Cognition and Learning
Introduction
Children with cognition and learning needs have difficulties in learning or remembering basic skills or may have a specific learning difficulty (SpLD) with reading, writing, mathematics or understanding information.
Some pupils in our school may be underachieving due to extended absences, language difficulties, illnesses, mobility but will not necessarily have a special educational need. It is our responsibility to identify gaps and deliver interventions to help these pupils catch up.
The school uses a range of tests to identify specific learning needs and these are described in the Whole School Provision document attached below.
Literacy Difficulties
School children may have a specific literacy difficulty:
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Phonological awareness (the ability to identify the small units of sound in a spoken word e.g. the ‘p’ sound in ‘pat’)
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Short-term verbal memory
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Verbal processing speed (the time it takes to process information such as letters and digits)
Some children with a SpLD are identified as having dyslexia but whether or not the person’s difficulties are called SpLD, dyslexia or literacy difficulties the support they will need will depend on their own particular range of strengths and needs. The school has a structured approach to teaching reading that is detailed on the website under English. The school use the Little Wandle Phonics programme for teaching phonics and as a guided reading scheme in Years 1-5 to ensure all children have access to a daily structured phonics session and a systematic approach to the teaching of High Frequency Words to ensure fluency. In addition the school use specific precision teaching programmes for children with persistent literacy difficulties.
Numeracy Difficulties
Some children have a particular difficulty acquiring mathematical skills. They may struggle with:
- Understanding quantities or concepts like biggest, smallest
- They may not understand the symbols in maths and not really see 5 as being the same as the word five
- They may struggle to retain maths facts like tables and doubles that halp in calculation
- They may not undertand the vocabulary of maths
- They sometimes learn facts but can not apply their knowledge to word problems
- They may have a poor working memory so can not retain the steps needed to complete calculations and problems
- They may have "Maths Anxiety"
- They may have poor visual perception and/or left -right orientation which can make any column methods or number sentences challenging
Some children with a SpLD are identified as having dyscalculia but whether or not the person’s difficulties are called SpLD, dyscalculia or numeracy difficulties the support they will need will depend on their own particular range of strengths and needs.
The approach to supporting difficulties in Mathematics is detailed in the Whole School Provision document below.