CONCENTRATION SKILLS
| Provision |
|
| Curriculum |
Curriculum subjects are taught using specialised approaches to working with students with excessively rigid or excessively variable patterns of attention. Individual targets to develop concentration skills reflect student interests. |
| Staffing |
Staff skilled in the development of specialised approaches across all subjects for working with students with rigid or variable attention. |
| Resources |
Motivating resources in each subject area which are used in relation to the student's individual programme to develop focused, direct attention. |
Environment
and Facilities |
Environment designed to enhance attention with use made of symbols, pictures and colours to increase students' focus on tasks and materials or with a reduction in stimulus intensity as appropriate. |
| Examples |
|
| Assessment |
|
| Working towards being able to maintain attention on a required activity for very short periods of time with adult direction, despite attention either to a highly variable range of stimuli or to an unusually rigid focus. |
| Examples |
|
| Example |
Thread
6 - Band 5 |
| Early Years Provision
Criteria |
| Staff plan for difficulties in concentration across all teaching activities. For example, at story time staff use rhymes and jingles and objects that make sounds to encourage children’s attention. They use multi-media resources such as touch screens to increase time on task. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 5 |
| Early Years Assessment Criteria |
| Judy (3:8) rarely stays on task for more than 30 seconds in most aspects of the curriculum. No sooner has she started a task when she gets up and moves away to start something else. She enjoys painting and will choose this activity in free play time but will only spend up to one minute by the easel unless an adult supports her and encourages her verbally to focus and continue the activity. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 5 |
| Key Stage 1 Provision Criteria |
| For small group work, staff have found it useful to sit the children in a small semicircle with the teacher at the centre facing the children, with her back to the wall. This increases the children's focus, reduces visual distraction from the rest of the class, and helps her to gain and keep their eye contact. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 5 |
| Key Stage 1 Assessment Criteria |
| Germain (Y2) is working on matching letters. He needs to work with only the immediate materials in front of him but, nevertheless, he is easily distracted and then loses the 'plan' of what he should be doing and will not restart unless his teacher sits with him and shows him the task again. If the teacher does not re-direct his attention, Germain leaves the table and wanders round the room. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 5 |
| Key Stage 2 Provision Criteria |
| The teachers have developed a finely graded programme of demonstrating and modelling which they go through, with the child, before an independent response is expected The key learning points are reinforced through the use of real objects or pictures, alongside appropriate language. Teachers use individual pictorial timetables to cue students to the activity and maintain concentration. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 5 |
| Key Stage 2 Assessment Criteria |
| Geoffrey (Y5) has brought along a toy car wheel from home and rocks continuously if it is taken off him. The Learning Assistant suggests he put it on the desk in front of them while they work on shapes. He does the work but needs to keep touching his wheel. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 5 |
| Key Stage 3 Provision Criteria |
| Teachers have found it useful with KS 3 students to plan short learning exercises using a common format across most subjects, supported by clear visual materials including photographs, symbols and CD-roms. Lessons require frequent and varied responses from students and this helps monitor whether students are still on task. The level of adult support enables smooth changes of activity and close monitoring of student engagement with the lesson. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 5 |
| Key Stage 3 Assessment Criteria |
| Alison (Y9) finds it very difficult to maintain concentration on any activity herself. She keeps up a commentary on anything but the work. She needs short tasks, frequent change of activity and a lot of adult supervision. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 5 |
| Key Stage 4 Provision Criteria |
| Staff have found that they need to use a range of strategies to help students to maintain concentration through a sequence of activities. As well as modelling the whole sequence and/or showing a video of it, they use a pictorial sequence and encourage students to refer to it to guide them through the activity. For some students reporting back after completing each step is necessary. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 5 |
| Key Stage 4 Assessment Criteria |
| Mary (Y11) frequently forgets the task she is doing in food technology. She will start assembling the ingredients to make a salad and then start washing up before she has finished. She needs adult supervision to see a short, simple task to completion. |
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