Hi, welcome to my shop. I have been a primary teacher for 34 years and have a wide range of experience in different roles. I have been a senior leader in schools and most recently a SENDCO for 10 years. I am posting resources that I think will be helpful for SENDCOs, class teachers or even parents and home educators. I am new to this - so please do send reviews to help me improve - or requests if there is something you think I might be able to create that you would find helpful.
Hi, welcome to my shop. I have been a primary teacher for 34 years and have a wide range of experience in different roles. I have been a senior leader in schools and most recently a SENDCO for 10 years. I am posting resources that I think will be helpful for SENDCOs, class teachers or even parents and home educators. I am new to this - so please do send reviews to help me improve - or requests if there is something you think I might be able to create that you would find helpful.
More frequently, mainstream schools are finding that they are having to make provision for students with significant special educational needs including those who are learning at the level of the engagement model and not yet able to access subject specific learning at a pre-Key Stage level.
This pack provides some resources, ideas, planning and assessment/ recording ideas that might be helpful in this situation.
Contents:
• Two engagement model record sheets with prompts to help staff focus their observations and reflect on appropriate next steps for students.
• 3 activity planning boards for now/ next; now/next/then and making choices to support activity planning with students.
• A daily programme plan that recognises the learning that a student will be doing within their experience in school – staff can tick the aspects that have been experienced that day so that there is a record if that is helpful or required to evidence progress.
• 2 sensory circuits that can be used at the start of the day or when a student needs to refocus.
• A start of the day plan to help structure that routine and a blank version to be personalised as required.
• Activity ideas for aspects of learning that this student may need as a parallel provision and reasonable adaptation to their curriculum provision and programme:
*Sensory activities – to build engagement at a level they can interact with effectively.
*Attention grabbing activities – to develop intentional engagement with the environment, others, and activity.
*Mirroring activities – used as part of an intensive interaction approach to build an understanding of cause and effect of actions. Please be sensitive to student reactions when using these.
*Language development activities – to develop early-stage communication and interaction.
• A weekly planning sheet to record parallel provision.
• A completed example of the weekly planning sheet to give some idea of how it might be used.
• A learning passport that can be created as part of person-centred planning. It also will help with communication and consistency of approach within the setting. It can be helpful to involve parents in completing this.
• A risk assessment that can be completed with parents and staff if the student’s presentation includes some behaviours that are challenging to respond to safely.
Need a quick and easy intervention to support student to learn tables - This booklet is designed to support a student to develop recall of tables through a focused daily minute of recall. The booklet has a pre and post assessment as well as record space to track daily progress.
Some students need to use a structured approach to get number facts into their long-term memory – they do not seem to keep them there just by regular use in maths lessons. This booklet can be used to support this process.
On each page is a grid with items to prompt the student to say a tables fact. Each day they should count how many oral responses they can give in a minute – and record that on the sheet. The aim is to be able to recall a few more each day.
The precision teaching approach works best if the student can do an activity using the content of the page they are currently working on for a few minutes ( 5 to 10) before they do the one-minute timed activity. There are lots of interactive maths sites online e.g. Topmarks: teaching resources, interactive resources, worksheets, homework, exam and revision help – and this is a great way to give student this opportunity in a way that they can do independently.
At the end of the booklet is a tables square for reference and some ideas for extension activities.
These structure strips are designed to be stuck on the left-hand side of a student’s page to provide a clear guide as they write each non-fiction text type. The give a guide to the paragraph structure of the text and what to write in each paragraph. They can be used to help students generate a plan as well as to support them when they write the final text.
The text types included are:
Recount/Diary
News report
Instructions
Biography
Persuasive argument
Balanced argument
Explanation
Report
If used in an I do, We do, You do writing progression – these can scaffold the process for students. Not having to remember what to include, can free up working memory for a greater sentence and word level focus during the writing process.
They are available in PDF format to avoid formatting issues as images have been included to give some limited dual coding to help student understand what is required. There are 3 of each strip on a page to allow for quick copying of them if being used for class support.
There is a well-established tradition in primary schools of using Christmas adverts as a context for literacy work.
This pack contains materials to support using one advert to review students’ comprehension, vocabulary and writing skills at the end of the autumn term, giving them an opportunity to apply all they have learned since the start of the year.
Activities are provided in a range of formats to allow them to be adapted and appropriate for a range of students.
This pack contains:
• Comprehension task
• Retrieval comprehension task
• Response comprehension task
• Vocabulary task
• Letter writing activity
There is a well-established tradition in primary schools of using Christmas adverts as a context for literacy work.
This pack contains materials to support using one advert to review students’ comprehension, vocabulary and writing skills at the end of the autumn term, giving them an opportunity to apply all they have learned since the start of the year.
Activities are provided in a range of formats to allow them to be adapted and appropriate for a range of students.
This pack contains:
• Comprehension task
• Retrieval comprehension task
• Response comprehension task
• Vocabulary task
• Instruction writing activity
Need a quick and easy intervention to support student to learn key maths facts - This booklet is designed to support a student to develop recall of key number knowledge needed at primary school using a precision teaching approach. It starts with basic understanding of number values and digits. It includes number bonds, times tables, halving and doubling, working with numbers to 100 and multiplying and dividing by 10. It includes a page to record progress.
Maths makes heavy demands on student working memory – so it really helps to have a bank of facts committed to long term memory. Some students need to use a structured approach to get number facts into their long term memory – they do not seem to keep them there just by regular use in maths lessons. This booklet can be used to support this process.
On each page is a grid with items to prompt the student to say a maths fact – e.g. to read the digit, say the other number in a number bond, give a tables fact or say what 10 times the number would be. Each day they should count how many oral responses they can give in a minute – and record that on the sheet. The aim is to be able to recall a few more each day.
It was designed with Year 5 and 6 pupils in mind – but the booklet would equally work well for a teaching assistant supporting younger students to do selected pages to help them memorise the key facts that proving a barrier for them at any stage.
The precision teaching approach works best if the student can do an activity using the content of the page they are currently working on for a few minutes ( 5 to 10) before they do the one-minute timed activity. There are lots of interactive maths sites online e.g. Topmarks – and this is a great way to give student this opportunity in a way that they can do independently.
It is often recommended that schools implement an approach based on zones of regulation with students to support them in developing better self-regulation skills. This booklet has 3 versions of a 4-zone chart to help students identify how they are feeling. The first is the usual style of poster with feelings zones and suggested strategies that might help if you are feeling that way.
However, often the students who most need this approach are those who struggle to identify and name their feelings. They are also those who are presenting with the most challenging dis-regulated behaviours in school. To help those students – there are two further posters which have an additional layer of information. They list what the student might be doing because of their feelings to help make it easier for them to be guided to select appropriate strategies.
The booklet also includes a range of other resources that can be used in implementing a supported self-regulation approach. It includes:
Zones of self-regulation poster – standard version.
Zones of self-regulation poster – detailed version.
Zones of self-regulation poster – short, detailed version.
Zones of self-regulation bookmarks.
Zones of self-regulation – simple and visual strategy chart.
Zones of self-regulation – lanyard cards/ pocket cards.
Zones of self-regulation planning sheet.
Zones of self-regulation : tracking my week.
Zones of self-regulation strategy sheet.
Red Zone time out cards to use as a silent signal when students are in this zone.
Zones of self-regulation pyramid template.
Calming activity cards.
Movement break cards.
Links to further information and resources.
Everything you need to use the precision teaching approach for interventions to support students to learn to spell key vocab from the English National Curriculum.
Planning shows how to build student recall and knowledge of how to spell these key words in sessions lasting just 10 minutes a day.
Booklets (labelled A to F so they can be used with students of any age) cover:
A- Year 1 CEW
B - Year 2 CEW
C - Year 3/4 spelling words - part 1
D - Year 3/4 spelling words - part 2
E - Year 5/6 spelling words - part 1
F - Year 5/6 spelling words - part 2
A pack to support the use of this picture book to study Remembrance Day with primary age children from Year 2/3.
Please note this pack does not contain a copy of the text but has a link to buy it from Amazon. It is a beautifully illustrated book that warrants sharing with students.
Includes comprehension, vocabulary, and retelling activities as well as craft tasks.
Contents:
• Cover study activity.
• Recall and retrieval comprehension – in two versions for sentence answers or with multiple choice options.
• Inference and prediction questions.
• Vocabulary activities – at two levels for the same words from the text, one including visuals to support students.
• Retelling as a story board activity – at two levels, one including sentences to scaffold.
• Two poppy craft activities – make a wreath and make your own poppy.
• PSHE and design activity to create medals for people it is important to remember and thank in your own life.
A pack to support the use of this picture book with primary age children – the main pack is aimed at students in Year 2/3 but it includes 4 additional activities to use with older students in Key Stage 2.
Please note this pack does not contain a copy of the text but has a link to buy it from the publisher or Amazon. It is a beautifully illustrated book that warrants sharing with students.
Includes comprehension, vocabulary, and retelling activities as well as craft tasks.
Contents:
• Cover study activity.
• Recall and retrieval comprehension – in two versions for sentence answers or with multiple choice options.
• Inference and prediction questions.
• Vocabulary activities – at two levels for the same words from the text, one including visuals to support students.
• Retelling as a story board activity – at two levels, one including sentences to scaffold.
• Christmas activities – design a stained-glass window and make a Christmas star .
• PSHE and design activity to think about the difference between needs and wants, noting the key things that the family in the story might need.
• For older students, you will find an activity relating to the work of War Child (the charity that is supported by sales of the book), an activity relating to right respecting PSHE knowledge, a retelling in a journalistic style activity and a detailed vocabulary study based on the title of the book.
There is a well-established tradition in primary schools of using Christmas adverts as a context for literacy work.
This pack contains materials to support using one advert to review students comprehension, vocabulary and writing skills at the end of the autumn term, giving them an opportunity to apply all they have learned since the start of the year.
Activities are provided in a range of formats to allow them to be adapted and appropriate for a range of students.
This pack contains:
• Comprehension task
• Retrieval comprehension task
• Response comprehension task
• Retell as cartoon strip
• Vocabulary task
• Retell as narrative activity
There is a well-established tradition in primary schools of using Christmas adverts as a context for literacy work. Christmas adverts provide an accessible way for students to review and demonstrate literacy skills as most students can access the text. They are also motivating as students often recognise them – which is why one of this year’s Christmas adverts has been included in the pack.
This pack contains materials to support using 5 different adverts to review student’s comprehension, vocabulary and writing skills at the end of the autumn term, giving them an opportunity to apply all they have learned since the start of the year.
For each of the adverts you will have:
• Comprehension questions appropriate for students at 3 different levels – with answers at the end of the pack
• A vocabulary development activity
• A follow up writing activity. Text types covered include narrative, letter, diary, instructions, and review.
Activities are provided in a range of formats to allow them to be adapted and appropriate for a range of students.
The selected adverts included are:
John Lewis – Bear and Hare 2013
Sainsburys – Christmas Truce 2014
Sainsburys – Mog’s Christmas Calamity 2015
John Lewis – Edgar the Excitable Dragon 2019
Lidl – Find the way back home 2023
This printable workbook provides 8 sessions of scaffolded handwriting activities – there are two sessions for each of the 4 main letter formation groups. The letter formation groups covered are those that start with:
• Curly shapes
• Straight line shapes
• Down, up and over shapes
• Zigzag shapes
Each session also applies the letter formation work to cursive writing of common exception words (CEW) for key stage one and short sentences. The workbooks also include a self-assessment at the start and end. The workbook was designed for use in a handwriting intervention group which might be delivered by teaching assistant or appropriate volunteer adult.
Precision teaching is often recommended as a strategy to assist students in learning to recall spellings with automaticity or fluency. Educational psychologists will sometimes suggest this approach for students with a dyslexic profile who need to use long term memory to support their phonological processing. Study of the words should be done in line with a school’s phonics scheme approach to tricky or exception words.
This plan supports the delivery of precision teaching as an intervention with small sets of words over 5 days each. It can be used with the booklets which have been created for the Key Stage 1 common exception words and the National Curriculum spelling words for Key Stage 2. The booklets have been labelled A to F so that they can be sensitively used with students of any age as appropriate.
The sessions should be engaging, and progress is measured so that it can be celebrated as well as tracked. This is a one-to-one intervention and should be able to be delivered in 10 minutes per day. Options and advice is given to adapt the programme for individual student needs.
This resource is a bank of 10 different recall activities. Use these to add some variety to the way you ask students to activate memory and prior learning at the start of lessons.
As well as a large copy of each activity that can be displayed on a board at the start of a lesson – there are pages with multiple smaller copies that can be printed to use in student’s books to record their learning.
Most are generic enough to use in almost any subject – but there are enough to allow you to pick the one that best fits the lesson that you are planning.
Inspired by reading of the work of writers such as Kate Jones – these were designed for Key Stage Two use but would also be appropriate at secondary.
It is often recommended that schools implement an approach based on zones of regulation with students to support them in developing better self-regulation skills. This poster set has 3 versions of a 4-zone chart to help students identify how they are feeling. The first is the usual style of poster with feelings zones and suggested strategies that might help if you are feeling that way.
However, often the students who most need this approach are those who struggle to identify and name their feelings. They are also those who are presenting with the most challenging dis-regulated behaviours in school. To help those students – there are two further posters which have an additional layer of information. They list what the student might be doing because of their feelings to help make it easier for them to be guided to select appropriate strategies.
Take a look at the booklet in my shop if you would like more resources and support to implement supported self-regulation.
Ever wished that students were looking at a plan as they wrote their story to help keep them on track. This structure strip will give them a ‘story mountain’ style structure to follow.
These structure strips are designed to be stuck on the left-hand side of a student’s page to provide a clear guide as they write. They give a guide to the paragraph structure of the text and what to write in each paragraph. They can be used to help students generate a plan as well as to support them when they write the final text.
If used in an I do, We do, You do writing progression – these can scaffold the process for students. Not having to remember what to include, can free up working memory for a greater sentence and word level focus during the writing process.
They are available in PDF format to avoid formatting issues. There are 3 of each strip on a page to allow for quick copying of them if being used for class support.
This printable booklet is designed to provide a range of activities that can be done on a visit to a local park area. They cover geography field work objectives as well as science and art learning objectives. There is a range of learning activities to help you have a full day.
The pages included are:
• Signs of the season
• Living things checklist
• Timeline of my visit
• Sketch map of the park
• Count and graph who is using the park
• Quadrat survey of specific locations in the park
• Found art activity
• Colour matching activity
• Reflection activity
The file is presented as a PDF to ensure formatting is maintained. You can print one booklet per child – or per group for your visit and leave out or add pages as required.
Some of the activities would also allow you to address field work activities in your school grounds and you could do them in both locations for a comparison study.
This printable workbook provides 8 sessions of scaffolded handwriting activities – there are two sessions for each of the 4 main letter formation groups. The letter formation groups covered are those that start with:
• Curly shapes
• Straight line shapes
• Down, up and over shapes
• Zigzag shapes
Each session also applies the letter formation work to cursive writing of spelling words for year 3 and 4 as well as short sentences. The workbooks also include a self-assessment at the start and end. The workbook was designed for use in a handwriting intervention group which might be delivered by teaching assistant or appropriate volunteer adult.
This now, next and then board can be used to plan with a student what activities they will do. It is designed to be used with the plan-do-review approach and includes a prompt to review the learning that happened as a result of the activities undertaken. This board has 3 learning steps for those students ready to progress to a slightly longer learning sequence.
It is particularly appropriate for use with neurologically atypical students or those who struggle to engage with adult directed learning.