Improving motivation and achievement for students in English

last updated:July 2008

Angelika Hickey of Sedgefield Community College makes use of visual lesson plans and work booklets.

Pupils with SEN can often develop low self-esteem and challenging behaviour, especially if they cannot grasp the objectives of a lesson or if they feel that they are likely to fail at a task.

Angelika has developed a system for ensuring her pupils know exactly what they will be expected to achieve in each lesson and how long each activity will last. Even the most challenging tasks within a lesson are time-limited, and each is followed by a task that the student will enjoy.

Each work booklet has a visual timetable of the lesson on the front sheet, which reduces anxiety and the need for students to remember lots of verbal instructions.

Angelika has found that the students’ behaviour in lessons has greatly improved since using this system. Moreover, the students are focusing much more on the learning objectives and attainment is improving.

Access examples of the work booklets here.