We are a challenge-seeking species, we like doing things that are difficult! However, we also need to be supported to get there. There’s a sweet spot characterised by high challenge and low threat. And this is what John Tomsett and I found when we spoke to Harry and his mum Belle for SEND Huh. We changed their names.
Harry is a Year 6 pupil. He has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He moved schools in April of Year 5 after years of unhappiness in his previous school. In his new school, he is thriving. In this interview, Harry and his mum, Belle, discuss with us what has helped him learn in his new school.
Harry: ‘The work’s better than the other school, because at the other school, it wasn’t as much fun because it wasn’t hard questions and I like hard stuff, because it’s a challenge for me to do.’
Belle: ‘You like the challenge but having the help with the challenge. Not just being left to get on with it.’
H: ‘I enjoy fractions and percentages and maths. Because at my old school, they did two lessons on it, and then they moved on to another subject, but at my new school they stay working on it every lesson until we understand it.’
B: ‘Reading’s never been Harry’s strongest thing. It’s always been very hard to get him to read. But recently, because the school is so supportive, his teachers have suggested putting subtitles on programmes on the telly, and just reading the subtitles has helped him a lot. That has helped Harry with reading because he can just watch something he likes, hear what is being said and read the subtitles at the same time.’
H: ‘It’s not so enjoyable when things are too easy, because I can just finish the lesson before it’s even over.’
I like hard because it’s learning, because if it’s easy, you’re not really learning because you can just do it, but when it is hard you are thinking, so it stays in your head. I like hard, because you have to think about the question, and that makes it stay in your head more. But easy, you don’t have to think – you’ve done it, and you just don’t think about the question.
‘My teachers also explain things a lot clearer, because at my old school they explained for, like, 10 minutes and then you got on with the work, but in my school now, they use half a lesson up to explain and then you get on with the work.’
B: ‘The expectations where he is now are so much higher, so, so much higher and he’s achieved more since he started there than he did in three or four years at his old school. I think they wrote him off. They couldn’t be bothered because he needed that extra support. They kind of just gave him the easy words. His spellings were really simple four- letter words and now his spellings aren’t, they’re massive. Turn the clock back a year ago, I’d never have thought he’d be able to spell the long words and now he can. So, the expectations are so much higher now and it does make a big difference.’
One of the insights from the conversations for SEND Huh, is that its’ really important not to underestimate what our pupils are capable of, and the extent to which they relish difficult, demanding work.
Until next time
Mary
PS
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