Targeted small group support and interventions to develop skills for learning, such as sustained, focused and joint attention (e.g. Attention and Listening Skills programme from Bury Educational Psychology Service.)
Play opportunities in small groups that include good peer role models.
Differentiation of the adult’s role in supporting and facilitating play, depending on the group/activity being undertaken, e.g.:
- Identiplay/play scripts;
- Modelling skills and feelings;
- Modelling language;
- Observing play;
- Providing resources;
- Mediating learning (see below);
- Physically positioning an adult nearby;
- Allowing a balance of child-led and free play, as well as adult-directed tasks;
- Questioning and making suggestions;
- Joining in when needed or invited. Being a ‘play partner’ rather than controlling the play.
Supporting and extending child-led play.
Consider the adult’s role in supporting and scaffolding learning and what may be the best way to support children’s needs. This is also known as mediation. See glossary for a definition of mediation.
- Helping the child feel at ease (building rapport, using familiar and enjoyable activities).
- Focusing the child on the task (e.g. using visual and verbal prompts, moving things into their line of sight).
- First and then boards.
- Using ‘hand over hand’.
- Modelling how to do the activity/task.
- Mediating meaning by focusing the child on relevant features of the task (e.g. feeling objects, demonstrating use, pointing to buttons/switches).
- Focusing the child on the adult’s role and involvement (turn-taking, modelling, demonstrate trying and failing and asking for the child’s help).
- Assisting generalisation of the skill (e.g. show the child how to use a toy in a different way, or different toys in the same way).
- Helping the child to plan (e.g. making tasks visually clearer by reducing the number of items in front of child, providing non-verbal demonstration, talking through what to do next).
- Helping the child to break down tasks through modelling and demonstration (do one-step at a time and encourage the child to copy); teach the sequences of pretend play).
- Helping the child to feel successful (using verbal and non-verbal praise, encouragement and tangible rewards).
- Helping the child feel that they’ve made progress (providing task-specific praise; stating what they can do at the end that they could not at the start).
Increased use of play based assessment. For children who may require more fine-grained assessment of their skills, or who may not be accessing the EYFS curriculum in line with typically developing children (e.g. those with language difficulties). See glossary for a definition of play based assessment.