Access for All Bespoke solutions for individual pupils
Learning Support Newsletter Spring 2022
Study Skills- 10 point guide for pupils 1.
Study in pairs.
6.
Read the information and then write a short summary paragraph, or even just a sentence, of the key points. Alternatively, you could write down three important questions about the topic you have studied.
2.
Teach somebody else the information- peer tutor it.
7.
Use memory hooks. A picture or a sentence by the mirror in the bedroom or on the fridge in the kitchen. A note on a whiteboard. If you like drawing – draw some cartoons of the key concepts or characters in the narrative you are studying. Or make a model out of plasticine.
3.
Create a mind map with the key words.
8.
Sometimes get rid of all the IT - computers and phones. Just work with pen and paper on a bare table . Hard copy information only!!
4.
Make the information you want to learn into a story.
9.
Look for film clips on the Web. Put in the key words as information. BBC Bite Size is an excellent source.
5.
Make a sound recording of the information you want to learn.
10. Look at questions from past papers.You will find lots of help and information on Firefly for each subject.
Teacher Tips: Spelling Why does spelling matter? • • •
Entry to the social/political elite. In context of teaching English or any school curriculum subject, people who are worried about their spelling are likely to be inhibited in what they attempt to write. Freedom to write and experiment with language is based around being a good speller.
It is only when we have achieved machine like spelling that is automatic, predictable and infallible, that we are free to write with confidence’ Fred Schonell (1942) Learning to Spell – What good spellers do: • • •
But • •
Good visual memory from what they have seen in print Secure motor movement memory Good aural memory
They are often lazy about spelling strategies because they don’t often need them. They are not obvious or natural teachers of spelling to others.
Key intervention strategies for improving spelling • • • • • •
They need to be individual. Show pupils a range of strategies and let them experiment. Build up an intervention around the student’s preferences. A method you like might not suit your students Try to teach spelling though words that your student needs to use for real writing assignments. A word learned needs returning to beyond one spelling test
Spell Checker - how to use it Spell Checker on laptops and exam concessions - Information for all subject teachers You will all be aware that some pupils in this school are allowed to use a laptop in exams and that they type their exams rather than handwrite them. What you are probably not aware of is that all the exam computers have the spell-checker turned off. So our pupils are able to type and gain the many advantages to quality and quantity that can come from this arrangement. However, their spelling is not red-underlined if it is wrong and the computer will not suggest correct alternative spellings to ones that they have written. So should you encourage these pupils to work habitually with their spell checkers turned off. Anything that they do in their exams is supposed to be their regular daily way of working. Our advice to you is try and get pupils to turn off spell checkers on their device if they are doing an in-class piece of assessment for you. Or if you are trusting them to do a piece of timed assessment as homework. At other times, the spell checker could perhaps be left on. It is after all something that will be regularly there for their lifetime and a place of easy support and correction. Research, however, does show that if they really want to improve their spelling over time, then they should turn off the spell checker and look for their own mistakes in their work.
Dyslexia in maths Some advice and tips on SEN issues in Maths Particular challenges for Maths as a subject for pupils with Learning Difficulties: 1.
2. 3.
Maths is dependent on understanding highly rich and meaning laden language. ‘Divide’ ‘Factorise’ ‘Long multiplication’ ‘prime number’ ‘Quadratic Equation’ Pupils often don’t understand what they are being asked to do – this language is hard. Maths is an intellectual discipline which demands very high levels of cognition and abstract conception. Pupils’ motor skills may make their working messy and out of sequence.
The challenges you have to differentiate: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Breaking down these abstract ‘loaded with meaning’ concepts into very small and simple steps to build knowledge. The need for lots of repetition and over learning. Maths teaching for learning difficulties will require a multi-sensory approach with colour/objects/ spatial and kinaesthetic techniques to demonstrate those concepts instead of words. Some pupils will have poor motor skills which make their working messy and out of sequence. Some use of different colours would be useful here and also writing out some answers again as model answers.
Learning Support peer to peer observation W hy yo u m i g h t w a n t t o b o o k o n e . Classroom visits from the learning support team to support differentiation.
M
any new teachers to Emanuel - whether new to teaching or new to the school itself are offered a peer to peer observation from the learning support department. Most teachers this academic year will have had that experience already, by the time of writing the newsletter. Over the COVID lockdown periods in the previous two academic years, some of you may have missed this potentially productive lesson observation and discussion about how you are differentiating for pupils with special needs.
No two lesson, no two teachers and no two subjects are the same and each lesson generates some really interesting discussion. The learning support teachers learn something new about differentiation for pupils with dyslexia, ADHD and autism in every lesson they watch. Subject teachers often feedback that they also find the whole experience very practical and useful. This is the pro-forma that we often use after the lesson and the discussion, to give some written feedback to subject teachers.
The process usually takes the form of a discussion after watching a lesson, which the subject teacher has If you missed out on one of our peer to peer visits selected as a group where they have some significant because of COVID and are reading this now. Please number of pupils from the school’s learning support feel free to book a visit from us now. list. After the lesson, the learning support team discuss differentiation strategies that they are already using very well and perhaps ‘easy wins’ that they should try and experiment with.
Learning Support Differentiation Checklist Personal engagement with pupils on the Learning Support list/ 1 to 1 time (check/reinforce) Use of key words or phrases. Some visual reinforcement through pictures/diagrams/film footage Copying from the whiteboard- keep it to a minimum Pace of lesson (chunking, reinforcement, repetition, simple instructions) Positive feedback to boost self-esteem Marking that reflects an awareness of learning difficulties Oral reinforcement before writing Flow diagrams, sentence starters, mind maps before extended writing Effective and inclusive questioning techniques