The main goal of this toolkit is to support children with attention-deficit, hyperactivity or impulsivity to stay in the classroom and get the same out of their learning and school experience as their classmates. You, as the child's teacher or TA, will use the toolkit with the child to help them reach small, achievable targets, set by you, the parent and SENDCos.
The drop-down items below are the main areas where we'll ask for your support. Some of them are to do with the delivery of the toolkit, others are to help us evaluate it. Any school staff who choose to participate in this research will receive £10 from us as a thank you for taking part.
Eligibility of pupils
First we will ask you to identify any students you feel are eligible and would benefit from using the toolkit. We will ask you to identify girls and boys if possible. It is likely that you will already have some children in mind who would benefit from an intervention like this one, but we will also provide you with questionnaires that screen for some ADHD traits to check that the child is eligible.
Know ADHD training
We will make some online training available to you which can be completed at any time. This training will consist of some videos and small activities to help you learn about what causes certain children to have difficulties paying attention, being impulsive or hyperactive. Understanding the general causes of these behaviours will help you get to know the specific issues your child faces later in the toolkit.
This training will also include more detail on how the toolkit works.
Click here or here to see an example of some of the training resources we might provide.
This training will also include more detail on how the toolkit works.
Click here or here to see an example of some of the training resources we might provide.
Know the Child
The 'Know me' section of the toolkit helps you to understand the child's strengths, difficulties, hobbies and interests. This can be an activity you do individually with the child, or as a whole class. You will promote the child to create a fact-file about themselves in whichever format they would like. This could be a video, a Wikipedia page, a presentation.
Understand motivations & setting 'targets'
The parents and SENCo will organise 2 meetings with you to discuss the child's strengths, difficulties, interests and hobbies. These meetings will help identify two problem areas where the child is currently struggling. You will help the SENCo to complete an analysis to understand the pre-cursors and consequences around these behaviours for the child.
These problem areas will be converted into targets for the child. The targets can be mapped to modules. Within each module ther will be a range of strategies for you to use in the classroom over 6 weeks. You can choose as many strategies within a module to try as you like.
These problem areas will be converted into targets for the child. The targets can be mapped to modules. Within each module ther will be a range of strategies for you to use in the classroom over 6 weeks. You can choose as many strategies within a module to try as you like.
Digital home-school notebook
You will complete a digital notebook to update the parents of their child's progress in the classroom. The frequency and nature of this notebook will be adapted to suit the needs of each individual child and the participants (i.e. parents and school staff) surrounding them; for example, in some cases daily report cards may be useful but for others, twice a week may be preferred by you and parents. We’ll be thinking about how this can fit in with systems or Apps already used by you and your school for regular interaction with parents.
How well is the toolkit working?
We will ask you to complete a number of questionnaires throughout the study on some of the following topics:
- ADHD symptoms and classroom functioning for the study child (<10 minutes each time)
- How well specific modules and strategies work. (~15 minutes each time)
- Your wellbeing
- The toolkit once you have started using it (~30 minute conversation)
- What went well and what needs improving. (~90 minute focus group with other school staff)
- Feedback to the research team should issues arise with the toolkit that need immediate change or further instruction.
A breakdown of when each stage will occur is shown here:
