Further assessment of need through observation, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), collating assessment data, and gathering the views of staff, parents/carers and young person, following a graduated approach and assess-plan-do-review-learn cycles.

Facilitate learning activities in smaller and targeted groups, in limited distraction environments where possible, if not possible consider seat arrangements and best position for young people with Scotopic sensitivity/Irlen Syndrome (see sensory/physical section for more information on Irlen Syndrome) or attention difficulties.

Awareness of young people who may benefit from additional support at the acquisition and fluency stages of the learning hierarchy (e.g. strategies such as pre-teaching of key concepts/vocabulary and increased repetition and over-learning with opportunities to revisit concepts more frequently). Use of simplified texts. Use of mnemonics or vocabulary books (see Getting Advice column).

Use of young person’s profile (written with young person) to highlight strengths as well as needs.

Individual and/or small group interventions with appropriate pre- and post- measures to evaluate progress (examples of specific Literacy and Numeracy interventions are suggested below); good starting points for finding out about evidence-based interventions, programmes and approaches are:

·         The Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit and Language and Literacy and Mathematics projects.

·         Evidence 4 Impact – an independent service that supports educators in using evidence-based practice to improve outcomes for young people.

·         The Early Intervention Foundation guidebook – provides information about early intervention programmes that have been evaluated and shown to improve outcomes for young people (including the ‘Enhancing school achievement and employment’ outcome).

Different young people will require different types, levels and intensity of adult mediation (approaches and strategies used to support during tasks and activities) to maximise their learning of specific skills and to promote increased levels of independence. The focus of mediation may include:

·         Regulation of behaviour (finding out what helps the young person to manage behaviours associated with learning such as attention, impulsivity and distraction);

·         Rule teaching (helping and encouraging the young person to find and apply rules);

·         Insight (helping the young person to use ‘what works’ and apply these tactics to new and novel situations - generalising); or

·         Sequencing (helping the young person to respond in an organised and sequenced way).

Modes of mediation may include:

·         Focusing (directing and maintaining attention to a task using prompts such as gesture or verbal and visual cues);

·         Motor (drawing, moving objects into young person’s line of sight, hand over hand guidance);

·         Verbal (using instructions to guide and direct through questions, step-by-step instructions and feedback on what has gone well- use of task visuals (reminder of task with expectation).

Mediation should begin at the lowest level needed for the young person; some will need to begin at a higher level than others. Mediation progresses from higher to lower levels as follows:

·         Modelling with initial guidance which is gradually faded.

·         Modelling the task using specific examples of rules, concepts and strategies. Providing visual reminders after modelling.

·         Pointing out general characteristics (but not task-specific).

·         Asking for further applications of previously used strategies.

·         Teaching how to select appropriate strategies using previous input from mediation.

·         Young person applies previous strategies and rules with increasing flexibility.

·         Previous mediation internalised and fully self-regulating.