Singleton Church of England Primary School

Inclusive Quality First / Adaptive Teaching Approach

School Vision
To provide the children with a wide variety of engaging and challenging opportunities enabling them to live life to the full. Developing a growth mind-
set, believing that with God everything is possible. To show, love, trust, wisdom and respect, becoming exemplary role models in our community and
the wider world.
Inclusive Quality First Teaching (Adaptive Teaching)
Knowing students as learners requires one to understand the pathways of progress for individual students and the patterns of progress for
students as a whole. Therefore, effective teachers need to extensively and continuously develop their knowledge of:

• Their students’ individual learning profiles and the implications this has for adaptive teaching

Inclusive Quality first teach should include the following

• Highly focused lesson design with sharp objectives

• High demands of pupil involvement and engagement with their learning
• High levels of interaction for all pupils
• Appropriate use of teacher questioning, modelling and explaining
• An emphasis on learning through dialogue, with regular opportunities for pupils to talk both individually and in groups
• An expectation that pupils will accept responsibility for their own learning and work independently
• Regular use of encouragement and authentic praise to engage and motivate pupils.
• Understand that Students take individual and multiple pathways in their learning
• Adaptive teaching approaches across the curriculum
• Engage students in challenging learning experiences
• High expectations for their students and encourage risk taking

Wave 1 – inclusive quality first teaching

Wave 1 is about what should be on offer for all children: the effective inclusion of all pupils in high-quality everyday personalised adaptive
teaching. Such teaching will, for example, be based on clear objectives that are shared with the children and returned to at the end of the
lesson; carefully explain new vocabulary; use lively, interactive teaching styles and make maximum use of visual and kinaesthetic as well
as auditory/verbal learning. Recognise and adapt teaching and tasks to the learner needs within the lesson. Approaches like these are the
best way to reduce, from the start, the number of children who need extra help with their learning or behaviour.
Wave 2 is targeted catch up provision for groups to ‘put children back on course’ and

Wave 3 a deeper intervention offering more personalised solution to be used if Wave 2 has not worked.

Videos links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnxglzqaozQ&list=PLo71rs7uZTvXGVZcGsd9iVKMx43BRvFEC&index=9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y35CL3PwzIg&list=PLo71rs7uZTvXGVZcGsd9iVKMx43BRvFEC&index=11

Development of a broad set of pedagogical skills within the Inclusive ‘Quality First Teach’, approach
What is Pedagogy?
Pedagogy is ‘the art of teaching’. It is a term that describes all the strategies we use to teach effectively.

What are Pedagogical Skills?

Some examples of pedagogical skills include:

• Alternating your tone of voice.

• Asking students questions to find out their prior knowledge.
• Rewards for effort.
• Changing up the classroom layout.
• Setting high expectations.
• Differentiation.
• Spaced repetition.

If we look in more depth at Pedagogical skills

1. Pausing for Effect

• Skilled teachers know how to use their voices.
• They ensure they speak slowly and clearly enough that students can hear them. They will emphasize key words in sentences and
alternate tone to engage listeners.
• Often, a pause in speech is a great teaching strategy.
• Consider a teacher whose class starts chatting while the teacher is giving instructions. Have you ever seen a teacher just stop mid
sentence and … wait? Students might keep chatting for 5 – 10 seconds before silence starts to fall around the group. Here, the
teacher has used the ‘pause for effect’ method to bring the class back to a settled, attentive state.
2. Scaffolding / Modelling Tasks
Traditionally, we would think of a scaffold as the temporary structure that holds a building in place while it is being constructed. Once the
building is ready to stand on its own, the scaffolding can be removed.
What’s this got to do with education?
• In education, we provide support while a student is learning a topic. We’ll sit behind them and give them prompts, suggestions and
advice to ensure they get through a task. We might give them a ‘cheat sheet’ or a ‘knowledge organiser,’ that provides the steps
required for completing the task. Then, once a student has demonstrated some competency, the teacher withdraws the support and
encourages the student to do it alone.
• WAGOLL – We use ‘What a Good One Looks Like’

3. Providing Rewards and Punishments

Rewards and punishments are used to encourage students to stay focused on their task and remember correct answers. A reward is offered
as an incentive for completing a task. A punishment is offered as a disincentive for certain behaviours.
However, the strategy is also criticized as promoting extrinsic motivation at the expense of intrinsic motivation. Using this method,
students don’t do tasks because they want to – they do it for the reward. They also want to get the ‘correct’ answer that the teacher
wants them to provide, rather than using critical and divergent thinking to ‘think for themselves’.

4. Chunking
Students often struggle with too much information at once. If you give a student a list of 10 to 15 instructions to follow, they might get to
step 4 or 5 before … forgetting the rest! When a student has been given too much information to remember, we call it ‘cognitive overload’.
To overcome cognitive overload, we use a strategy called ‘chunking’.
Chunking involves presenting a student with a small, manageable amount of information. Then, you help the student achieve mastery over
that information before getting them to move on to the next ‘chunk’ of information.

5. Classroom Layout
The way you set up your classroom matters.
• A classroom layout that is in rows will promote individual learning. Students will all be facing the teacher, suggestion a teacher-
centered approach.
• A group desks setup will have students facing one another in small groups. This is more common for children in the younger years.
With this layout, you’d expect students to be communicating with one another and sharing resources. This may be great for a social
learning task, but not so great for a standardized test. The teacher needs to pause and have a think about what sort of learning
they’d like to see, then set up the classroom according to their preferences.

6. Assessment
• Effective assessment is a skill to be learned!
• One way of assessing students is to use the ‘constructive alignment’ approach by John Biggs.
 o This approach ensures you align your teaching with assessment. You have to explicitly tell students: “This will be in the
exam!”
o Constructive alignment encourages students to pay close attention, because they’ll know that they’re going to be assessed on
this information later on.
• Another excellent assessment strategy is to provide a ‘formative’ and ‘summative’ assessment.
o Formative assessments are assessments mid-way through instruction.
o They help you gather a student’s progress.
o You can change your teaching to focus on the student’s weaknesses so that they’ll do even better in the final (summative)
assessment task.

7. Scanning the Classroom

• This is a really important skill for teachers. A teacher must always have good oversight over their whole class. They should
constantly scan their eyes around the room to see whether students are looking like they need support. It can also help with
classroom management by identifying behaviour problems and nipping them in the bud.
• Walk around the classroom to get closer to the students and see how learning is progressing.
• When students know staff are actively scanning, they’re also much more likely to engage with their work and focus.

8. Prompting
• Good teachers know how and when to provide prompts to students. A prompt is a little nudge of assistance that gets students
thinking deeper about a topic.
o For example in very simple terms, a student may be struggling with a reading task. They will be looking at the words and
having a nightmare of a time trying to comprehend what they’re reading. The teacher might focus on context clues within
reading and say: “Have a look at the picture on the other page. Might that help you comprehend the story better?”
o Here, the teacher has provided a prompt that might help the student get past a point where they’re struggling at their work.

9. Transitioning
• Moving between tasks and lessons is hard.
• Task transition is a period of time when students often get unsettled, silly, and distracted. If you do the transition poorly, you lose
the attention of the students and waste a lot of time trying to reel them back in.
• Skilled teachers think long and hard about how they are going to achieve a smooth transition.
• They may, for example, play a game to get the transition to occur in absolute silence. Or, the teacher might get students to
transition in smaller groups to control the transition more efficiently. You may have heard a teacher say “Anyone who’s name starts
with an A can now get up and collect their books.” This is designed to give the teacher greater control over the transition between
activities.

10. Asking Open Ended Questioning / Active Questioning

 • Many new teachers (and parents!) learn very quickly not to use closed questioning. These are questions that could be answered with
a “Yes” or “No”.
• We tend to find that if a student can answer with just a “Yes” or “No” will only use a Yes or No to answer it.
• But … with a Yes or No answer … students don’t need to explain themselves! They don’t need to break points down, critique them,
formulate thoughts into words, or express nuanced positions on issues.
• So, we try to ask questions that require full sentence answers.
For example, change:
• “Did the main character in the book learn his lesson?”
To a better open-ended question:
• “What lesson did the main character in the book learn?”

11. Setting High Expectations

• A skilled teacher knows that they need to set very high expectations for their students.
• This means expecting every student tries their very best each and every day.
• It does not necessarily mean that you expect a student to get top grades in every exam. It just means the student should try their
hardest and push their own limits at every opportunity.
• High expectations is more about attitude than grades. A teacher with low expectations tends to have a class of students who are
chatty, lazy, and careless.
• In our school we promote the notion that ‘Your best is good enough’, whilst instilling in the children that learning journeys are
personalised
• By contrast, a teacher with high expectations will have a class of engaged, busy and focused students – because that’s the
atmosphere the teacher has set.

12. Differentiating Instruction

• Differentiation is the ability to give each student a personalized lesson so that it best meets the needs of that individual. Many
teachers just teach every student the exact same thing. This is still probably the most common form of teaching.
• But a skilled teacher differentiates.
They will:
• Place the students into ability groups and give them different tasks depending on their skill/ knowledge level.
• Demonstrate an awareness of the need to use a variety of teaching and learning styles to meet the learner’s needs. So for
example
o Give a student who is a visual learner a video to watch or use visual learning aid as a support prompt, while giving a
student who is a kinaesthetic learn a physical task or practical equipment to support with learning. The students may meet
the same curriculum outcomes, but in different ways depending on their learning styles.
• Ensure a lesson is taught using all the learning modalities to make sure students have multiple ways to learn the same topic.
 • At Singleton we go further than this by including our Inclusive Quality First Teach approach which provides staff with frameworks
for the following
1. Communication and interaction
2. Cognition and learning
3. Social, Emotional & Mental Health
4. Sensory and or physical ( including coordination)
5. Maths
6. English
7. Science
8. Gifted and Talented
• These identify and provide a broad set of pedagogical skills from which teachers can select for use to meet the particular
learning needs of their pupils and support the teaching process.

13. Spacing Repetition

• Teachers need to repeat things – a lot.
• Homework is often the time when students practice through repetition. Students will be given a list of 20, 40, 100, etc. quiz
questions, math questions, etc. to work through. These tasks are all about practicing a skill through repetition.
• However, a good teacher spaces repetition cleverly.
• Good spaced repetition involves repeating new information regularly.
• As students become more comfortable and competent with information, teachers won’t repeat it quite as much – students have
learned that topic!
• But, re-introducing a concept a week, month, or even several months later is useful because or minds start to forget things.
• So, spaced repetition is about constantly reviewing past content that you’ve previously learned to reinforce information into
long-term memory.
• Subject leaders organise the progression of skills and knowledge within their subject to repeat, reinforce build on prior learning

Difference between Pedagogy and Curriculum

The difference is this:
• Pedagogy is HOW we teach.
o It involves all the strategies listed above.
• Curriculum is WHAT we teach.
o It is all the subjects we teach, like math, science, English, history, geography, and so on.
o It’s development and organisation is crucial in terms of:-
 ▪ Inspiring learners to learn
▪ Providing the children with the ‘Skills’, ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Cultural Capital’ that they need to succeed as learners and
succeed in life

Teaching is a real art. You need to develop strong pedagogical skills that can only be built over time. The small, subtle skills like knowing
when to pause, where to stand, and what facial expressions to use are really, really important. Pedagogical skills are linked to both helping
students learn better, and ensuring students are well behaved. However, remember, it’s all linked: students need to be well behaved in
order to learn more effectively!

We do not prescribe any particular teaching style or pedagogical approach at our school. We have developed the ‘Inclusive Quality First
teach’ approach across the school for staff, which supports with the development of a broad set of pedagogical skills from which staff will
select examples for use in particular situations. Our teachers / teaching assistants must actively read the different situations presented by
their classes, adapt, and respond to the learning needs of the children. Therefore, our teachers need to - extensively and continuously
develop their knowledge of their students’ individual learning profiles and the implications this has for teaching and learning.

The following grids have been developed to support you as teachers to develop your own pedagogical skill set within a variety of contexts,
subjects, and for children with specific additional needs. Their purpose is for staff to use them as a reference point to support their
professional judgement in deciding which strategies meet and support the learning needs for the children in their class. The impact of
following the approach should be that we provide high quality teaching and learning experiences that enable our children to realise their
full potential
Contents - Audit tools for classroom use
1. Strategies for all learners – QFT checklist

Areas of need – strategies for pupils who may have difficulties in the following areas:

2. Communication and interaction

3. Cognition and learning
4. Social, Emotional & Mental Health
5. Sensory and or physical ( including coordination)
6. Maths
7. English
8. Science
9. Gifted and Talented
10. Real world examples of the QFT / Adaptive teaching
Strategies for all learners – QFT checklist
Comments: Date:
Classroom well organized and labelled (with picture symbols)
• Stimulating and supportive learning environment
• Working walls/Learning journey display
• Learning aids/ resources available and accessible – e.g. dictionaries, number
lines, literacy mats, whiteboards etc.
Plan by deciding what everyone can learn then ‘differentiate up’
Clear lesson structure with learning objectives presented orally and visually
Multisensory teaching using a variety of teaching styles and approaches (visual ,
auditory and kinaesthetic) e.g. models, images, story maps, action rhymes, Talk for
Writing
Clear, good quality modelling and explanation
Instructions given in small chunks with visual cues
Understanding checked by asking pupils to explain what they have to do
Understanding is demonstrated in a variety of ways
Active Questioning throughout lesson
Range of groupings within the class including some random pairing activities
Activities and listening broken up with breaks for more kinaesthetic activities
Mini Plenaries – throughout the lesson – consolidating learning / moving learning on
Five positive comments to one negative
Praise is specific and named
Memory supported by explicit demonstration and modelling of memory techniques
Classroom assistants planned for and used to maximize learning
Pupils are clear what is expected – use of ‘WAGOLL’ – what a good one looks like –
examples.
Talking Partners
Brain, Book, Buddy, Boss
Lead learners
Good quality verbal and written feedback
High Expectations for all
Regular tracking of pupil progress used to inform planning
 2. Area of Need: Communication and Interaction
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
Photographs of staff and pupils displayed in foyer and classrooms
‘Rules’ of good listening displayed, taught, modelled and regularly reinforced
Pupils aware of pre-arranged cues for active listening (e.g. symbol, prompt card)
Pupil’s name or agreed cue used to gain individual’s attention – and before giving instructions
Key words/vocabulary emphasized when speaking and displayed visually with picture cues
Range of multi-sensory approaches used to support spoken language e.g. symbols, pictures,
concrete apparatus, artefacts, role-play
Instructions broken down into manageable chunks and given in the order they are to be done
Checklists and task lists – simple and with visual cues
Delivery of information slowed down with time given to allow processing
Pupils are given a demonstration of what is expected
System of visual feedback in place to show if something has been understood
Pupils are encouraged – and shown – how to seek clarification
Prompt cards using a narrative framework (who, where, when, what happened etc.) used to
support understanding of question words
Talking buddies or similar used to encourage responses
TAs used effectively to explain and support pupils to ask and answer questions
Varied seating arrangements – e.g. Classroom furniture and groupings consider whether pupils
with speech & communication needs can see visual prompts and the teacher
Access to a quiet, distraction free work station if needed
‘Word walls’ or similar to develop understanding of new vocabulary
Parents advised of new vocabulary so it can be reinforced at home
Appropriate use of visual timetables – personalised to the child
Minimise use of abstract language
Ensure that preferred methods of communication (as well as level of eye-contact) known by all
staff within school
Clear, good quality modelling and explanation
Area of Need: Communication and Interaction
Possible interventions (additional to/different from) Comments Date
Programmes advised by Speech and Language Service
Programmes advised by external agency
‘Talking Partners’ programme
‘Nurturing Talk’
‘Socially Speaking’
‘Talkabout’ Activities (Alex Kelly)
‘Language for Thinking’ small group sessions (Stephen Parsons & Anna Branagan)
Small group language work
‘SRB4’ Building Language Skills in the Classroom
Receptive language activities e.g. ‘Blacksheep Publications’
‘Elklan’ language programme training for school staff
Opportunities to work 1:1 with a scribe
Small group or 1:1 work to develop social skills
Support or alternative provision for break times e.g. Nurture group etc.
Support available if pupil has to leave the classroom to go to a pre-arranged place
Support at times of particular stress e.g. coming into school, home time, PE
lessons etc.
Regular sessions with learning mentor
Social stories written for specific areas of difficulty
Comic strip conversations
In class support to facilitate access to the curriculum.
 3. Area of Need: Cognition and Learning
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
Next steps’ for learning derived from what the pupil can already do referring back to earlier
stages when necessary
Make sure you know the level of difficulty of any text you expect the pupil to read
Key words/vocabulary emphasized when speaking and displayed clearly
Pre-teaching of subject vocabulary
Vocabulary clearly displayed; word banks, topic mats
Resources, equipment, homework diaries make use of consistent symbols and colour coding
• Variety of resources available and accessible; dictionaries, thesauruses, numicon,
number lines, times table grids, phonics mats/posters Individual whiteboards
Instructions broken down into manageable chunks and given in sequence
Teach sequencing as a skill e.g. sequencing stories, alphabet etc.
Pupils encouraged to explain what they have to do to check understanding
Links to prior learning explicitly made
Key learning points reviewed at appropriate times during and end of lesson
Colour coded word walls in alphabetical order
Alternative ways to demonstrate understanding e.g. diagrams, mind maps, use of voice
recorders
Provide – and teach use of – range of writing frames to aid organisation
Alphabet strips / number lines stuck to desks
Key words and/or phoneme mats / literacy support mats on desks
Mark writing for content – encourage pupils to highlight one or two words themselves that may
be incorrect to be looked at later
Occasional opportunities to work with a scribe
– perhaps within a small group to
produce a piece of writing for ‘publication’ e.g. displayed on the wall, read to other
children etc.
Use IT programs and apps. to reinforce and revise what has been taught
To support short term memory, have small whiteboards and pens available for
notes, to try out spellings, record ideas etc.
Coloured paper for worksheets and coloured background on smart board
Texts which reflect interest and age range – good range of ‘hi -lo’ (high interest, low reading
age) available
Multisensory teaching using a variety of teaching styles and approaches (visual , auditory and
kinaesthetic) e.g. models, images, story maps, action rhymes, Talk for Writing
Clear, good quality modelling and explanation
Area of Need: Cognition and Learning
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
Text presented clearly – uncluttered, use bullet points and clear font
Diagrams and pictures to add meaning alongside text
Cloze procedure exercises to vary writing tasks and demonstrate understanding
Don’t ask pupil to read aloud in class unless you know they have pre-prepared and are
comfortable with this
Additional time to complete tasks if necessary Teach and model memory techniques
Use different coloured pens to support learning spellings, identifying different sections of text,
one colour for each sentence etc.
Mark starting point for each line with a green dot
Minimise copying from the board – provide copies for pupil if necessary
Teach pupil how to use planners, task lists etc.
Teach keyboard skills
Area of Need: Cognition and Learning (additional to/different from)
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
1:1 teaching from a specialist SpLD teacher
1:1 or small group multi-sensory phonics programme e.g. ‘Sounds-Write’, ‘Beat Dyslexia’,
‘Read, Write Inc.’ catch up programme
Additional multi-sensory follow up lessons using plastic letters, phoneme frames, writing to
dictation etc.
Daily 1:1 reading, teaching through errors
Small group or 1:1 support for writing/reading – additional to literacy lessons
FLS, ALS
Fischer Family Trust Wave 3 programme
‘Better Reading’ programme
‘Reading Recovery’ programme
Small group or 1:1 work on spelling programmes
Support for pre-teaching concepts and vocabulary
1:1 or small group lessons to develop memory skills using appropriate resources
Revision sessions to revise and consolidate what has been learned
 4. Area of Need: Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
Take time to find pupil’s strengths and praise these – ensure that the pupil has opportunities to
demonstrate their skills to maintain self -confidence.
Catch’ the pupil being good and emphasize positives in front of other pupils and staff (where
appropriate)
Give the pupil a classroom responsibility to raise self -esteem
Refer pupils regularly to classroom code of conduct, whole class targets and use consistently –
ensuring that supply staff apply same consistency
Play calming music where appropriate
Give breaks between tasks and give legitimate ‘moving around’ activities e.g. Brain Gym, wake
up and shake up
Provide lots of opportunities for kinaesthetic learning e.g. practical activities, experiential
learning, multi -sensory resources
Use interactive strategies e.g. pupils have cards/whiteboards to hold up answers, come to the
front to take a role etc.
Make expectations for behaviour explicit by giving clear targets, explanations and modelling
Where possible, create a quiet area both for working and as a ‘quiet time’ zone
Use a visual timer to measure and extend time on task – start small and praise, praise, praise
Teach pupils how to use post -it notes for questions and ideas rather than interruptions (when
appropriate)
Provide alternative seating at carpet time if this is an issue
Legitimise movement by getting pupil to take a message, collect an item, use a ‘fiddle toy’ if
necessary
Ensure that tools/equipment are easily accessible and available for use.
Give a set time for written work and do not extend into playtime to ‘catch up’ – the pupil will
need these breaks
Use pupil’s name and ensure you have there attention before giving instructions
Chunk instructions and support with visual cues.
Make use of different seating and grouping arrangements for different activities
Area of Need: Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
Personalise teaching where possible to reflect pupils’ interests
Communicate in a calm, clear manner
Keep instructions, routines and rules short, precise and positive
Listen to the pupil, giving them an opportunity to explain their behaviours. Use Restorative
Justice or Harmer and Harmed question cards.
Provide visual timetables and task lists – may need to be for a short period of time
depending on the pupil
Have a range of simple, accessible activities that the pupil enjoys to use as
‘calming’ exercises
Communicate positive achievements – no matter how small – with home and encourage home to
do the same. Could be in the form of a ‘Golden moments’ or ‘Good News’ book or ‘Good notes’
to be collected in a small plastic wallet
Allow pupil to have a safe place to store belongings and fiddle toys
Ensure groupings provide positive role models
Transition from whole class work to independent or group work is taught, clearly
signalled and actively managed
Area of Need: Social, Emotional and Mental Health (2)
Possible interventions (additional to/different from) Comments Date
Nurture Group support to develop social and emotional skills
Use SEMH assessment tools like BSquared PSHE and Citizenship and The Boxall Profile completed
to highlight needs and track progress
Silver Seal
Family Seal
Small group work to develop listening, attention and turn taking skills
1:1 barrier games to develop turn taking and listening skills
Daily/weekly sessions with a learning mentor or trusted adult in school
Support available if pupil has to leave the classroom to go to a pre-agreed place
Support at times of particular stress e.g. coming into school, home time, PE lessons etc
Social stories written for specific areas of difficulty
Comic strip conversations to work on developing understanding of situations
In class support to facilitate access to curriculum.
Restorative Justice approaches
Individual counselling
 5. Area of Need: Sensory Needs
Quality First Teaching – Visual Difficulties Comments Date
Give as many first hand ‘real’ multi-sensory experiences as possible
Ensure correct seating in relation to board, whiteboard, Smartboard taking into
account levels of vision in each eye
Try out different paper/Smartboard colours to try to find best contrast
Consider lighting – natural and artificial – which is most comfortable?
Avoid shiny surfaces which may reflect light and cause dazzle
Take advice from specialist teams related to font style and size
Short spells of visual activity should be interspersed with less demanding
activities
Eliminate inessential copying from the board
Where copying is required, ensure appropriate print size photocopy is available
Ensure range of writing materials is available so that pupil can choose most
appropriate to maximize vision
Always uses verbal explanations when demonstrating to the class. Read out
aloud as you write on the board
Address the pupil by name to get their attention
Avoid standing in front of windows – your face becomes difficult to see
Avoid the sharing of texts/monitors unless doing so is a priority for social reasons
E.g. working together on a project.

Possible interventions (additional to/different from)

Equipment and resources as recommended by the Sensory Support Team or
Ophthalmologist
Enlarged copies of texts – size determined by pupil and sensory support
team/ophthalmologist
Access to audio books and associated equipment
Area of Need: Sensory Needs
Quality First Teaching – Hearing Difficulties Comments Date
Careful seating that allows the pupil to see the teacher clearly and also see other
speakers (back to the window is good)
Gain pupil’s attention before important information is given
Keep background noise to a minimum
Slow down speech rate a little, but keep natural fluency
Do not limit use of rich and varied language – trying to stick to short words and limited
vocabulary can limit natural speech patterns and full meaning
Allow more thinking and talking time
Model and teach careful listening along with signals when careful listening is required
Repeat contributions from other children – their voices may be softer and speech more unclear
Occasionally check that oral information/instructions have been understood
Face the pupil when speaking
Keep hands away from mouth
Key words on board to focus introduction and conclusion
Divide listening time into short (ish) chunks
Use visual symbols to support understanding

Possible interventions (additional to/different from)

Equipment and resources as recommended by the Sensory Support Team or
Audiologist
A language programme such as ‘Time to Talk’ or ‘Talking Partners’ may support
language development for a pupil with a hearing impairment by offering a quiet,
small group forum
Area of Need: Sensory Needs
Quality First Teaching – Co-ordination (2) Comments Date
Equipment clearly labelled and kept in same place in class
Teach pupil how to use planner, diary, lists to organize themselves as appropriate
Allow additional time to complete tasks
Where possible, allow the pupil alternatives to taking part in team games where
he/she will be identified as ‘letting the side down’
Allow access to lap-tops/tablets etc. & teach key board skills (e.g. BBC ‘Dance
Mat’ typing)

Possible interventions (additional to/different from)

Equipment, resources and programmes as recommended by the occupational or
physiotherapy services
Co-ol’ project or similar intervention
‘Motor Skills United’ small group intervention programme
Small group or 1:1 ‘Clever Fingers’ type activities
Small group or 1:1 handwriting activities (additional to usual provided for class)
e.g. ‘Speed Up’ or the ‘Teodorescu – Write from the Start’ programmes
Support and teaching of keyboard skills
Use of voice processor and associated teaching (at least 80% accuracy)
 6. Area of Need: Maths
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
Ensure links to prior learning are implicitly made
Give access to a wide range of practical resources
Ensure key learning points are reviewed regularly throughout the lesson
Ensure understanding of mathematical vocabulary. Are learners using the correct
Language?
Provide a talking partner for pupils to share/explain their mathematical thinking
Give lots of thinking time
Present tasks in a meaningful context
Make close observations of pupils to fully understand the mathematical strategies
being used to solve problems – get them to ‘talk through’ what they’re doing
Ensure multi-step tasks are supported by jottings and model this
Give a wide range of contexts for pupils to apply their learning – exploring and investigating,
reflecting on and talking through a process, demonstrating, directing and telling, reflecting and
evaluating, using and applying, problem solving
Give opportunities for pupils to make up problems using skills learned for their
talking partner to solve
Give opportunities for pupils to check their solutions using a range of methods
Don’t rush into abstract and formal written work before understanding is secure
Be prepared to explore, repeat and rehearse steps again to ensure understanding
of abstract concepts
Use squared paper – one digit per square
Different coloured pens for hundreds, tens, units
Mini plenaries – re modelling consolidating and embedding / summarising and reminding
Modelling of Strategies underpins all teaching
Guided learning structures in place
Set high expectations for students and encourage risk taking
 7. Area of Need: English
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
Ensure links to prior learning are implicitly made
Teaching is lively, engaging and involves a carefully planned blend of approaches that direct
children’s learning.
The children are challenged to think
• Set high expectations for students and encourage risk taking
Give access to a wide range of resources dictionaries, thesauruses, phonics mats/posters, literacy
table top support mats
Ensure key learning points are reviewed regularly throughout the lesson
Ensure understanding of vocabulary. Are learners using the correct language?
Alternative ways of recording; scribe, Dictaphone, film, talking tins
Writing frames to scaffold learning
Provide a talking partner for pupils to share/explain their thinking
• Provide opportunities for students to discuss texts, developing appropriate language for
meaningful talk
• Give opportunities for pupils to share the writing process and the final piece of writing and up
level each other’s work
Engage students in challenging learning experiences
Quality choices of text - Engage students in challenging content
Cracking comprehension / writing / RS11+ comprehension for most able Y6
Present tasks in a meaningful context
Make close observations of pupils to fully understand the strategies (comprehension) and the
expectations for a piece of writing
– get them to ‘talk through’ what they’re doing
Ensure tasks are supported by jottings and strategies to support learning- e.g. in comprehension PEE
strategy and using highlighters to identify the information in the text. Model this
Give a wide range of contexts for pupils to apply their learning – exploring and investigating,
reflecting on and talking through a process, demonstrating, directing and telling, reflecting and
evaluating, using and applying
Mini plenaries – re modelling consolidating and embedding / summarising and reminding/ challenging
• Support or guide students as they practice the skills and strategies demonstrated
Modelling of Strategies underpins all teaching
• Routinely and explicitly demonstrate how proficient readers and writers make meaning of, and
construct, texts
• Demonstrate skills and strategies in a variety of ways to cater for different learning styles
• Demonstrate the use of reading skills and strategies across all learning and expect students to
use them in all content areas
Guided learning structures in place
 8. Area of Need: Science
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
Ensure links to prior learning are implicitly made
Give access to a wide range of practical resources
Ensure key learning points are reviewed regularly throughout the lesson
Ensure understanding of scientific vocabulary. Are learners using the correct
Language?
Provide a talking partner for pupils to share/explain their scientific thinking
Give lots of thinking time
Present tasks in a meaningful context
Make close observations of pupils to fully understand the scientific strategies
being used to solve problems – get them to ‘talk through’ what they’re doing
Give a wide range of contexts for pupils to apply their learning – exploring and investigating,
reflecting on and talking through a process, demonstrating, directing and telling, reflecting and
evaluating
Give opportunities for pupils to check their solutions using a range of methods
Effective modelling – explaining and illustrating
Guided learning
Mini plenaries – consolidating and embedding / summarising and reminding /challenging
Set high expectations for students and encourage risk taking
 9. Area of Need: Able and Gifted
Quality First Teaching Comments Date
Investigations, problem solving
Give access to a wide range of practical resources
Real discussion
Time-limited tasks
Provide a talking partner for pupils to share/explain their thinking
Give lots of thinking time
Group work
Quizzes and competitions
Give a wide range of contexts for pupils to apply their learning – exploring and investigating,
reflecting on and talking through a process, demonstrating, directing and telling, reflecting and
evaluating, investigation and problem solving
Give opportunities for pupils to check their solutions using a range of methods
Effective modelling – explaining and illustrating
Guided learning
Mini plenaries – consolidating and embedding / summarising and reminding/ challenging
Opportunities to work at their own pace
Learning from mistakes in a supportive environment
Alternative forms of recording
 10. Real-World Examples of QFT / Adaptive Teaching in Action
Adaptive teaching is a dynamic approach that caters to the diverse needs of students, removing barriers to learning.
Here are five fictional examples that illustrate its effectiveness:

1. Special Educational Needs: In Mrs. Johnson's class, a student with autism struggled with social interactions.
Through adaptive teaching, she integrated group activities that fostered collaboration, enhancing the student's
social skills. This approach aligns with Dr. Temple Grandin's belief in building on strengths.
2. Dyspraxia: Mr. Smith noticed that a student had difficulty with motor skills, affecting handwriting. He
implemented technology-assisted writing tools, allowing the student to express ideas without the barrier of
handwriting. A study by Barnes et al. shows that technology can mitigate the cognitive effects of dyspraxia.
3. Dysgraphia: Ms. Lee used explicit instruction and independent practice to support a student with dysgraphia.
By breaking down writing tasks into manageable stages of development, the student was able to secure
understanding and improve writing skills.
4. Dyslexia: In Mr. Thompson's class, a dyslexic student struggled with reading. He adapted the content by using
audio books and visual aids, aligning with the Orton-Gillingham approach, which emphasizes multisensory
learning.
5. Subtle Learning Barriers: Mrs. Adams had a student who was consistently falling behind but had no diagnosed
learning disability. With the help of a teaching assistant, they identified gaps in foundational knowledge. Through
targeted interventions and making staff aware of the student's specific needs, they were able to bridge these
gaps.