Autumn is here – school staff and children are returning to the classroom to start a brand new school term.
All educators know that this year will not be without its challenges, and the task of supporting education recovery remains for all schools across the country.
But September gives us all an opportunity to reflect, refresh and renew.
Planning new strategies and initiatives to support learning is a crucial part of preparations for life back in the classroom.
To help, we’ve produced practical support resources to help teachers and early years staff maximise the impact of their practice, based on the best available evidence and produced in collaboration with expert practitioners:
1. The ShREC approach to supporting high quality interactions in the Early Years
High quality interactions often look effortless, but they are not easy to do well. So, to support early years professionals, we have distilled the evidence into the ShREC approach. This provides us with a simple and memorable set of specific, evidence-informed strategies which we can embed into everyday practice. These strategies can be used with every child, every day.
2. “Five-a-day” teaching strategies
Meeting the range of needs presented by a class of children is undoubtedly a challenging task. However, research suggests that there are approaches which teachers can employ to support learning and improve outcomes for all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs and disabilities.
Harnessing these “Five-a-day” strategies will positively support all learners, including those with SEND. Teachers should develop a repertoire of these strategies, which they can use daily and flexibly in response to individual needs, using them as the starting point for their classroom teaching.
3. The Reading Comprehension House
Understanding the underlying components of reading, how they build on one another, along with how they must come together to enable reading comprehension, is a critical first step for planning effective literacy provision.
Our updated Key Stage 2 Literacy guidance report includes the ‘reading comprehension house’, a visual summary of the component parts (adapted from Hogan, Bridges, Justice and Cain’s 2011 publication).
4. The FAME approach to using worked examples
Worked Examples provide pupils with a structured, completed example of how to complete a task. The pupils have a chance to explore and understand a strategy before putting it into action themselves. But the way we use worked examples can also add additional scaffolding to support them on their journey to independence.
The FAME framework provides simple and effective strategies that help to support pupils with cognitive load and develop metacognitive thinking.
