Understanding 'Quality First' Teaching

High-Quality Teaching and Ordinarily Available Provision (OAP) for Pupils with SEND

High-quality teaching, or Quality First Teaching, is essential in supporting all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). This is achieved through Ordinarily Available Provision (OAP), which refers to the support that is routinely available to pupils within the mainstream classroom without requiring an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP).

The Department for Education (DfE) sets out expectations for state-funded schools through the National Curriculum, and schools must:

• Offer a balanced curriculum that fosters the development of pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural, mental, and physical well-being.

• Ensure the curriculum prepares pupils for future life opportunities and challenges.

• Set high expectations for all pupils and plan lessons that challenge and engage them.

• Adapt teaching to meet the needs of pupils who are not yet meeting age-related expectations or have additional needs.

• Provide access to the full curriculum, ensuring lessons are accessible to all pupils.

• Deliver high-quality teaching that meets the needs of most pupils through OAP.

• Recognize that some pupils may need additional provision beyond the OAP to support their learning.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Transition to Key Stage 1

For children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the curriculum is designed to support holistic development. Key areas include:

• Prime areas: Communication and language, physical development, and personal, social, and emotional development.

• Specific areas: Literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design.

Assessment is used to identify any emerging needs, allowing early interventions to support transitions into Key Stage 1.

High-Quality Teaching Strategies for SEND

To support pupils with SEND in Key Stages 1 and 2, the following OAP strategies are crucial:

• Planning, teaching, and monitoring pupils' work to ensure understanding and improve progress.

• Use of memory strategies, such as mnemonics and visual aids, to help pupils retain and recall information.

• Linking new learning to prior knowledge to build fluency and deepen understanding.

• Encouraging physical activity throughout the day to boost focus, attention, and behaviour.

• Promoting language and communication strategies, including explicit teaching of vocabulary and comprehension skills.

• Teaching reading comprehension strategies like understanding, inference, and identifying key points in a text.

• The Graduated Response (Assess, Plan, Do, Review), to monitor and support pupils who are struggling to meet expectations.

Ordinarily Available Provision in Key Stages 1 and 2

In Key Stages 1 and 2, OAP strategies should be embedded within day-to-day teaching practices to support all learners, including those with SEND:

• Differentiated instruction: Adapting tasks based on content, process, or outcome to meet individual needs.

• Use of visual aids: Incorporating plans, checklists, and graphic organisers to support understanding.

• Additional time for pupils to process verbal and written instructions.

• Repetition of key instructions and clarification of new vocabulary to aid comprehension.

• Collaborative learning: Providing opportunities for mixed-ability groups to support peer learning and inclusion.

• Support for emotional regulation: Helping pupils develop self-awareness and manage their emotions through clear routines and strategies.

• Writing support: Use of writing frames, sentence starters, and word banks to support pupils with written tasks.

• Regular review of learning: Reinforcing key concepts to help pupils retain and apply what they’ve learned.

Moving Beyond Key Stage 2

While the focus here is on Key Stages 1 and 2, the principles of OAP continue to be important as pupils move into Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, and beyond. The strategies evolve as pupils’ needs become more specific, but the emphasis remains on ensuring that all pupils have access to high-quality, inclusive teaching.

This approach to Ordinarily Available Provision (OAP) supports pupils with SEND across all areas of the curriculum, ensuring they can access a broad, balanced, and inclusive education.

Key Stage 3 and 4

• Differentiation based on task content and outcome: Tailor tasks to match the diverse abilities and learning styles of pupils, ensuring all can achieve success.

• Instructions repeated and reinforced: Provide clear, concise instructions and repeat them as necessary to ensure understanding.

• Visual aids to support the lesson for pupils who need them: Use visual aids such as plans and checklists to help pupils who benefit from visual learning.

• Pupils given more time to process verbal information: Allow additional time for pupils to understand and process verbal instructions and information.

• Key words emphasised and new vocabulary explained: Highlight important terms and provide clear explanations of new vocabulary.

• Pupils supported to develop self-awareness of what they struggle with and what may 'trigger' them: Help pupils identify their challenges and triggers, and support them in developing self-regulation strategies.

• Opportunities for collaborative learning where pupils of different ability levels can work together: Facilitate group work that encourages pupils of varying abilities to collaborate and learn from each other.

• Drop-in or support sessions for pupils provided on a regular basis: Offer regular sessions for additional support, whether for homework help or general learning assistance.

• Distraction-free environments to aid listening and attention: Create environments that minimize distractions to help pupils focus better.

• Simplified texts in place for those who need them: Provide simplified reading materials for pupils who require them.

• The use of writing aids for support: Offer writing aids such as writing frames, sentence starters, and word banks to assist pupils in their writing tasks.

• Review key learning regularly: Regularly revisit key concepts to reinforce learning and ensure retention.

• Behaviour policies that prioritise a restorative approach and positive relationships: Implement behaviour policies that focus on restorative practices and fostering positive relationships.

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• Alternative learning opportunities are part of teaching: Incorporate diverse learning opportunities that align with students' career aspirations.

• Students are taught planning, monitoring, and evaluation strategies: Educate students on how to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning.

• Staff model and encourage the use of memory strategies: Demonstrate and promote effective memory strategies, including study skills and revision techniques.

• Students are taught and reminded of social and emotional skills: Provide instruction and reminders on essential social and emotional skills, such as self-awareness, relationship skills, and decision-making.

• Personal targets and rewards developed with individual students: Collaborate with students to set personal goals and establish reward systems.

• Tasks modelled and understanding checked regularly: Model tasks clearly and frequently check for student understanding.

• Tasks adapted to meet students’ individual needs: Modify tasks to accommodate the unique needs of each student.

• Tasks enable success and help support pupils with more challenging work: Design tasks that promote success and gradually introduce more challenging work to build motivation and confidence.

Behaviour and Well-being Across Key Stages

To promote positive behaviour and well-being, schools should:

• Foster restorative approaches to behaviour, prioritising positive relationships.

• Support self-regulation and emotional development, especially for pupils with SEMH needs.

• Ensure that all pupils have access to a distraction-free environment where they can focus and engage with learning.

• Encourage pupils to develop self-awareness about their strengths and areas of difficulty, enabling them to seek help when needed.