Here are some ways that teachers and other school staff can help students learn and succeed in the classroom:

• Make learning fun through play: Playing with blocks, for example, can help children develop spatial reasoning and problem-solving skills.
• Provide materials to support learning such as coloured overlays and pencil grips.
• Use technology to enhance learning: Ensure students can access technology and apps to help them learn and provide a recommended list of resources.
• Adjust the learning environment: Organise the classroom to minimise distractions and maximise engagement, use multimedia resources to enhance learning, and display pictures or posters to help students remember important information.
• Provide alternative ways to record work: Students can use word processing programs, presentation software, or educational apps to create and submit work. They can also create visual representations of their learning, such as posters or diagrams.
• Use manipulatives and a consistent approach across schools: The “Concrete – Pictorial – Abstract” approach can help students learn.
• Use visuals: Visual aids like photographs, graphs, charts, and diagrams can help students understand complex information.
• Make tasks manageable: Shortening tasks and providing additional time to complete them can reduce stress and improve performance.
• Break down tasks: Chunking information into smaller, more manageable pieces can improve learning and memory.
• Use repetition: Repeating information, such as reciting multiplication tables or spelling words, can help students memorise information and improve their recall and confidence.
• Use experiential learning: Hands-on experiences like science experiments or field trips can make learning more engaging and memorable.
• Play games: Interactive games can be used to reinforce skills and knowledge.
• Use precision teaching: Breaking down complex skills or behaviours into smaller components and tracking progress through repeated measurements.
• Use paired reading: Two people, usually a more skilled reader and a less skilled reader, read a text together and support each other to improve their reading skills.
• Look at interventions already in school and adapt teaching strategies: Small group support within the classroom can be used with the adaptations above, and all teaching staff can use whole class strategies.
• Pre-teach material: Introducing material before it is taught in the classroom can build confidence, reduce anxiety, and increase understanding.
• See specific toolkits for Slower Paced Learners, Moderate Learning Difficulties, Specific Learning Difficulties, Complex Learning Difficulties, Early Years and Post 16 learners.

View and/or download the full Cognition and Learning Needs Toolkit