At our recent Soundswell team Away Day, Emma, presented a session ‘Becoming a Concept Cat Coach’ to the rest of the Soundswell team. Emma is a Concept Cat Coach and explained that the role of a coach is to support settings to deliver the programme in the way the researchers require, i.e. as a moderator, to help with consistency and to be a source of expertise if needed.
The background to Concept Cat
Concept Cat is the brainchild of Anna Brannigan and Stephen Parsons, well-known authors of the Word Aware books. The programme aims to teach specific vocabulary in a systematic way, via small group interventions, and the vocabulary it teaches are concepts.
Emma talked us through:
- The background to the project (the troubling statistics at the end of this article are a constant and continuing reminder of why we need to effect change)
- The funding source (Education Endowment Foundation)
- The research elements
- The practical aspects of what the groups look like and how much fun children have in participating
Why use the Concept Cat programme
Therapists know only too well that concepts are tricky for children – and in some cases very tricky indeed. The abstract concept – unlike a noun – can’t be seen, touched or easily quantified, as it depends on the context where it is being used.
Ensuring that children understand the words that go with performing specific tasks is akin to providing the tools they need to do a job. Without these tools, they are unlikely to be successful – and not because they are necessarily incapable of performing the task, they just don’t have the tools!
Concept Cat provides the tools that children need
It is becoming far more widely recognised that language plays a crucial role in early maths. Maths vocabulary is an excellent example of the ‘tools to do a job’ analogy. For example, how can we possibly expect children to apportion materials into groups of more and less or fewer if they have no idea what the words mean?
Settings involved in the programme receive lots of support:
- Training for all staff (3 hours for the lead practitioner, 1 hour for everyone else)
- Books
- Support visits from Concept Cat Coaches
- Good practice Network sessions
Groups use a multi-sensory practical approach with:
- Play-based activities
- Singing
- Signing
- Symbols
Concept Cat (an attractive tactile toy) is an integral part of the group session, closely supported by his friend Picky Puppet.
Read more about the Concept Cat programme –
Visit this website if you’re interested in trialling the programme or becoming a Concept Cat Coach.
