The 5-a-day principle

The importance of prioritising familiar and powerful strategies

Blog by Helen Bellinger, Programme Design and Development Lead, Exchange Teaching Hub.

There’s no surprise that the research underpinning the EEF’s guidance report ‘Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools, published in October 2021, indicates that supporting high-quality teaching improves outcomes for pupils with SEND.

We also know that there are five specific teaching approaches, the ‘Five-a-day’, which are particularly well-evidenced as having a positive impact

These strategies are familiar to all teachers yet sometimes underestimated in terms of the huge difference they can make to all pupils, and in particular to pupils with SEND when used well. Many teachers accessing both of our recent programmes ‘Supporting pupils with SEND in the mainstream classroom’ and ‘Embedding high-quality teaching approaches in special and AP settings’, struggled to define them precisely. It is therefore crucial that we develop a shared language and shared understanding of precisely what they are and what they look like at their very best.

‘It is tempting to talk about the challenge of SEND as a specific and distinct issue. Yet far from developing new programmes, the evidence tells us that teachers should instead prioritise familiar but powerful strategies, like scaffolding and explicit instruction, to support their pupils with SEND’ Becky Francis EEF

Throughout our programmes, we explored the evidence underpinning the 5 strategies and then demonstrated what each looked like in practice through our evidence into action case studies. We also drew on the vast expertise of teachers and leaders from both primary and secondary phases. Finally, we gave schools the opportunity to reflect, consider their own context, and identify their own next steps.

What we discovered was a golden thread running through all 5 strategies around developing pupil independence, for example:
• When exploring explicit instruction, teachers need to understand the importance of teacher demonstration followed by guided practice and then independent practice.
• By explicitly teaching and modelling metacognitive strategies teachers can enable pupils to organise and manage their own learning independently.
• When using scaffolding, both the teacher and teaching assistant need to know why, how and when to gradually withdraw or reduce the scaffold to enable pupils to work more independently.

We discussed the need to avoid the often familiar, over-reliance on adult support and how the 5 strategies could be used to ensure that pupils are supported to develop independent learning skills.
As we reflect on the learning from the programmes and begin to prepare for cohort 2 of ‘Supporting pupils with SEND in the mainstream classroom’ our key questions for teachers and leaders are:

1. Do teachers and other adults understand the importance of the 5 strategies and what they look like when they are used effectively – have we developed a shared language?
2. Have we Invested in staff training, including training for teaching assistants, using the range of useful additional tools and resources available from the EEF, including the 5-a-day reflection tools for teachers and teaching assistants?
3. How do teachers and other adults use assessment information to make informed choices about what pupils need within lessons?
4. Do teachers prioritise developing pupil independence and avoid an over-reliance on adult support?
5. How often do teachers work with those pupils who need the most help?

Ultimately our aim is, through our Exchange Teaching Hub programmes, to support teachers in developing a repertoire of these strategies, which they can use daily and flexibly in response to individual needs, using them as the starting point for classroom teaching for all pupils, including those with SEND. Fortunately, these are already part of most teachers’ practice, meaning that small adaptations could make a positive difference, enabling all pupils to thrive.

Cohort 2 of ‘Supporting pupils with SEND in the mainstream classroom’ begins on Thursday 2nd March 2023 (9.15-3.15) at Education House Conference Room, Spawd Bone Lane, Knottingley, WF11 0EP.  Further information about the programme including how to book can be found here further information.