Special education provision we expect

Coordination needs support guidance

The SEN Support provision we expect all schools and settings to offer for children and young people with coordination needs.

Suggested whole-school approaches:

• Have a supportive ethos and environment which promotes respect and values diversity
• Curriculum teaching and learning to promote independence and organisational skills
• Use consistent visuals around the setting to reinforce key routines and expectations
• Provide training for all staff to promote understanding and confidence
• Curriculum teaching and learning to promote resilience and support social and emotional learning
• Work with and support parents and carers (e.g. support groups, coffee mornings, signposting key support services)

Suggested SEND support strategies in the classroom:

• Check seating – desk should be at elbow height. Children or young people (CYP) should be able to sit right back in their chair with knees bending back at right angles and feet flat on the floor. Put a box or large book under feet if necessary
• Use technology, writing frames (e.g. mind maps, flow charts, photocopied notes) to minimise need for written recording
• Timetable regular opportunities to practise fine or gross motor skills (e.g.Norfolk OT pre-referral pack or Lincolnshire First Move Programme)
• Create a ‘one-page profile’ involving parents/carers and the CYP in identifying how best to support
• Share homework in ways that avoid the need to write it down (e.g. print it, take a photo or use an app)
• Teach strategies to improve organisation (e.g. use of diaries, workplans, checklists of equipment)
• Enlarge text. Print off own copy of pages from IWB. Use larger-lined books or paper, columns or boxes, squared paper
• Have a well-organised classroom with clear and consistent explicit classroom rules and routines
• Ensure CYPs are able to see the teacher and the IWB clearly without turning
• Use visual reminders to support handwriting (e.g. alphabet (capital letters and lower case) and numeral formation guide on the table)
• Use simple, clear language in the right order when giving instructions. Give time for thinking and processing (10 second rule)
• Use writing aids (e.g. slope, non-slip mat, pencil grips, triangular or thick-barrelled pencils, pens or paintbrushes, easy-write pens, adapted scissors, templates or stencils)
• Ensure CYPs are able to see the teacher and the IWB clearly without turning
• Colour code spatially confusable items (e.g. x sign in one colour, + sign in another)
• Seat the CYP away from distractions with plenty of space each side of them – the CYP should have their writing arm on the outside edge of shared table
• Teach the CYP to talk themselves through visual and spatial tasks (e.g. learn verbal model for letter formation: ‘b - start at top, down, up, round, down’)
• Provide opportunities to develop keyboard skills and learn how to touch type
• Choose resources that don’t require manipulation (e.g. number line rather than counters in maths) or pair with a buddy to support
• Allow rest breaks, as concentration and motor effort is demanding and the CYP is likely to be easily fatigued
• Use Social Stories or Comic Strip Conversations to explain social rules and expected behaviour
• Promote concentration with a quiet and calm classroom environment
• Permit ‘time-out’ if needed in an identified safe space
• Provide the CYP with their own set of materials needed in a tray or transparent pencil case
• Teach CPA (moving from ‘concrete’ to ‘pictorial’ to ‘abstract’) and make concepts relevant to CYP’s own experience
• Break down tasks into small, ordered steps to be completed one by one
• Use multi-sensory teaching approaches wherever possible (e.g. letter formation on sandpaper, tracing, writing in the air)
• Support development of relationships and reinforce social skills (e.g. taking turns, negotiating)

Suggestions for the SENDCo:

• Identify need and monitor impact of interventions using screening tools
• Share ‘dyspraxia friendly’ classroom guidelines —primary or secondary
• Consider advice from Educational Psychology and Specialist Support (EPSS) or alternative provider
• Consider advice and support from Children’s Occupational Therapy Service
• Consider a referral to Access Through Technology
• Continue the cycle of support (assess, plan, do, review) while specialist advice is sought
• Provide staff training (e.g. Neurodiversity / ’Every teacher is a teacher of SEN’)
• Seek advice on specialist arrangements for examinations and assessments

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