CONCENTRATION SKILLS
| Provision |
|
| Curriculum |
Schemes of work can be adapted for individual students to promote momentary concentration or shift of concentration. Assessment of student's pattern of attention is used as a basis for learning activities to increase concentration span. |
| Staffing |
Staff highly skilled in the formulation and monitoring of individual programmes which may require frequent adaptations to develop specific concentration skills. Staff skilled in the detailed assessment of sensory stimulation and the measurement of student responses. |
| Resources |
Highly motivating resources including multi-sensory opportunities or materials with a very restricted and focused range of stimulation. Access to audio-visual recording equipment. |
Environment
and Facilities |
Purpose-designed learning environment where the levels of environmental stimulation, such as light, noise, and breeze can be adjusted to help establish and maintain fleeting attention to the required stimulus. |
| Examples |
|
| Assessment |
|
| Working towards developing momentary concentration on a single aspect of a task or momentary shift from a rigid focus. |
| Examples |
|
| Example |
Thread
6 - Band 6 |
| Early Years Provision
Criteria |
| To develop concentration skills, staff work on increasing attention to interaction, for example, by pushing a car or rolling a ball towards the child. They do this for short periods of time, several times a day, adapting their approach to fit the reaction of the child. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 6 |
| Early Years Assessment Criteria |
| Alice (3:11) will reach out and touch shimmering beads and for momentary periods of time she can focus on a toy placed in her hand. If someone distracts her, she does not return to the activity automatically and attempts to regain her focus are inconsistently successful. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 6 |
| Key Stage 1 Provision Criteria |
| Staff are working on establishing focused attention with students in Y1. Students consistently receive an immediate and appealing reward when they focus on a stimulus object on request. The language is constant and the length of time that the focus is maintained is recorded. The stimulus objects are selected carefully for their natural appeal. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 6 |
| Key Stage 1 Assessment Criteria |
| Thomas (Y2) becomes very agitated if his favourite object (currently an old shoe) is taken from him. He spends his time touching the shoe and flicking it. His parent /carer has tried to send him to school without it but he cried inconsolably. It is possible to get Thomas to focus on another object while he is touching the shoe but only momentarily. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 6 |
| Key Stage 2 Provision Criteria |
| Staff are skilled at identifying adaptive learning which is incompatible with the obsessive behaviour displayed by the student. Great care is taken to ensure that the obsessive behaviour is not being unintentionally reinforced by the introduction of new learning sequences, materials and adult attention as an immediate consequence of the unwanted behaviour. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 6 |
| Key Stage 2 Assessment Criteria |
| George (Y6) bangs his knuckles together so often that he has developed real calluses. His teacher is working on getting him to undertake two-handed co-ordination tasks, as a way of distracting him from banging his knuckles. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 6 |
| Key Stage 3 Provision Criteria |
| Staff have devised programmes to increase students’ eye contact or willingness to share a focus on specific materials, by using opportunities to engage with preferred materials as a reward. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 6 |
| Key Stage 3 Assessment Criteria |
| Derek (Y9) will not share a focus with others. When staff seek to engage his attention or show interest in what he is doing he just looks away or else moves away to another part of the room. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 6 |
| Key Stage 4 Provision Criteria |
| Staff have been exploring how students who are totally absorbed in one activity change the pattern of their attention. Staff have systematically made changes to the level of illumination or used coloured lighting in the room or changed the auditory environment, using audio tapes of music and sounds. |
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| Example |
Thread 6 - Band 6 |
| Key Stage 4 Assessment Criteria |
| Jennifer (Y11) if left unsupervised, climbs onto her chair and balances it on two legs. If prevented from doing this, she circles the room making crying noises. She can be distracted by being engaged in looking at pictures of herself and her family. |
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