Fine and Gross motor skills
Top Tips for developing an Inclusive Learning Environment
Fine motor
- Give extra time for dressing for PE or fastening up their coat or shoes.
- Provide activities that help to develop fine motor skills during the day.
- Use alternatives to writing such as typing software.
- Ensure children can reach items they need in the classroom e.g. scissors, their peg etc.
- Consider spacing out activities that are fine motor-heavy to reduce fatigue during the day.
Gross motor
- Use appropriate height tables and chairs to help with their posture.
- Give extra time to move to different classrooms or areas within the school or allowing children to leave a few minutes early to avoid busy corridors.
- Ensure the classroom environment is not cluttered and any potential trip hazards are tidied away.
- Consider how food is transported at lunch time (e.g. a tray vs a lunch box).
- Provide a locker or accessible space for children to leave their belongings so they do not have to carry them round school with them.
- Children could be a “line leader” at the front of the line to minimise risk when moving between rooms.
Hearing impairment
Top Tips for developing an Inclusive Learning Environment
Do
- Speak clearly and naturally. Try to use an expressive face.
- Get a deaf child’s attention before you start speaking. Try waving, knocking a table or tapping their shoulder lightly.
- Face a deaf child when you’re talking. Always make sure the deaf child can see your face clearly. If necessary, sit down or crouch so that your face is level with theirs.
- Use visual cues, where possible. Point to what you’re talking about.
- Make it clear what the topic of conversation is – and let the deaf child know if it’s changed.
- Stand with your face to the light.
- Use whole sentences to help a deaf child pick up clues to what’s being said.
- Group conversations can be difficult for deaf children. Try to keep a deaf child involved and avoid all speaking at once.
- Ask a deaf child to repeat what you’ve said if you’re not sure if they’ve understood.
Don’t
- Speak too slowly or shout – this will distort your lip patterns.
- Move your head or walk around while you’re talking. Speech movements can easily be missed.
- Have lots of noise on in the background. Hearing aids amplify all noises, not just your voice.
- Take forever to get to the point. Avoid rambling.
- Cover or put anything in your mouth while talking. Eating while talking is a definite no-no.
- Stand with your back to a window – this can turn your face into a shadow and make it harder to lip-read.
- Make a deaf child lipread for too long without a break. Lipreading involves a lot of concentration and can leave deaf children feeling tired.
- Give up. If stuck, try explaining in a different way or writing it down.
Physical difficulties
Top Tips for developing an Inclusive Learning Environment
- Knowledge of care plan
- Awareness of Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP)
- Awareness of environmental assessment
- Monitor seating position
- Height of displays/visual information
- The location of specialist equipment and how to use appropriately.
- Awareness of alternative methods of recording, e.g. iPad, specific software etc
- Availability of resources
- Access to resources
- Awareness of personal hygiene
- Awareness of toileting routines
- The location of specific medication and how/when to administer.
Sensory needs
Top Tips for developing an Inclusive Learning Environment
- Offering a sensory or fidget toy, particularly when a child is chewing uniform/ fingers
- Reading a book that is enjoyable to the child and is in a quiet space away from the classroom and other children
- Jump Ahead activity, a bit like Simon says but using whole body movement in a small group or 1:1 depending on the child’s needs. This can be used as a movement break
- Lego / Numicon activity
- Movement Breaks, usually whole class Brain Breaks doing something like just dance on the TV or just playing some music and letting the children free style.
- Eating lunch in a quieter place
- If a whole class activity is too much, let the child choose a similar but different activity with or without a friend depending on the situation
- Whole class feeling check-ins
- If the school has animals, let the child go and feed it/them or simply just petting an animal can help calm a child, especially if they are in crisis
- Starting and finishing the school day a few minutes later or earlier depending on the child’s needs
- Sitting in a quiet space “catching up” at the end of the day whilst the other children collect their coats/ bags etc
- Emptying the class water bottles at the end of the day. Water is a good activity for calming
- Ask the child what they would find useful or calming to access during the school day. All children are individuals and will need a personalised approach.
Vision impairment
Top Tips for developing an Inclusive Learning Environment
Lighting
- Good even lighting.
- Avoid glare.
- Control light, e.g. adjust blinds/curtains, move child’s location in classroom according to lighting conditions.
Environment/Storage
- Keep a predictable and consistent classroom environment.
- Clearly labelled resources, drawers and displays.
- Provide additional space at the child's desk for equipment, large print papers.
- Storage space for folders/equipment in classroom.
Displays
- Text to be read at reading height.
- ‘Clear and large’ is a good maxim.
- Clear contrasting colours for text,
Teacher’s position in class
- Stand away from the window (standing with back to the window creates shadow).
- Stand at a proximity to enable child the best view of you; find out what this distance is from the Teacher of VI.
Language
- Speak child’s name first to gain attention, ensure he/she is looking at you before you begin to speak, particularly when they have their hand up to answer a question.
- Ensure all verbal instructions are precise.
Seating to access distance vision task
- Child to sit close to the action, at a distance that enables the best view.
- Position the child in most suitable place to access whiteboard, smart board, demonstration, carpet activity; may need to sit in different places for different activities.
Whiteboards
- Black rather than coloured pens provide better contrast on whiteboards.
- Clean class and individual whiteboards regularly.
Understanding the task
- If appropriate, assist the child to ‘visually access’ the task first.
- Provide a verbal overview of the learning materials.
- Reinforce learning, allow time to explore any pictures and objects and time to revisit if necessary.
Printed materials
- Adapt to child’s print specification and individual needs.
- It is good practice for the child NOT to share any text.
Marking and making comments on the child’s work
- Use a black pen and write in large print.
- Numerous comments should be done as numbered footnotes.
- Print spellings at the end of the piece of work for the child to read.
Advice Point
Visual Fatigue: “Seeing” requires a good deal of effort and concentration, which may affect motivation, due to the visual fatigue experienced after prolonged periods of close work.
A child’s eye condition may fluctuate meaning they ‘see’ better some days than others, impacting on their access to the curriculum.