Adaptive Teaching in Primary Schools

A clear, practical and bite-sized guide for teachers, SENCOs and school leaders — the essential how-to for effective adaptive teaching in primary schools.

This practical, bite-sized guide is packed with ready-to-use strategies, checklists and case studies to help teachers in primary schools respond to learner variability, reduce cognitive load and design accessible lessons.

"Above all, this book useful. Crucially, there are ideas in it that a teacher can read tonight and use tomorrow morning ... And it keeps coming back to the bit that matters most: whether the child in front of us is genuinely included in the learning, or simply sitting in the room."

Adam Petrie, Founder, Learnella

Adaptive teaching isn’t about creating more work - it’s about teaching more effectively so every child can succeed. 

Packed with ready-to-use strategies, checklists, case studies and reflection tools, this bite-sized guide shows how to make adaptive teaching part of everyday classroom practice. From understanding learner variability and reducing cognitive load, to designing accessible lessons, working effectively with support staff and recognising when additional intervention may be needed, it offers clear guidance that can be put into practice straight away.

Readers will find: 

• Clear, practical guidance on what adaptive teaching is - and how it differs from differentiation 
• Classroom-ready strategies to support diverse learners without creating multiple lesson plans 
• Checklists, case studies and self-reflection tools to support confident decision-making 
• Practical advice on working with LSAs, families and specialists 
• Simple action-planning tools to help turn insight into sustained practice