We know that teaching assistants (TAs) are fundamental in the running of our schools. They are unsung heroes and are expected to do a lot – from teaching to finding a lost pencil, from providing a ‘magic’ wet paper towel for a bumped knee to inputting data into statutory reports.

The number of teaching assistants in our schools has increased dramatically over the last 25 years and in 2015, the EEF first released a guidance report on ‘Making best use of teaching assistants’ (1) and a key finding was:

‘The typical deployment and use of TAs, under everyday conditions, is not leading to improvements in academic outcomes.’

This led to headlines stating that TAs were high cost but low impact.

Pupil attainment outcomes are important but we also know that these outcomes are not the only aspect in a child's development we want the education system to impact upon. The pastoral care that schools provide has a huge impact on children’s outcomes and successes, and I believe this is an area of school life in which TAs have a major impact. 

The changing role of teaching assistants

TAs are expected to support with teaching, and increasingly to lead teaching, in classrooms.

Teaching and/or supporting with maths learning is an aspect of the role that can cause a lot of anxiety.

I work with many TAs at training events and in schools, and when they hear I am a maths adviser, I regularly get told: 

 “Please don’t watch me. I am not very good at maths.”

“This isn’t going to be hard, is it? I was always rubbish at maths at school.”

“Maths is different to when I was at school.”

Many of the TAs I have met or worked with don’t have great belief in their own ability in maths and don’t have positive memories of learning maths at school. I would argue that many have maths anxiety.

In a report by the Centre for Neuroscience in Education at the University of Cambridge (2), maths anxiety is defined as,

“a negative emotional reaction to mathematics, which can interfere with the ability to perform mathematical tasks.”
 

Does it matter if those working with pupils have maths anxiety? 

On page 4 of the report on understanding mathematics anxiety (2), there are several recommendations. A number of these talk about the impact of teachers, TAs or parents with maths anxiety on the children they support.

• Teachers and parents need to be conscious of the fact that their own mathematics anxiety might influence student mathematics anxiety and that gendered stereotypes about mathematics suitability and ability might drive, to some degree, the gender gap in maths performance.
• Hence, for parents and teachers, tackling their own anxieties and belief systems in mathematics might be the first step to helping their children or students.

Therefore, it does matter. 

How to support people who are anxious about maths, to work effectively with children, needs careful consideration. 

Teaching Assistants: Subject Knowledge in Primary Maths Webinars 2024/25 

Enabling greater pupil independence 

Scaffolding framework for teaching assistant – pupil interactions
Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants, EEF

The idea of the framework is to ensure that TAs interact with pupils in a way that enables greater pupil independence. Teachers have the responsibility to set tasks with the correct level of challenge, and TAs should observe and then provide support.

This may involve suggesting self-scaffolding and if more support is needed, moving down through the layers. The further down the layers, the greater the need for dependence on an adult or learnt helplessness.

Sadly, I see and hear about many pupils who are highly dependent on adults and have very little independence. 

If this is a model that is known to work, why are so many pupils dependent on an adult in maths lessons?

I would argue that this could be for several reasons.

One is that tasks are not being set with the correct level of challenge, considering pupils’ prior knowledge.

Another is that the support provided starts at the bottom of the triangle – with correcting or showing.

I think, on many occasions, this is due to TAs not feeling confident to prompt, give clues or provide a model that helps to explain the mathematical concept being taught. However, they want the pupil to feel successful and to get the answer correct. They may also want to mask their own anxiety.

Going back to the comments I often get from TAs I meet, especially the one about maths being ‘new and different’…

Maths as a subject hasn’t really changed – the number system is the same and calculations are no different either, but I would agree that maths teaching has changed.

If I think about the maths I was taught at school, and even how maths was taught when I was training to be a teacher, it was different. The focus now is on conceptual understanding, and learning how and why strategies work, rather than simply learning a formula or process and applying it. 

 

What can be done to support teaching assistants who are feeling anxious about maths?

In the EEF guidance report (in part 4 of the summary of recommendations) (1), it states:

During lesson preparation time, ensure TAs have the essential ‘need to knows’:

• Concepts, facts, information being taught
• Skills to be learned, applied, practised or extended
• Intended learning outcomes
• Expected/required feedback.

This is a lot. 

Teachers are time-poor and budgets and working arrangements often mean that teachers and TAs don’t have time to meet for this purpose. If a TA’s subject knowledge is insecure, they are anxious about maths and there’s a lack of time to prepare, supporting maths teaching can become overwhelming.

Developing subject knowledge in maths

Providing support and training to develop subject knowledge would be a good first step to build self-confidence.

As listed in ‘ten reasons to improve the use of teaching assistants’(1), “Upskilling TAs raises their professional profile and status and makes them feel more valued.” It also provides them with the knowledge, skills and vocabulary to provide prompts, clues and models that support pupils’ independence.

In an article by Cambridge Mathematics (3), high quality CPD / training is included in the “Virtuous Cycle”. This has been created by looking at what research suggests about effective utilisation of TAs in the maths classroom specifically. It recommends that,

“schools should consider the value of maths-specific training and professional development for TAs supporting mathematics lessons”.

A workable, cost-effective solution

The primary maths team at HFL recognise the need for high quality CPD for TAs, but we also recognise that school budgets are tight and releasing people can be tricky. So we have come up with a workable solution.

We are putting on a series of six 1-hour webinars over the autumn and spring terms. 

Teaching Assistants: Subject Knowledge in Primary Maths Webinars 2024/25

Each session will focus on a domain of maths learning, for example, numbers, multiplication and division, fractions or geometry. Sessions will increase subject knowledge and conceptual understanding across the maths curriculum and provide practical ideas to take away and use straight away in the classroom.

The cost of the six-session package starts from £45 for one TA; only £7.50 per session.

We are keen to enable as many TAs to access this training as possible.

The cost for 2-5 TA places is £120. So if 5 TAs access the training, that works out at £4 per TA per session.

We appreciate it may not be possible to release 5 TAs at the same time so all sessions will be recorded and will be available to watch at any time.

For more information about the training and to book places, please visit the HFL Education Hub

References

EEF (uploaded 2021) making best use of teaching assistants guidance report

EEF (uploaded 2021) Scaffolding framework for teaching assistant – pupil interactions

EEF (uploaded 2021) Ten reasons to improve the use of Teaching assistants

Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk)

Carey, E., Devine, A., Hill, F., Dowker, A., McLellan, R., & Szucs, D. (2019). Understanding Mathematics Anxiety: Investigating the experiences of UK primary and secondary school students. Centre for Neuroscience in Education. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.37744

Espresso research, filtered by Cambridge mathematics (2019) A possible ‘feedback loop’ model for the practice of teaching assistants. Teaching assistants in mathematics learning (cambridgemaths.org)
 

I have written before about the powerful effect a teacher’s beliefs about a child can have on that child both positively (known as the Pygmalion effect ) and negatively (known as the Golem effect). In his seminal study Hattie revealed that teacher efficacy (literally a teacher’s belief about themselves or a school community’s belief about its collective power) has a huge impact on the impact that school can achieve. Previous research suggested that teacher efficacy can outweigh the negative effects of low socio-economic impact. 

So what if teachers believed that the effective use of technology supported learning? What would that look like in practice and how would it impact on the young people

One Watford Primary Headteacher asked us to trial this in her school. How did we go about it and what was the impact on the young people?  

Join us at our free to attend Technology in Schools Conference to be held on the 9th July 2024  or get in touch directly training@hfleducation.org

References:

Hattie, J., and Zierer, K., Visible Learning Insights. Routledge: London, 2019.

Goddard, R. D., Hoy, W. K., & Hoy, A. W. (2000). Collective Teacher Efficacy: Its Meaning, Measure, and Impact on Student Achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 37(2), 479–507. 

So why are there so few references to use of technology in Pupil Premium statements? There are a few reasons why technology might be a useful tool in helping us combat educational disadvantage:

• If you don’t understand the first time you can ask it the same question several times and it doesn’t get cross or assume that you’re not listening.
• It can instantly provide the knowledge needed to plug gaps. This is particularly important in the current context of absence in schools.
• It can work out precisely the aspect of a new concept that is preventing learning. So if we’re learning the perfect tense. Is it the verbs in avoir or how the endings are formed or even a more philosophical why is the perfect tense perfect. The technology can work this out and address this on a personal level that would take a longer time for me as the teacher to diagnose and then address.

At  a recent conference on AI in education Anthoney Seldon posted, 

‘If we are very wise in the way that  AI is applied. It will solve the enduring problems that the third factory model of education never solved for example social mobility, which has been  static or declining, it could massively help social mobility’.

Westminster Education Forum February 2024

Thank you to the Hertfordshire Chairs of Governors Panel for their time and great questions at their recent meeting as we explored together how AI and Edtech can support us in our journey towards Educational Equity.

Firstly, a big thank you to all those who serve our schools as governors. We probably don’t tell you this often enough but we are grateful for your energy, curiosity and contribution to our school communities. What you do matters, the areas you choose to focus on matter! Focusing on educational equity which might be summed up as the opportunity, ‘for children to write their own life story’ seems like a good place to start.

Here  are some thoughts about questions you might ask to better understand how technology is contributing to equity in school:

• How does our use of Edtech and AI align with our school priorities?
• How much are we spending on EdTech?
  • Which platforms are the most effective? In every subject? How do we know?
• What are the risks of using AI and Edtech in our school?
  • How are we mitigating for these risks?
• Are there references to Edtech and AI in key policies? How are they referenced? Are all references negative?
• What is the impact on disadvantaged students of our strategies such as bring your own device?

In a world where a series of de-personalised lesson slides can be downloaded in a single click, and where AI can script a generic model for writing, we run the risk of deskilling our most valuable assets: our teachers.  

As advisers privileged to support schools throughout Hertfordshire and beyond, we frequently encounter a recurring narrative. Teachers report that many of their young writers are disengaged and unmotivated during writing lessons. Many even find the teaching of writing overwhelming or personally challenging themselves. Whether it is due to time constraints, the constant need to fill gaps from previous years, a demanding curriculum dominated by formal grammar instruction, or all of the above, we have heard it and continue to experience it first hand. Assessment data for writing also highlights the need for change. 

The story continues with the very recent report from the Literacy Trust’s Literacy Survey, which explores children and young people’s writing enjoyment at school and in their free time. Sadly, it reveals that pupils’ motivation and enjoyment for writing is the lowest since 2010.

“Increasing evidence of a long-term downward trend calls for urgent action to reconnect children and young people with writing that promotes connection with creativity, self-expression and mental wellbeing.” – Literacy Trust 2024 

ESSENTIALWRITING: Help is at hand!
 

The Primary English Team has been collaborating with school colleagues to develop and trial an innovative writing curriculum tailored for both teachers and children. This curriculum aims to enhance the knowledge, motivation, and confidence of teachers and children by exploring the craft of writing.

This close relationship with schools has provided us with valuable insight, allowing us to develop a clear philosophy with quality pedagogy and values that are built upon a strong evidence base. 

The Rationale 

So let us start with the why. Why Essential Writing? Why now?  

ESSENTIALWRITING is a progressively sequenced writing curriculum for years 1 to 6, that is built upon the principles of writing for authentic purpose and audience. The curriculum is designed to teach and review children’s understanding of language choices, according totheir writing purpose, across the year and in subsequent years. 

Allow us to elaborate... 

Why am I writing and to whom am I really writing?  

As much as possible, within every unit plan, children are encouraged to write for a chosen,  authentic audience and are provided with time to publish and share their writing with their intended reader(s). These authentic reasons to write, and seeing these experiences through to the very end, can drive motivation, engagement and pleasure – not to mention a real and genuine care for the writing process.  

Thank you to teachers at St Paul’s Walden, Hitchin who commented that, when trialling the plans: 

“Children loved writing for a real purpose and were excited to receive a response and see the impact of their writing!”  

“The quality and quantity of the work has improved massively!” 

Sequenced and progressive 

ESSENTIALWRITING has been developed to ensure complete National Curriculum coverage from year 1 to 6. Objectives have been mapped out across the year with opportunities to review key objectives from the previous year group embedded. Objectives build sequentially over the year with deliberate emphasis and repetition of core skills that children will rely upon the most within their writing. 

“Effective enactment of a progressive, sequenced curriculum, every lesson, every day, as a universal entitlement, offers far greater opportunity for all.” – Dan Nicholls 

We understand the importance of a structured curriculum with high expectations for all children, and this is especially important for pupils currently experiencing disadvantage. We aim for new knowledge to seamlessly ‘stick’ to existing knowledge. This spiral curriculum is designed to introduce new concepts in manageable chunks and offer meaningful opportunities for application as children delve deeply into studying the craft of writing. 

“When planning a curriculum, teachers and leaders should prioritise progression in knowledge of language and of its forms, usage, grammar and vocabulary. This knowledge, of the structures of language, can then be used by pupils across their spoken language, reading and writing.” - Research series: English, Ofsted July 2022

High-quality texts and written models 

It goes without saying that this curriculum is centred around high-quality literature, and although ESSENTIALWRITING does use a wide range of engaging books, it is not a reading

curriculum. Our plans offer abundant opportunities for children to engage with texts through reading, discussion, drama and more; however, the focus is on writers having abundant opportunities to read the core texts as writers that notice the writerly craft.  

The texts we have selected serve as rich inspiration, and by immersing themselves in these texts, children learn to deploy the techniques employed by authors and understand their impact on real readers. Rather than simply repeating content, a common pitfall in writing classrooms, children will now have the chance to analyse the choices writers make and the reasons behind them. 

Or curriculum places a strong emphasis on the art of writing, leveraging our reading experiences to develop a deeper understanding of what constitutes effective writing. Through this approach, we aim to grow a generation of writers, who not only appreciate the craft of writing, but who also thrive in it! 

Pitch-perfect!

While these diverse texts offer us a wealth of inspiration, from language models to sentence structures and idea inspiration, we acknowledge that they may not always be pitch-perfect or align with our desired success criteria. As a solution, we have developed teacher-written models tailored to each year group's programme of study. These models serve as guides, ensuring that teachers can deliver exemplar writing models that are responding to the needs and expectations of their pupils. 

Oracy, drama and vocabulary development

The recent Ofsted English Subject report emphasised the significance of speaking and listening. It shared the importance of allowing children ample time to discuss their ideas before putting pencil to paper. The emphasis on oral rehearsal, reading aloud, and other opportunities to speak before, during and after writing, is woven throughout our approach. Just as we provide models for writing, teachers will also receive support in scaffolding children's spoken language and facilitating meaningful dialogue, too! 

Agency 

ESSENTIALWRITING deliberately builds in plenty of opportunities for children to feel agency within their writing. We know from research that this is absolutely crucial to enabling children to feel like real writers. This includes opportunities to write about what they know, what they like and what moves them.  

Success criteria

The development of our very own success criteria also supports children on their journey toward self-efficacy, ownership and how their own language, grammar and structural choices can impact their reader. 

To support teachers and children to connect all writing choices to the intended effect on the reader all ESSENTIALWRITING units contain examples of Pyramid Success Criteria. The pyramid is designed to show how all decisions are informed by purpose and audience and how the writer wants their reader to think, feel or understand something in a particular way. These success criteria are built over the course of the unit and referred to whilst the children are composing their final written outcome.  

Personal, adaptive and responsive 

At the beginning of this blog we explored the potential deskilling of our wonderful teachers as a result of technological advances, pre-made resources and lesson plans.  

You may be thinking, “Well isn’t ESSENTIALWRITING doing just that?” 

Yes, Essential Writing is well-resourced, fully planned and sequenced but its true strength lies in empowering teachers with a sense of their own agency. Our lesson plans are designed to directly address teachers, offering guidance on how to respond to their pupils’ learning in real-time and make necessary adjustments as the learning progresses. We provide ongoing support to help teachers continually assess and address the strengths and needs of their children, guiding them in adapting their teaching accordingly. 

Now, more than ever, the teaching of writing demands significant change. We firmly believe that by implementing the right curriculum, employing effective pedagogy, and prioritising the factors that we know motivate children to write, we can usher in a transformational shift. 

Similar to the process of writing itself, this is a journey—one we hope you will embark on with us!

Join us today!

ESSENTIALWRITING subscription packages are available to purchase now! Explore the platform navigation and begin to use resources, ready for the new academic year! 

Follow us on social media for more information or sign up today to be the first to hear announcements about ESSENTIALWRITING. 

 

Further reading

HFL Education blog: Developing and delivering an effective writing curriculum

HFL Education blog: Introduction to Essential Spelling 2021

The Literary Trust: Children and young people's writing in 2024 research report

When you hear the words ‘safe space’ mentioned in the context of the EYFS setting, what immediately pops into your mind?  

Many will think of providing a tent or similar space – one tall enough for a child to move around in and maybe even stand up. Perhaps with soft furnishings or familiar resources- their own private space. 

In some circumstances, this may well be the case, however, for a child to feel ‘safe’ in their setting, it’s so much more than simply providing a physical space for them.  Safe spaces and places should be everywhere that the child is learning. They encompass more than just physical safety; they encompass emotional security and nurture. A safe space in the EYFS classroom is an area or setting deliberately designed to offer children a sense of security, allowing them to explore, express themselves, take risks, and learn without fear of judgment or harm.

Before we begin, lets reflect on our own safe space and consider these questions: Where is your safe space? What do you do there? Why do you feel safe there? Who is there with you?

Children display a range of behaviours, therefore it’s vital for practitioners to be aware of the factors that may impact on children’s learning. If children do not feel safe, they will not explore and learn to interact. We know the learning environment is key to how effectively a child will learn. 

The DfE document Mental Health for Early Years Children explains how:

“children’s emotions can cause them to display behaviours you find concerning. It is important for you to be curious about the causes of these behaviours and explore these with parents and carers. For most children, using different behavioural and emotional support strategies in your setting will be enough to secure their development. However, some children will need more support. This is why it is so important that we try to understand the cause of the behaviour and get advice where necessary”.

Language in the Safe Space

Be mindful about the language that you use when talking to, and about, the children in your setting. Language can be a powerful tool and when used carefully and mindfully can support children to self-regulate, make positive choices, and seek help when needed. Talking about the child whilst they are in ear shot, labels, definitions, and negative terms can be limiting or often even damaging. Lead by example by filling your safe setting with terms that promote growth, empathy and understanding.

Simple things to begin:

Temperature; Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs tells us that when the temperature is too hot or too cold, we won’t be able to meet any higher-level needs (such as self-actualisation and learning). Instead, our brain will constantly urge our body to do something about our need for ‘thermal comfort’. As any practitioner will know, a constant low-lying level of interruption can have a profound effect on learning outcomes over time, so our teams having an awareness of this can make a huge difference.

Lighting and artificial light; A 2018 study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, found that children in classrooms with high levels of artificial lighting had more difficulty concentrating, and lower academic achievement, compared to children in settings with natural lighting. 

We all love a fairy light but do be cautious of the effect of flickering and flashing lights and how distracting this can be for some children and adults in the setting! Natural light is best, on sunny days turn off the lights and have a look at how behaviour changes. Soft, warm lighting can also create a calm feel to your setting.   

Poor acoustics can create a negative learning environment for children. Kanakri et al, (2017) explain that some children with neurodevelopmental and neurodivergent conditions may find processing speech, in the presence of noise, challenging due to noise sensitivity. 

“Children may become overwhelmed and physiologically stressed due to acute acoustic sensitivity which severely hinders sensory processing and correlates to repetitive and/or distressing behaviours”. 

When practitioners are aware, and make reasonable adjustments to their provision, it improves the child’s chances to learn in the classroom alongside their peers. Rather than being taken out of provision to a more calm and quiet area.

What else can we do to promote inclusion within our safe spaces and awesome places?

Access to water throughout the day

How can drinking water improve children’s behaviour? Not only does drinking water ensure a healthy body and mind, but it can also directly be linked to self-regulation and improving a child’s ability to learn. Dehydration can cause children to be irritable  and distracted. This can not only affect the child’s ability to learn but can also disrupt classes and provoke behaviour we may find challenging. Keeping children hydrated can help to reduce classroom disruption.

Do colourful classrooms and settings impact on children's mood and behaviour?

English Early Childhood Education and Care research shows that colour can affect all children differently with regards to their mood and behaviour. In particular, those who are sensitive towards colour or struggle with focus and concentration or their vision. Some children can become stressed by colour and patterns, and experience sensory or cognitive overload. The choice of colour surrounding them can affect their behaviour, therefore it is essential to create a warm, but not over-stimulating, environment. 

The Safe Space, Zen Den, Calm Cave or Chill Out Zone

Having a designated place for children to go to manage and regulate emotions, can help with emotional well-being. A calm area will give the child time to be calm and encourages self-care, contributing overall to well-being. When big emotions are managed swiftly, children can go on to focus better on learning and participating in class alongside their peers.

Décor

The area should have minimal on display and natural or soft pastel colours should be used. Further sensory input will only heighten the situation. Clutter and bright colours may overstimulate and have an adverse effect on a child who is attempting to regulate their emotions. Make sure to have the child’s individual toolbox with personalised strategies to help them to be calm in the area. 

Where?

The position of  the safe space is extremely important. It must be accessible so that it can be used in the moment. Children will only rely on using the area instead of becoming physical or attempting to abscond and run from the threat if the safe place is available at times of dysregulation. Therefore, consider a central area, rather than trying to persuade the child to walk to the other end of the setting when the child is already in red zone; if it is accessible and in sight , the child will choose to use it independently.  

Safe spaces can be set up  anywhere, such as in the dining hall, or the inside and outside learning environment. Remember… children must be in sight and hearing of the adults.    

A safe space for small children with big feelings

For some children, it can be easy to identify if they are feeling unsettled. However, this communication will look different for all children. For example, they may start to fidget, they may hide under a table or perhaps display certain behaviours. At this point, a trusted member of staff may be required; try to identify any triggers. If the child will not engage, give them a way out of the situation by offering two choices such as “outside or safe space”. Simple, clear instructions and offers of support may also be accompanied by visual cues in the setting. By providing a choice, children will feel as though they have a sense of control. In most cases, the child will choose to go into their own safe area.

Notice. Learn. Act.

Notice the symptoms: when a child is dysregulated, the parts of the brain concerned with speech and speech comprehension are inhibited, so it is  not advisable to engage in a lengthy dialogue at this time. Adults supporting a child should use short, explicit statements with no room for misinterpretation. Follow your school’s behaviour policy and approach or script and check in with the team to ensure this is happening consistently and by everyone. 

The 5 -point scale can help; it can be used to help children become aware of emotions such as anxiety or anger and can show the stage or level of the emotion as a number or image in the moment. This enables the child to show how they are feeling rather than trying to use words to describe or name the emotion. The 5-point scale will also give time for the adult to come alongside the child to offer strategies before behaviour escalates. 

Communicating feelings 

If able, ask the child  to use a word to describe their feelings, use the feelings thermometer image or the language of self-regulation to describe the intensity of those feelings. 

Learn strategies to help to calm down

Teach tactics and have a toolkit full of strategies in the ‘regulation station’ to help. For example: if they’re feeling tired or sad, they might try having a stretch, a drink of water, or talking to someone may do the trick. 

Implement calming strategies

This is not an easy task, and it takes lots of time and patience. First, work on how to self-soothe the smaller upsets when the child is worried or anxious, and as they get better at that, they might be able to tackle anger. Until they can, they’ll need consistent  support from the adults to help with this. 

Understand what triggers their big feelings and take steps to avoid problems from occurring when possible. Practice self-care strategies to stay calm when tough things happen. Many of us adults are still learning how to manage this!

How do I use a personal, separate safe space? 

There is no clear way of using the area and the approach to using this space will differ from child to child. Let the child know when to use it, and to understand the cues that might indicate that they need to take a break. Encourage the child to choose the safe space to regulate and then return to the activity when they feel ready.

Mindfulness matters

Do you teach and practice mindfulness every day? 

The Mindful organisation believes mindfulness for children will increase optimism and happiness in classrooms. “When used consistently, it decreases bullying and aggression and will increase compassion and empathy for others. It can also help children to resolve conflicts”. Studies show that the benefits of mindfulness for children may include decreased levels of stress- decreased depression, anxiety, and disruptive behaviour in children. 

Mindfulness can be practiced in the moment and during any time of the day. Honestly, the children in my nursery looked forward to it and used many strategies spontaneously such as feather breathing, inhaling for a count of four, then holding their breath for a count of four and exhaling slowly through the nose. This and other methods such as the Magic Clap which was fun and distracted from the situation; by clapping hands together and really focussing on the magic tingles afterwards worked wonders and could be implemented independently in the moment with excellent results! www.mindful.org/mindfulness-for-kids 

I have also used positive affirmations as children entered the setting in the morning and at particular times throughout the day. Daily affirmations are positive statements that help boost self-esteem, confidence, and improve motivation. Some of the children’s favourite phrases were.

I am brave, 
I am strong, 
I am loved, 
I am awesome,
I am smart.

When I feel safe, I can learn.

The same can be said for us, we thrive in a nurturing culture, based on kindness, mutual interests, and respect. This climate does not happen magically, it must be cultivated through a whole school or setting approach that shares consistent strategies and high expectations. A safe and supportive culture will reflect shared values and include robust behaviour management practices that all practitioners believe in and promote.

Feeling safe and valued is vital to a child’s development, it is their right! 

Learning suffers when children fear for their safety or sense their adults have low expectations for their achievement. In a healthy, supportive climate, children are engaged and take intellectual risks. 

The Thomas Fordham Institute seconds this and writes,

 “Such a community is characterised by positive relationships between teachers and students, a place where genuine respect is the norm, and where all students feel they belong.”

If you would like to find out more about creating a safe space in your setting, contact Maria Griffin or look out for the new webinar Safe Spaces & Awesome Spaces COMING SOON!  

The current focus on attendance is on reducing the number of days lost to absence and getting children into school more.  Labels such as ‘persistent’ or ‘severe’ absence are based on a number (90% and 50% attendance respectively). And from recent media articles you could be forgiven for thinking that behind every child with poor attendance “parents are colluding with truant pupils and fuelling chronic absenteeism”. (The Times, May 6, 2024).

But, for some children with ongoing or complex medical needs or disabilities, the reality is that variable attendance may just be a part of life; for them the conversation needs to move on. Behind the headlines are individual children and we need to provide support that ensures the best possible learning and outcomes, despite the challenges of inconsistent attendance.

This blog is not a how-to guide, although I will reference some useful guidance at the end. I have chosen to share this personal story because I believe that this is how we will best support attendance in school – by personally getting to know, understand and be alongside each child and their family.  My hope is that our family’s lived experience might be useful.

When I mentioned this blog, my son, Finn, said “I can tell you what you should write”.  So, this is our joint effort to share some simple but thoughtful practice from both his primary and secondary schools. Ours is a positive story, although I am aware from many parents that I meet in hospital that this is not consistently the case. We are grateful for the kindness and understanding that his schools have given us which has allowed Finn, despite his medical needs, to do his best and succeed at school. 

Finn is 11 years old, in Year 7 and loves football, gaming and learning Spanish. In the last six years he has had ten operations, several hospital stays and inconsistent attendance. Year 7 has been a ‘good’ year for him - to date his attendance is 88% which still labels him as ‘persistently absent’ but is a huge improvement on last year’s 70%. 

Relationships are everything

Having a robust attendance policy is an essential starting point but it is relationships that make the difference. Checking in after an absence reminds a child that they belong: “Welcome back, we missed you” re-establishes a personal connection.  Not acknowledging a period of absence can make a child feel invisible or even unwanted. Finn says: “Good questions for teachers to ask are:

 “Are you feeling ok? Is there anything you need?”

If a child’s been absent for a while, then having someone available to share their time away from school may be helpful. A hospital stay is a significant life event, and for Finn, being able to discuss his experiences - being in an MRI scanner, meeting the hospital dog Zanzibar and getting his first hearing aids - was important.  Finn’s teachers knew him well and made sure there was time to do this with adults and with his peers even though sharing an MRI image of your brain is a little unconventional for show and tell!

For many children having an operation the Friday before Year 6 SATS would have been a welcome excuse not to take them.  But for Finn, 

“I know that SATs aren’t that important but I wanted to do them, I didn’t want to miss them out. It made me feel like they cared – that’s important.”

His SENCO saw how he felt, and the school went above and beyond arranging for the SATS to be invigilated at home – signalling to Finn that his learning and his opinions mattered. She even brought him his cupcake and arranged a video call so that he could join in the end of SATs celebrations with his classmates.  I know this kindness was not logistically easy; for Finn, the impact was beyond measure.  

Illness is tiring

We’re asking children to return when they’re ‘well enough’ to be in school even if they’re not 100% well, so we need to understand that they might not be able to ‘bounce back’ to coping with a full school day. 

“I want the teachers to know what’s going on, so they will listen if I ask for a break or ask for help.  Sometimes I still feel in pain even when I’m back at school.  Sometimes it’s hard to put up my hand and say it myself, so I like it when a teacher checks in with me”  

Any reasonable adjustments that can reduce the cognitive load and physical fatigue, such as having a quiet space at lunchtime, more frequent brain breaks, providing more scaffolding and support than usual, or reducing homework expectations may help a child to cope better on their return to school, and make a relapse less likely. Recuperation is often not linear, so be flexible enough to change the plan depending on whether the child is having a good or not-so-good day.    

Illness is stressful for families

As well as worry for their child’s health, parents are often worried about the impact on siblings and trying to juggle work commitments.  I still have the message from Finn’s headteacher after a particularly difficult operation “we are all here for you and will do all we can to support you through this”; that one expression of kindness and empathy cemented me as a cheerleader for his school for life.  

Being in hospital with a child is a strange, institutionalised experience where you are physically with your child 24/7, hypervigilant, constantly looking out for tiny signs of improvement or deterioration. To entrust your child back into the world again is scary. I was reassured by a post-op meeting with Finn’s class teacher to jointly create a risk assessment – open questions such as “what are you worried about?”, “what do you want me to do if…?” “what will he say if he’s getting worse?” gave me the chance to share concerns and feel confident that he would be safe to return. 

What learning have I missed? 

What systems do you have in place for supporting children to catch up with missed learning? After Finn had been away for a few weeks, sometimes he’d just need some context for the upcoming lesson – some 1:1 pre-teaching with a TA, showing previous videos or slide decks, or discussing with a peer.

 “I was never uncomfortable talking about why I wasn’t in school, but some people might not want to talk about it, so even a quick little recap – look back in your partner’s book would help without it being a massive deal”.  

Whilst this could not fully compensate for the experience of the missed lesson, it provided a bridge to give him enough knowledge and confidence to be part of and access the next lesson.

Understanding the curriculum well enough to identify what is ‘essential’ knowledge that a child will need as a foundation for future learning, will help you prioritise what ‘missed’ learning must be caught up on.  If spaced practice is routinely built into your planning, then learning gaps can be identified; during a retrieval quiz in maths, the class teacher realised that Finn had been absent for ‘mean, median and mode’ and was able to plug this gap.  

Perhaps the most important thing is to establish a relationship and a trust where a child knows they have the agency to say: “I don’t understand; I think I’ve missed this”.  Some children may benefit from a ‘help’ card or to rehearse a script to support them in asking for help.  

Watch out for unintended consequences

Ongoing illness has had at times a significant impact on Finn’s self-esteem; periods where he felt it was ‘unfair’ that he had to deal with medical conditions were exacerbated by the unintended consequences of some school policies.  As a mum, I had to reiterate termly that 100% attendance certificates were about luck; it was just bad luck and not his fault that he would never receive one.  

“I really don’t like attendance awards, because for a lot of people you can’t help missing weeks of school. And it’s not even about the award, it highlights the fact that you’ve missed out. It makes you feel excluded for something you can’t help”.

A recent assembly describing the statistical link between children with poor attendance and poor exam results and job prospects did not have the motivating effect intended; it just made Finn feel like giving up altogether. I reassured him that, for example, the resilience and patience that he has learnt whilst coping with illness are transferable skills that will help him in the future.

And if I had a magic wand, I would get rid of the standard, one-size fits all letter to inform you that your child’s attendance continues to remain unsatisfactory. A recent letter requested my support in “ensuring that Finn maximises his school attendance achieving the school’s target” – it’s sadly not realistic to expect that Finn will ever have a school year where he reaches 95%. 

I appreciate that formal letters can serve a purpose if they have the intended impact.  Receiving this letter nearly undermined the positive personalised support we have received from individual staff members; I felt judged, failing as a parent and frustrated that Finn was being criticised for a number which actually reflects a huge improvement in his health and attendance!  The DfE guidance recommends: 

“In all cases, schools should be sensitive and avoid stigmatising pupils and parents and they should talk to pupils and parents and understand how they feel and what they think would help improve their attendance to develop individual approaches that meet an individual pupil’s specific needs.”

Emphasising the individual approach implies that a range of template letters with standard phrases that could be adapted to reflect an individual child’s specific needs may be more helpful.

Top Tips

As we come towards the end of the school year, here are three things for you to consider as you get ready to support your new cohort:

1)  Find out the story behind the numbers, so that parents don’t have to repeat the basics. Familiarise yourself with any written plans such as the Individual Health Care Plan or SEND documentation (SEN support plan or Education, Health and Care Plan).  

2)  Don’t make assumptions based on what you think you know about a medical condition or disability - establish a relationship with both the parents and child and ask questions to understand what their experience has been. Listen carefully and be flexible about the support you offer – needs may change as the child gets older.  

3)  Be aware of potential learning gaps throughout the year– both when the child was absent, but also where the child was physically present but too fatigued or in pain to effectively learn. Explain that you understand and expect this: give children permission to advocate for themselves. “I know that there will be gaps as you missed a lot of school last year, so do ask if you’re unsure at the start of a new topic or if you need a bit more support.”  For older children, as you revisit a topic that builds on previous learning, providing prompts such as “You could watch this video refresher to see how much you remember” might be useful.  

 Finn and I hope that this blog has reminded you to focus on more than just the number.  Do I think that this supportive practice has led to an improvement in his attendance percentage?  This may not be the answer that schools are looking for, but probably not.  But I am certain that the care he has received has had a positive impact on his learning outcomes and his social and emotional development.  Finn’s final advice for any child going through a similar situation:

“If you have any issues, make sure you talk to a teacher and let them know what’s going on.  They need to know if you’re unwell as it will be hard to learn properly.  It’s ok to ask for help even if you feel a bit awkward doing it”

For further information to support children with medical conditions and attendance, please see:

DfE: Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions

DfE: Working together to improve school attendance

In Hertfordshire please see HCC attendance guidance on the Grid website.
 

The following blog is written by Tom Dupplaw, maths subject leader and Year 5 teacher at Reedings Junior School, Hertfordshire. Tom shares his vision and strategy for enhancing teaching and learning across the school using ESSENTIALMATHS Rehearsal and Reasoning Sheets.