Overcoming the barriers to learning

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Some barriers to learning cannot be overcome without government action, such as sufficient funding and accessibility, leaving teachers and caregivers faced with the difficulty of trying to create ways for SEND students to overcome the numerous barriers to learning that they can control.
It’s certainly not an easy job to take on, but every child deserves the same opportunities and to have a high quality of life – so let’s see some of the ways both teachers and caregivers can help their students and children to thrive in school:
1. Building positive relationships

Teachers having a positive relationship with students is at the forefront of making a big difference in the classroom. If a teacher doesn’t take the time to build a relationship with students they will never fully understand their individual needs and requirements. This then leads to the teaching and learning not being as effective as it could be, particularly for SEND students since they often require a little more attention.
Teachers should take the time to build a connection with students, getting to know what they aspire to be, their hobbies and interests, their academic strengths and weaknesses – all of which will help you to tailor your teaching strategy to fit the exact needs of each student.
2. Regular communication between teachers and caregivers

Caregivers of SEND students are responsible for ensuring that any progress made in the classroom is carried on into the home/. To ensure that this is done with ease and efficiently, caregivers and teachers should touch base with one another once a week to ensure that both parties are aware of any issues, as well as to notify caregivers of any significant progress or achievements of their child.
By doing this the teachers are able to tailor their lesson plans and teaching strategy to each individual’s progress knowing that the work is being carried out at home to keep up with progress made in class.

3. Encourage them to ask for help

More often than not, children with SEND have low confidence when it comes to learning and social situations. This can discourage them from asking questions or reaching out for help.
Both caregivers and teachers can help to combat this by giving constant reassurance and encouragement, making them feel confident enough to put their hand up in class or ask their caregivers for extra help at home. Taking the time to listen will be reassuring to them that their feelings and thoughts are valid, it will also be helpful for caregivers or teachers to gain a better understanding of how they process information.

4. Set realistic goals and targets throughout the school year

This is a really important one for teachers to get right. SEND students’ learning capabilities will differ for each child, and will be proportionally different to their peers.
The expectations of a SEND student must bear this in mind, rather than setting academic goals and targets, it may be more beneficial for the student to have behavioural targets set. For example, focusing on concentration in class, limiting disruptive behaviour, respecting classmates and teachers.
Caregivers can use the goals and targets set at school to set boundaries and expectations for the children’s behaviours at home. Positive reinforcement is a great way to encourage them to stick to their targets and work to reach their goals. Many caregivers and teachers used reward systems such as star charts to encourage good behaviour.

5. Create a safe and engaging environment

A well thought out classroom with adequate lighting and space is something that benefits all students, but SEND students require a supportive environment with minimum distractions in order to concentrate and learn.

Things to consider both in school and at home/residntial care to create the best environment for SEND students to thrive in are:
• Light: Ensure there is sufficient natural light into the space
• Temperature: Working when too hot or too cold is a distraction, ensure appropriate temperatures are set before class
• Colour: Too much colour in a space can be a lot for SEND students to process and can be very distracting. Stick to simple whites and beige for the wall colours
• Organisation and cleanliness: Having a messy classroom or room at home to work in can cause too many distractions for SEND students, ensure there is an organised space for them to work in

6. Deal with attention-seeking and disruptive behaviours

As difficult and frustrating as it is, staying calm in situations where students are being disruptive is the best response. SEND students are more likely than their peers to show disruptive behaviour in classrooms and in the home, completely ignoring their behaviour won’t stop it so dealing with it firmly but calmly should avoid repeated behaviour.
Here are some tips to deal with any attention-seeking or disruptive behaviour:
• Acknowledge the feelings of the individual.
• Do not blame, ridicule or use sarcasm with them.
• Address the disruption individually, directly and immediately.
• Be specific about the behaviour that is disruptive and set limits.

7. Be enthusiastic and excited about learning

Have a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards learning, even on days where your own personal life may be getting you down, don’t let your teaching be a reflection of this. Being excited about teaching will hopefully make the classes more enjoyable for students too. SEND pupils tend to get bored quite quickly, so ensure you are constantly looking for ways to change things up in fun and exciting ways.
Praising all of their small strides as well as giant leaps will help massively with building their self-esteem. As aforementioned, positive reinforcement works extremely well with SEND students; gold stars, rocket charts and target boards can be as motivating as treats and prizes. Providing instant rewards will help a child to associate the reward with the task.
8. Help to encourage and build friendships

Bullying and poor communication between SEND students and their peers is one of the biggest barriers to learning as it decreases self-confidence and discourages SEND students from attending school.
What teachers and schools can do to help:
• Train all staff to model and support social skills development and communication. Ensure all staff are informed about children with SEN and how to meet their needs.
• Regularly observe what is happening in playground
• Establish a recognised whole-school ethos, supported by visual and verbal reminders, valuing diversity, kindness and friendship.
• Introduce a buddy system for the playground and in the classroom
What caregivers can do to help:
• Encourage the children to accept responsibility for their relationships, share their concerns, listen to and support one another
• Model positive social behaviours
• Encourage social interactions regularly, don’t avoid the problem