Teach Secondary Issue 13.4

+ What teachers can learn from sea sponges + The importance of holding high expectations + A vindication for Sure Start? + The pivotal role played by recall + How does your MAT measure up? + Why your students need lessons in misinformation and bias + The revision essentials every student should know PHIL MATHE PE teacher, researcher, speaker and author ALAN DUNSTAN Deputy Headteacher, British International School, Riyadh ROBIN LAUNDER Behaviour management consultant and speaker ADAM RICHES Teacher, education consultant and writer ANDREWSWANSON Executive producer, BBC ZEPH BENNETT PE teacher and school achievement leader R esearch has shown that 5% of the global population has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). With the average state-funded secondary attended by just under a thousand pupils, there could be at least 50 children with ADHD in any given school, with diagnostic figures likely to be unrepresentative of the true number. Many myths and misconceptions exist around ADHD. When we think of students with ADHD, we may imagine loud, unruly individuals intent on disrupting lessons, with little interest in learning. In reality, students with ADHD will typically try their absolute best to focus and engage, and be desperate to please, but can find themselves unable to focus on the task at hand due to both internal and external distractions. I also believe the term ‘ADHD’ to be inaccurate. As an adult with ADHD myself, I don’t have a ‘deficit’ of attention, but rather the opposite – I have too much attention that I, like others with ADHD, simply find hard to apply correctly. Those of us with the condition can, at times, ‘hyperfocus’ on things we find interesting and stimulating – but when tasks lack that interest or stimulation, our focus will easily wander, which can make staying on task incredibly difficult. When delivering training on ADHD, I’ll ask teachers and support staff to consider the characteristics of a ‘good student.’ They usually suggest characteristics such as ‘attentiveness’, a ‘willingness to engage’, ‘punctuality’ and ‘being organised’ – all of which students with ADHD are likely to find difficult, making the learning environment challenging for them if their needs aren’t understood. In a 2016 paper, the psychiatrist and author WilliamW. Dodson MD observed that by the age of 12, children with ADHD will have received 20,000 more negative messages from parents, teachers and other adults than their peers without ADHD. Constant negative comments on behaviours that can’t be helped may establish a cycle of anxiety, low self-esteem and behaviour, which can be challenging for adults to subsequently manage. Students with ADHD can easily fall behind in their learning and homework, and are liable to play the role of ‘class clown’ to try and deflect from their difficulties (and acquire those crucial dopamine fixes). Yet if we can understand the needs of learners with ADHD, and provide suitably stimulating learning opportunities, they can thrive. Reasonable adjustments in this area might therefore include: • Using visual planners, now/next boards and lists to assist with the planning and completion of work • Making allowances for quiet fiddling, doodling or use of headphones to help support their concentration levels • Breaking classroom tasks and homework assignments down into smaller, more manageable chunks. • Not giving too many instructions at once, and allowing time for processing LEARNING LAB INTHIS ISSUE ADHD CONTRIBUTORS Thinking about… ABOUT THE AUTHOR Laura Kerbey is an author, public speaker and trainer, the founder of Positive Assessments Support and Training (p-ast.co.uk ) and co-founder of KITE Therapeutic Learning (kitetls.co.uk ) L E A R N I N G L A B 77 teachwire.net/secondary