Standards Site

 
 

Can Instructional and Emotional support in the Key Stage 1 classroom make a difference for children at risk of school failure?

This digest found in

Early years
Inclusion

What took place in supportive classrooms?

School based prevention and intervention strategies increasingly aim to improve the social and emotional climate of classrooms in order to enhance pupils’ social and behavioural development. 

Classrooms were considered to offer high quality instructional support when:

  • teachers made frequent and effective use of literacy instruction including reading, phonics and comprehension;
  • there was a high quality of verbal feedback focused on pupils’ learning, development of understanding and personal improvement; and
  • pupils were taking increased responsibility for their own learning by, for example, offering solutions, and managing resources.

Classrooms were considered to offer high emotional support when teachers:

  • were aware of and responsive to individual pupils’ needs, moods, interests and capabilities;
  • set clear expectations in the classroom and developed routines which children understood; and
  • created a positive classroom climate in which teachers and pupils enjoyed each other and their time in the classroom.