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.
This now and next 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.
It is particularly appropriate for use with neurologically atypical students or those who struggle to engage with adult directed learning.
Everything you need to set up daily reading as a formal intervention for students in your class or school who are early readers.
This pack includes:
• A training presentation that you can share with adults supporting early readers to ensure that they are well prepared.
• A detailed guide that you can give to adults hearing children read daily to help them support the development of decoding, fluency and comprehension skills.
• A simple record keeping sheet that adults supporting early readers daily can complete – with an example of how this might be filled in.
• A choice of assessments that you can use to measure impact, particularly on decoding ability. Check these pre and post a period of structured daily reading to see how much progress has been made.
• An evaluation form that can be used at the end of the programme to summarise information and make recommendations about whether ongoing support is needed.
I have used this approach across the school as SENDCO to help ensure that early readers are getting regular and well-structured support that they need to make progress. It also allowed me to see where daily reading support was not providing enough support and further assessment and intervention might be needed.
This is a simple PSHE/ RE activity that shares 4 of the qualities the dragon is said to embody in the Chinese Zodiac. It asks students to think how they might demonstrate these qualities and also to record a wish for the year.
This booklet contains a range of activities to support the preparation for transition to secondary school and includes pastoral as well as academic preparation activities. There are specific pages to address:
Reading a timetable
School uniform
Equipment
Canteens and money
Travel
Staff at secondary school
Induction day
Dealing with worries and anxiety
Preparing for conversations
Study skills including listening, reading, note taking and writing up as sentences
Target setting for the first term
Links to sources of support online
Could be used with individuals, groups or a cohort. Print and use the pages appropriate for your students.
Non-fiction 2
This booklet includes a series of comprehension tasks based on the VIPERS approach that many schools use to teach the component’s needed to be able to demonstrate reading and text comprehension. It is designed to be used with the text from the 2023 Year Two reading test (Paper2 – non-fiction) as all schools will be able to access that and English schools may have physical copies of it that they can use. There are two ways in which this booklet may be useful:
As a guided reading group intervention for students in Year 3 and 4 who are early readers and can decode at this level but would benefit from reading and working on text together to develop their confidence. It would be recommended that reading the text together more than once will help build fluency for these early readers.
As an individual provision for an older student who is an early reader and not able to fully access text at an age-appropriate level but needs to build some independent comprehension skills.
The booklet has been deliberately designed to look age appropriate for key stage two students. If using the test material booklets alongside this – please replace the cover sheet to help students see this activity positively. There are printable covers to use for this purpose in my TES shop. These covers can be put on any tasks or adapted classroom work to make them look generic.
Fiction 2
This booklet includes a series of comprehension tasks based on the VIPERS approach that many schools use to teach the component’s needed to be able to demonstrate reading and text comprehension. It is designed to be used with the text from the 2023 Year Two reading test (Paper2 – fiction) as all schools will be able to access thatand English schools may have physical copies of it that they can use. There are two ways in which this booklet may be useful:
As a guided reading group intervention for students in Year 3 and 4 who are early readers and can decode at this level but would benefit from reading and working on text together to develop their confidence. It would be recommended that reading the text together more than once will help build fluency for these early readers.
As an individual provision for an older student who is an early reader and not able to fully access text at an age-appropriate level but needs to build some independent comprehension skills.
The booklet has been deliberately designed to look age appropriate for key stage two students. If using the test material booklets alongside this – please replace the cover sheet to help students see this activity positively. There are printable covers to use for this purpose in my TES shop. These covers can be put on any tasks or adapted classroom work to make them look generic.
This booklet includes a sequenced and comprehensive resource to cover the KS2 History study of the Stone Age and Prehistoric period in Britain.
This booklet covers:
• Chronology
• Ice Age animals
• Stone Age settlement
• Development of farming
• Study of Stonehenge
• Beginning of use of metal and the Bronze Age
• Cave art and early writing
• Sources of evidence
• Dangers in the Stone Age
• 2 Review activities
It is presented in booklet form to be an inclusive resource for students at lower key stage two. Many secondary schools use booklets to sequence and scaffold learning for students, but this approach is less common in primary schools. I was interested in how this format might be used to make history more accessible and to ensure that it is history rather than writing that is being developed.
All the information is recorded for students, and they are encouraged to interact with it to develop recall and understanding. There is a very limited requirement to record in writing – other methods have been used so that the historical thinking is key rather than writing skills.
Working through the booklet does require literacy skills in that there is a level of reading required. This may be something that a teaching assistant can work on with a student who needs support – but it is also recognised that often this support is not available for subjects such as history. Therefore, the reading level has been managed so that an alternative way of using the booklet would be with peer support. Pairing a students of differing literacy skills would allow for peer support. Both students will be able to record in the same way so there will be no obvious difference in outcome which is positive for self-esteem – but the additional independent reading experience and challenge will be positive for the student who is the stronger reader in the partnership.
This resource has 20 vocabulary related activities that can be used in English lessons or across the curriculum to develop good approaches to working with new and challenging vocabulary.
It includes single word study and word collection activities. They can be put into presentations for sharing with the whole class or printed as activities for students to work on. They will help develop good reading strategies for approaching vocabulary as well as model ways of working with word choice when writing.
This is a fully editable PowerPoint presentation that you can personalise for use in your school – but designed to needs as little updating daily as possible. These start of the day slides include:
• Share the plan for the day.
• Soft start/ Registration activities:
• Reading for pleasure
• Target Time - prompting students working on personal targets/ intervention booklets etc to spend some time on these
• Finish First – prompting students with tasks they have not completed to get these done in this time. Staff may leave books/ work out for students ready.
• Daily challenge activity – which can be updated with minimal editing. This box is highlighted to make it easy to pick out.
• Me-time moment – a calming and self-regulation activity for each day.
• Random Act of Kindness – a prompt to do something positive for your peers each day.
Want an accessible way and interactive way for students to be able to engage with learning phonics.
This bundle has 4 interactive activities that cover all 26 single letter sounds – introduced in an order that will match the teaching sequence in many schools.
Students are presented with visual multiple-choice options that they can select using computer/laptop, touch screen or adapted input device. The presentation gives the student instant feedback and prompts them to retry any incorrect responses.
There a two and three option multiple choice activities for each set of letters. The activities could be done independently. They can also be done with a supportive adult voicing elements for the student. I recommend voicing the sound for the letter/ grapheme and say the options for the student where the activity is being used for teaching. Where it might be used to assess what has been retained – the adult might not voice the sound but voicing the options for the student.
Whilst this was designed with making phonics accessible for SEND students in mind – it can also be used with any student learning phonics who engages well with interactive formats.
This is a simple record card that can be used to implement a behaviour plan with a specific student.
It includes:
target setting
a timetable tracking record
record of any agreed reward
a weekly review
next steps plan
It can easily be printed on A4 and folded to make a simple card that can be kept in class or taken to different classes by the student.
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.
This learning sequence board can be used to plan or share with a student what learning 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 5 learning steps for those students ready to progress to a slightly longer learning sequence. This could be used for a range of different activities or for the steps to complete one learning activity.
It is particularly appropriate for use with neurologically atypical students or those who struggle to engage with adult directed learning. It is also really helpful for students who need a check list to help them keep on track or recall the steps they need to take.
This planning board is designed for sharing choices with a student to help them engage with learning activities. . 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. It offers space to share 3 choices and record the one made. It also shows the student that they will get a reward for completing their choice of activity. The reward might be a highly motivating activity or experience such as time in a sensory room. Or some students may be motivated by rewards such as stickers that they collect. It is particularly appropriate for use with neurologically atypical students or those who struggle to engage with adult directed learning and feel anxious if they cannot be self-led.
This resource includes some advice about using the different learning planners in practical ways. It particularly addresses their use with neurologically atypical students; those who struggle to engage with adult directed learning or those who feel anxious if they cannot be self-led. It can often be difficult to record and evidence the work that these students are engaged with in school , so there are a set of suggested record sheets that adults supporting these students can use for this purpose. These can then be used to look back over with the student; to share learning with parents and carers and to evidence provision to other professionals.
This set of cards can be used to provide a series of movement activities for a student. Each card has a task that will provide an opportunity to release energy and help the student to refocus on being in the moment. It can be helpful to review the different activities and help the student decide which might be good to apply when they feel anxious or overwhelmed within the classroom. Rainbow Routes are designed to be displayed at a series of locations within or beyond the classroom. The student then travels from one card to the next and engages with the activity. They are particularly useful for students who find the classroom environment challenging and need a structured approach to being out of class for a period of time. However, they could also be out into a display book and used in one location whether that is in class or beyond. These kinds of activities can be very appropriate for neurologically atypical students for example with ASD or ADHD or students suffering from anxiety.
This set of cards can be used to provide a series of sensory activities for a student. Each card has a task that will provide an opportunity focus on processing input from one sense and help the student to refocus on being in the moment. Rainbow Routes are designed to be displayed at a series of locations within or beyond the classroom. The student then travels from one card to the next and engages with the activity. They are particularly useful for students who find the classroom environment challenging and need a structured approach to being out of class for a period of time. However, they could also be out into a display book and used in one location whether that is in class or beyond. These kinds of activities can be very appropriate for neurologically atypical students for example with ASD or ADHD or students suffering from anxiety.
This set of cards can be used to review mathematical learning with a student. Each card has a task that will provide an opportunity focus discussion on one mathematical concept. The cards have been made with a range of starting points to be appropriate for students with a range of mathematical knowledge. Rainbow Routes are designed to be displayed at a series of locations within or beyond the classroom. The student then travels from one card to the next and engages with the activity. They are particularly useful for students who find the classroom environment challenging and need a structured approach to being out of class for a period of time. This route allows the focus to be on reviewing some core learning whilst also giving the student time out of an overwhelming environment to process things or reset. However, the cards could also be out into a display book and used in one location whether that is in class or beyond. These kinds of activities can be very appropriate for neurologically atypical students for example with ASD or ADHD or students suffering from anxiety.
This set of cards can be used to review recall of early phonics (satpin) with a student. Each card has a task that will provide an opportunity focus on one sound , the grapheme is displayed and a series of images to prompt discussion about things starting with that initial sound, but this set includes one image that does not fit in the set to prompt deeper conversation. Rainbow Routes are designed to be displayed at a series of locations within or beyond the classroom. The student then travels from one card to the next and engages with the activity. They are particularly useful for students who find the classroom environment challenging and need a structured approach to being out of class for a period of time. This route allows the focus to be on reviewing some core learning whilst also giving the student time out of an overwhelming environment to process things or reset. However, the cards could also be out into a display book and used in one location whether that is in class or beyond. These kinds of activities can be very appropriate for neurologically atypical students for example with ASD or ADHD or students suffering from anxiety.
This resource contains some further advice on ways that Rainbow Routes can be used to give short respite breaks to students whilst still working on their targets. They may have self-regulation targets or curricular ones and there are options provided to work on both. The record sheets allow for the learning done to be noted so that it can be reviewed with the student; shared with parents and carers or shared with other professionals.