Cognition and learning

Includes moderate learning difficulties (MLD) and severe learning difficulties (SLD).

Children and young people with learning difficulties will learn slower than their peers, even with appropriate adaptations.

Mathematics difficulties are best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category. They have many causal factors.

Pupils with a variety of needs require support and scaffolding to develop these skills.

Pupils with a variety of learning needs require support with attention, learning organisation and working memory.

Problem-solving is a mental process involving the ability to analyse and find the solution that best resolves the problem. Like play, this needs to be modelled and taught.

Difficulties with literacy are unlikely to be fully visible until a child engages with print and becomes a reader.