating an object
• conducting a hands-on experiment
• copying or tracing diagrams or tables
• making dioramas

Kinaesthetic Instruction:

Kinaesthetic modalities help students learn while moving or employing body movements.

• role playing scenarios or doing skits
• participating in field trips
• conducting interactive experiments

Sequential Teaching:

This method allows students to learn the material in a specific order.

• breaking down information into a series of steps
• making flow charts
• placing events in a sequence on a timeline

Simultaneous Instruction:

This method allows students to learn 'the big picture' or the overall message and how the details are interrelated.

• producing summaries
• explaining the overall meaning
• creating concept maps or webs
• looking at a timeline to gleam the overall relationships

Reflective/Logical Teaching:

This method allows students to use their reasoning skills to solve problems and ponder complex issues.

• brainstorming solutions to dilemmas
• analysing material or lab work
• offering reflective writing opportunities
• conducting discussions that explore a deeper meaning

Verbal Instruction:

This method allows students to learn information by talking about it.

• breaking students into discussion groups
• encouraging students to verbally rehearse their understanding of information
• asking students to think aloud
• meeting with students and questioning them about the material

Interactive Teaching:

This method allows students to learn information in the company of others

• organising a group debate
• breaking into small group activities
• conducting a question-answer session
• meeting with students after class and answering questions as they complete assignments.

Indirect Experience Teaching:

This method allows students to learn from the experiences of others; vicarious learning.

• learning from others experiences
• reading a biography
• watching demonstrations

Direct Experience Teaching:

This method allows students to learn through their own personal experiences.

• conducting experiments
• going on field trips
• taking part in an apprenticeship program

Rhythmic/Melodic Instruction:

This method allows students to see patterns or pair melodies and rhythm to the information they are learning.

• suggesting patterns/themes across course content
• pointing out songs that address the course themes
• brining in a musical piece that reflects a period and creates a mood
• using songs to memorise content

Floor Books:

At Framework Federation we endeavour to incorporate all these learning styles in our teaching....  but do we provide enough opportunities for pupils to evidence learning in these ways?

How do children identify themselves?

People identify themselves as many different character types. These character types may well link to their favoured learning style.  In her book 'This is Dyslexia', Kate Griggs describes the main character types of different of dyslexia as being:

• storytellers - not necessarily story writers.  These people could be great raconteurs or conversationalists.
• makers - those who like it
• entertainers
• movers
• imaginers
• questioners
• people's people

Children with dyslexia are usually, but not always, reluctant writers.  Other children who do not have a SLD but are still disengaged may also fall into these character types.  Many children will fall into these categories.  Children with SLD do need extra practice/targeting and intervention but assessment also needs to be in their understanding and knowledge.

We aim to find ways of making our teaching as appealing to as many learning styles and character types as we can.  We aim to find ways of evidencing learning that does not focus on writing.

We aim to teach writing skills and evidence writing progress without making writing intimidating.

• we try to identify favoured learning styles for all our pupils and provide opportunities for them to evidence their favourite stye.  This could be a stand-alone project such as conducting an independent learning project or pupils sometimes set a challenge to teach others about an are of their interest, They evidence their knowledge of the interest by using their favourite learning style.  For example, a 'maker' child might be passionate about their favourite football team and so they build a model of the team's stadium which they present to class.  Another 'entertainer' child has the same passion but prefers to perform a song about the team.  Another child who loves IT creates a film using a green screen to discuss their favourite team.

• Where possible, we reduce the writing tasks for our reluctant writers. They access the same level of learning but perhaps present it in different ways.  The teaching and learning is all conducted using a range of inputs and children evidence learning in a style of their choice.  Photos could be used.

• Topic writing can be the focus of English sessions (rather than English bring the focus of Topic).  The information that needs to be written becomes the focus of a unit of English writing.  The evidence gathered in the afternoon sessions can be a stimulus for writing.

• We use a range of  techniques to plan and encourage writing in chunks.  Writing frames, talking partners, post-it planning, talking tins.

• We use supportive technologies - Clicker, talking tins, narration aspects of iPads.

We are careful with marking strategies for pupils who need more encouragement.  Reluctant writers will be further demotivated by having the work they have done returned with lots of comments on them.  We don't correct every spelling or grammar issue.  We praise the work content rather than being over critical of the mechanics.