Cognition and learning​

To help with this need you can:

• ensure the ‘assess, plan, do, review’ process is understood and used consistently across the setting - clearly record each cycle and evidence of impact 
• assess through teaching to identify the areas of need in co-production with the child or young person and collect the child or young person’s views about their areas of strength and need to ensure that support is impactful
• use open-ended simple statements such as ‘I wonder… or what if’ rather than closed questions
• give clear and simple instructions, breaking down longer instructions and giving one at a time - support these with visuals or a checklist where appropriate  
• use multi-sensory approaches, such as:
  • visual timetables
  • visual cues and prompts
  • objects
  • pictures
  • photos
  • symbols
  • choice boards
  • sequences 
• develop ‘social stories’ to reinforce understanding of learning behaviours and routines - use these to increase relevance and to develop appropriate learning behaviours
• give time to process information before a response is needed 
• pre-teach core vocabulary and knowledge to help prepare the children and young people for a new topic or concept and provide opportunities to explore learning material and be introduced to new concepts, ideas and language prior to whole class teaching
• re-teach core vocabulary and knowledge in a timely manner to address misconceptions or gaps in understanding 
• work with parent carers to provide additional repetition, pre-teaching, and re-teaching opportunities at home, to target core knowledge, skills and vocabulary
• make explicit links to prior learning 
• share next steps explicitly, so children and young people know what to expect and make links between concepts 
• use adapted resources to ensure that the curriculum is accessible to all and teach the curriculum appropriately according to the developmental stage of the child or young person
• use meaningful strategies to boost self-esteem and confidence, whilst bearing in mind that some neurodivergent children and young people find public praise uncomfortable
• provide specific meaningful feedback when a child or young person perseveres or achieves something new

To help with this need you can:

• ensure the ‘assess, plan, do, review’ process is understood and used consistently across the setting - clearly record each cycle and evidence of impact
• adapt teaching and learning proactively, so that the child or young person has full access to the breadth of learning - adjust and make modifications to adapt the curriculum, across the board
• scaffold learning to support positive learning experiences
• place emphasis on self-efficacy and use meta-cognition to develop skills which will support children and young people to become independent learners
• support them to develop their self-esteem through celebration and reinforcement of strengths and successes 
• where possible, use the child or young person’s strengths to make links to and support areas of difficulty

In addition to strategies suggested in the other cognition and learning areas, the following may be of help: 

• formatively assess through teaching to identify the areas of need and work in co-production with the child or young person - observation of learning behaviours and independence might be used where appropriate to inform the next steps
• teach metacognition approaches and understand the child or young person’s needs and asking them what helps - support them to self-reflect
• recognise success in effort and self-efficacy - showing interest in other areas of the child or young person’s life
• use evidence-based interventions to develop skills for example, for areas of specific needs such as spelling, handwriting, literacy, or numeracy   
• link learning to real life situations and use their interests to make learning irresistible
• work closely with the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) and other specialist staff to understand what strategies or approaches to use in line with advice from specialist assessments or consultation - embed strategies informed by specialists within day-to-day practice
• if a child or young person has difficulty transferring information from a board to their desk work, provide a copy of instructions and visuals at their desk to improve accessibility 
• reduce the impacts of visual stress by providing printed text on pastel-coloured backgrounds - this may involve the background colour of an interactive whiteboard or other printed resources

To help with this need you can:

• provide memory aids such as alphabet strips, number squares, post-its, key word lists, times table squares - ensure that these are readily available for children and young people to access, as and when they are needed
• explicitly teach strategies to support memory, for example, giving information in manageable chunks, providing visuals to support verbal and written information and use of mind maps
• reduce cognitive load by providing task boards or ‘to do lists’ that the child or young person is supported to access with increasing levels of independence

To help with this need you can:

• make simple changes to ensure visual accessibility - consider:
  • font style and size
  • coloured paper
  • line spacing
  • lighting
  • overlays
  • appropriate use of assistive technology
• use ‘think, pair, share’ opportunities to provide time to think and verbally rehearse
• carefully plan peer groupings so the child or young person has access to good role models for language and communication 
• use appropriate adaptive learning resources such as pencil grips, spelling aids and alternative methods for recording information
• provide additional opportunities of over learning and repetition to support reinforcement of core knowledge, skills, and vocabulary - this may include a mastery approach or games
• support access to language in all areas of the curriculum, for example, in maths solving word problems could be supported by text-to-speech software so that cognitive load is not impacted by phonological decoding
• use artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce the reading age of texts, so that children and young people can access text independently at their level - use reading age assessment data where available to inform adaptations
• reduce the use of unnecessary, additional language in other areas of the curriculum, for example, when solving word problems

To help with this need you can:

• provide access to manipulatives and concrete resources, for example, counters, hundred squares, number lines, Numicon, Cuisenaire, Rekenrek counting frames, place value charts and everyday objects - explicitly model how to use these and ensure that the child or young person can use them with increasing independence
• provide a meaningful context for learning so that the child or young person can understand the relevance of each concept and make links to their experiences
• teach in the sequence of language, concrete resources, and diagrams before symbols - use concrete, pictorial, and abstract support sequencing
• explicitly teach visualisation skills, for example by using barrier games, or create a picture in your mind to support problem solving and the following of instructions
• teach the child or young person to use a calculator when mental calculation is not the focus of the session, for example, when solving word problems
• solving word problems could be supported by text-to-speech software so that cognitive load is not impacted by phonological decoding

See the sensory and physical needs section for developmental co-ordination difficulties (DCD) previously known as dyspraxia.  

A small number of children and young people may have a formal diagnosis such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, or developmental co-ordination difficulties. For all areas of need, provision or support should be provided in line with the needs of the child or young person and is not dependant on any formal diagnosis.